He is the chairman of the African Think Tank,[1] and in 2004 was the first immigrant born in Africa to run for an Australian parliamentary office.
After attending high school with funding from the UNHCR, he gained a degree in Agricultural Sciences at the University of Alexandria in Egypt.
He drove a taxi and worked as a tram conductor, while earning a master's degree in Animal Science at La Trobe University.
[2] He was latterly a senior research fellow at the Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, and retains an honorary appointment at the university.
[8] Ahmed received four percent of the primary vote as an independent candidate for the 2012 Melbourne state by-election.