Who’s Who: Ali Abdullah Allafi, deputy minister at Saudi Health Ministry

Ali Abdullah Allafi
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Ali Abdullah Allafi has been the deputy minister for administrative and financial affairs at the Saudi Ministry of Health since 2019.

His main role is to ensure that the ministry’s financial system is in line with international best practices, the directives of the Ministry of Finance and the strategies of health authorities.

Allafi, who has also been an adviser to the health minister since 2015, is also responsible for strengthening the ministry’s cooperation with its finance counterpart. He sets plans to ensure the optimal use of resources and the maintenance of an efficient, reliable and accurate financial system.

For two years beginning in 2008, Allafi worked for Aramco Services in Houston, US, where he managed the repercussions of the global financial crisis, and provided support to Saudi Aramco and its business and subsidiaries in the US.

For a one-year mission in 2011, he was assigned to manage the financial sector at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. From 2012 to 2014, he worked as chief financial officer at Saudi Aramco.

Before that, he was a financial representative at Aramco for more than 22 years, beginning in 1981. During that endeavor, he was assigned to a two-year overseas mission in Los Angeles, US, as a financial representative of the Ras Tanura Refinery Development Project. He has held many positions in the financial, treasury and internal auditing departments, as well as other administrative positions.

He also served as head of operational budget and financial planning programs at Aramco, beginning in 2005.

Allafi also served as a member of the board of directors for three Aramco subsidiaries.

He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana State University, US, in 1987. Eight years later, he completed an accounting MBA from Colorado State University, US.