Saeed Ahmed Yusuf is the Country Director for Pharo Foundation in Somaliland.

Saeed has helped shape Pharo since its earliest days. He joined in 2014 as one of the Foundation’s first employees and its first finance professional, when the team numbered just four. Over the following decade, he helped build the financial systems, governance frameworks and controls that supported Pharo’s growth to around 800 people across four countries. He progressed to Global Financial Controller, contributing to organisational strategy and Board reporting, while overseeing regulatory compliance, statutory reporting and financial governance across the Foundation.

Most recently, Saeed led the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central across 13 entities in five countries. He brought together teams from Finance, HR, IT and Operations, leading the organisational change, process alignment and people management required to deliver a successful simultaneous go-live across all entities.

Earlier in his career, Saeed managed credit and financial risk across five European territories at Emirates Airlines and held finance and management roles with other multinational organisations in the UK.

He holds an Executive MBA from Cranfield School of Management and a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance from the University of the West of England. He is a Chartered Manager and speaks English, Somali and Arabic.

A Somalilander who grew up across the Middle East and the UK, Saeed brings amultinational perspective alongside a strong personal connection to Somaliland. He is committed to developing local talent and creating opportunities for the next generation. Outside work, he enjoys travelling, mentoring young people and has a longstanding interest in basketball.