Ahmed Ibrahim Diraige was born in Zalingei, Darfur, in 1935. Son of a Tribal Chief,
he inherited his father’s position at the early age of 11, when his father died.
However, he continued with his education at Duem Rural Intermediate School and
Hantoub Secondary School. He was then asked by the British Administration at the time
to resign his position as tribal chief, if he wanted to continue with University Studies,
which he did.
He Studied Arts at the University of Khartoum, where he obtained the B.A. degree in 1957,
and then joined the civil service in the Ministry of Commerce, after which he transferred to
the Ministry of Finance and Development (Department of Statistics).
He was then sent to the United Kingdom for further studies in the University of Leicester,
where he obtained a BA (Social Sciences) in Economics, then returned to serve in the
Ministry of Planning.
In 1964, he established the Darfur Development Front. In 1965, he became an
Independent Member of Parliament. Between 1966 and 67, he was Minister of Labour
and Cooperatives. From 1968 to 69, he was Leader of Opposition in Parliament. He left
the country when Colonel Jaafar Nimeiri seized power in 1969.
Between 1970 and 1975, he was advisor to the Sheikh of Umm Al Quwain in the Gulf
Trucial States (Now United Arab Emirates “U.A.E”) and member of the Constitutional
Committee which laid the groundwork for the establishment of the U.A.E. in 1971. He
created his own private business in Abu Dhabi between 1975 and 1980, after which he
returned to the Sudan and established the Middle East International Financing and
Development Company.
Between 1980 and 83, he was Governor of Darfur, but went into self exile in 1983 when
he disagreed with the policies of Nimeiri’s Government toward his State. He has since
been campaigning for famine relief and conflict resolution in his country and in 1994, he
formed, with colleagues, the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance, of which he is
Chairman. He was also a member of the National Democratic Alliance Leadership
Council.