HiLiN

Dr. Abdifatah is the Executive Director of Hilin. He is also a Research Fellow at the School of Geography and Planning, University of Sheffield. Previously, he worked as a Research Associate at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester. Dr. Tahir has extensive experience as a researcher, consultant, and development practitioner in Somalia. His current research interests center on the politics and governance of urban land and infrastructure in Somalia. Additionally, he is also interested in broader national and regional politics, geopolitics, and their intersections with urban development. His recent publications focus into land administration policies, conflict adjudication, and critical infrastructures.

Recent Publications

Tahir, A.I (2024). The politics of secession and unification in Somalia: disjuncture, dialogue, intricacies, and exclusion. figshare. Preprint. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.27617415.v1

Tahir, A.I (2024). “Forging a future from a failed past? prospects and pitfalls of Somalia’s state-sponsored vigilantism, Ma’awisley”. Working Paper 2024-01. Hilin, Mogadishu, Somalia. Available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.27010897.v1

Goodfellow, T, Tahir, A, Cirolia, LR and Acheampong, R (2024). “Land and connectivity: Domain report”. ACRC Working Paper 2024-12. Manchester: African Cities Research Consortium, The University of Manchester. Available at: https://www.african-cities.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ACRC_Working-Paper-12_May-2024.pdf

Tahir, A.I. (2023a) ‘Post-conflict statecraft, land governance and exclusion in Hargeisa, Somaliland’, Environment and Urbanization, 35(2), pp. 508–526. Available at:  https://doi.org/10.1177/09562478231190283.

Tahir, A.I. (2023b) ‘Understanding Las Anod’s conflict: exclusionary politics, strategic (re) alignment, and rupture’. The Institute for Strategic Insights & Research. Available at: https://isirthinktank.com/2023/03/understanding-las-anods-conflict-exclusionary-politics-strategic-re-alignment-and-rupture/.

Tahir, A.I. and Seid, M.M. (2023) ‘Elasticity of Control and Autonomy in Ethiopia’s Ethnic Federalism: the Experience of the Somali Regional State’, SSRN Electronic Journal. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4387336.

Tahir, A.I. (2022a) ‘Electoral Politics and Violence in Somalia: Implications for Liveability in Mogadishu’, 22. Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/bildhaan/vol22/iss1/7.

Tahir, A.I. (2022b) ‘Legal pluralism, obscure reforms and adjudication of land conflicts in Hargeisa, Somaliland’, Land Use Policy, 120, p. 106286. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106286.

Tahir, A.I. (2021a) ‘Critical infrastructures as sites of conflict over state legitimacy: The case of Hargeisa Airport in Somaliland, Northern Somalia’, Geoforum, 125(June 2020), pp. 110–119. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.06.019.

Tahir, A.I. (2021) ‘The production of clan segregation in urban Somalia: Historical Geographies of Hargeisa’, Journal of Historical Geography, 72, pp. 53–62. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhg.2021.03.002.