By
Chiara Francavilla
"A cappuccino here is more expensive than any other coffee in the
world," said Mohamed Ali as he addressed the audience of the second TEDx
conference held in Somalia's capital.
"An espresso machine uses a lot of electricity and Mogadishu is the
most expensive city in the world by kilowatt/hour," he said, introducing
the story of Ahmed, a returning diaspora member who partnered with
local engineer Isse to create a coal-powered coffee machine prototype.
"Ahmed now has the cheapest espresso in Mogadishu and Isse has 100
machines that he rents for $100 dollars a month."
On August 31 a TEDx conference - the 'ideas worth spreading' event -
was held in Mogadishu, the capital of a country that is still considered
by some a 'failed state'. Despite this, spirits were high as the
speakers, mostly returning diaspora members, articulated their hopeful
visions of a new Somalia.
But this time optimism was accompanied by concrete examples of change
in the wake of the installation of the country's first permanent
government in over two decades. There is a definite feeling that
something has changed or is changing and this is bringing back some of
the 1.5 million Somalis living abroad, like Ahmed, or like Ali, a
US-trained human rights lawyers returning to help aspirant business men
and women, especially young Somalis.
"I'm passionate about entrepreneurship as a tool to fight poverty and
unemployment," Ali told Think Africa Press. Somalia's unemployment rate
is estimated to be 54%, up from 47% in 2002, according to a 2012
Somalia Human Development Report. The situation is worse for young
people, as unemployment for 14- to 29-year-olds reaches 67% - one of the
highest in the world.
Alongside speaking at the TEDx event, Ali inaugurated the first
'Youth Entrepreneurship Summit' in Mogadishu as director of the
leadership and entrepreneurship organisation Iftiin Foundation with
Generation Change, a US-sponsored initiative active in several
developing countries.
"Each new event is usually launched by the US embassy in each
respective country," he explains. "However, because there is no US
embassy in Somalia, my organisation Iftiin Foundation launched the
programme in Mogadishu."
84 young Somalis joined the summit. All coming from different
backgrounds, they had one thing in common: business ideas. Many had
identified a service gap to fill. Ali is full of enthusiasm for the
innovation of the group: "One young woman was telling me how she wanted
to create an ambulance service. Another has a project for a microcredit
group for women," he says.
As part of the youth leadership programme, young Somalis will receive
mentoring and will be supported in finding investors for their
projects. Lack of capital and technical ability, such as forecasting and
managing financial risks, are the main obstacles to young
entrepreneurship. The diaspora can take care of the former, as in Ahmed
and Isse's case, and programmes like his can do the rest, said Ali.
A year on
It has been almost a year since Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was sworn in as
the president of the Federal Government of Somalia, the first permanent
authority since the collapse of all formal institutions in 1991.
"In the last year the environment has really changed," argues Ali.
"Since the establishment of the permanent government there is greater
security and a greater recognition of Somalia among the international
community. This has the potential to attract more international
investments."
One of the clearest signs of increased international recognition and
improved perception of security has been the reopening of foreign
embassies, such as those of the UK, Kenya, Iran and Uganda, with other
countries having announced plans to do so, including the US, UAE, and
China.
On August 27 Fowsia Yusuf Haji Adan, Somalia's foreign minister, met
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on an official visit to China. Wang Yi
said that his country was willing to gradually restore "high-level
exchanges" with Somalia, including economic and trade cooperation and
active participation in Somalia's reconstruction.
"Somalia is the first East African country that established
diplomatic relationship with China... the friendship between the two
peoples has never changed," he said.
Somalia's strengthening of international ties prompted the
International Monetary Fund to recognise the Federal Government of
Somalia in April 2013, paving the way to resumed relations after a
22-year break. "The decision is consistent with broad international
support and recognition of the Federal Government, which allows the IMF
to offer Somalia technical assistance and policy advice," said Ralph
Chami, division chief at the IMF's Middle East department.
Increased international cooperation has also led to the improvement
in one of the areas that has traditionally been in the focus of the
international community: piracy. Adjoa Anyimadu, research associate for
the Africa Programme at Chatham House, noted a dramatic reduction in the
number of piracy attacks emanating from the coast of Somalia in the
last two years.
"The has not only been a reduction in successful hijackings, but also
in the number of attempts that pirates are making, demonstrating that
piracy has become a less attractive means of revenue generation for many
young Somalis," she said. In 2011 there were 199 incidents, but by the
end of 2012 this figure had dropped by almost two thirds to 70. In the
first eight months of this year there have only been ten incidents,
according to the ICC International Marine Bureau.
Shaky stability
Security might have improved, but Al Shabaab, the Al Quaeda
affiliated rebel group, remains an active threat, as testified by a
recent ambush on the presidential convoy and a suicide attack on the UN
office in Mogadishu in June, in which 15 people were killed, among other
incidents.
The reduction in piracy attacks was also questioned by Anyimadu, who
noted that the improvement was the result of "short-term" solutions such
as increased international patrolling of the waters, more vessels
following best practices to avoid attacks and increased presence and
acceptance of private armed guards on board.
And whilst some return to Mogadishu, others leave. Médecins sans
Frontiers (MSF) was forced to exit the country in August after working
continuously in Somalia since 1991. The organisation cited increasing
violence against MSF staff and the apparent complacency of Somali
authorities.
"Ultimately, civilians in Somalia will pay the highest cost," said Dr
Unni Karunakara, MSF international president. "Much of the Somali
population has never known the country without war or famine. Already
receiving far less assistance than is needed, the armed groups'
targeting of humanitarian aid and civilians leaders' tolerance of these
abuses has effectively taken away what little access to medical care is
available to the Somali people."
In 2012 MSF provided more than 624,000 medical consultations,
admitted 41,100 patients to hospitals, cared for 30,090 malnourished
children, vaccinated 58,620 people, and delivered 7,300 babies. Those
services will not be replaced by funding from the IMF at least, as the
fund is unable to support the country financially due to $352m arrears.
Old and new
Collaboration between returning diaspora and locals may not be as
natural as it might seem. Mogadishu-based journalist Hamza Mohamed
reported increasing intolerance of locals towards retuning diaspora
members occupying positions of leadership or heading business
activities.
Ali acknowledges the tension. "That understandably happens, when you
have lived for 20 years of civil war, stayed in Somalia despite it, and
then someone comes in and opens his own business," he said. However, he
argues that this change is more of an opportunity than an obstacle. His
initiative received plenty of support from local businesses and
associations, including Jazeera Palace Hotel, the Somali Tourism
Association and the Somali Student Union.
"I was educated in the West, and I'm coming back to help out my
fellow Somalis," said Ali. "I know they have been here all their lives,
they know the challenges, they know the problems. I want to be their
partner and give them access to the resources and networks that I
developed in the US."
And with him, many others return, such as Zainab Hassan, former
fellow at the University of Minnesota, who is now leading the
restoration of Somalia's national library, with the vision of giving
young Somalis a place to hang out other than the street.
Zahra Mustaf, an Australian architect, has gone back with two
daughters to help rebuild Somalia's education infrastructure, with the
aim of sending 1 million children to school in three years. 21-year-old
Canadian Iman Elman has taken the return a step further by becoming the
first female commander in the Somali Army. "[After that] I was no longer
a Canadian in Somalia. I was a soldier serving my country," she says.
