media landscape guide about Somalia - Internews

Hormuud’s fixed line service offers features including caller-ID, callforwarding, call waiting and conference call facilities.The company is owned by more than 600 Somali shareholders and employsmore than 4,000 staff.One of the principal shareholders is Ahmed Nur Ali Jimale, who owned the AlBarakat money transfer company. This was closed down by US PresidentGeorge Bush shortly after the 9/11 Al Qaeda attacks on the United States inSeptember 2001.Al Barakat was accused of channeling funds to Al Qaeda.Jimale has re-emerged as a major investor in Hormuud in South CentralSomalia, Golis in Puntland and Telesom in Somaliland.All three companies have good mobile connectivity with each other, so callscan be made on any of these networks to all three Somali regions.Chief Executive – Ahmed Mohamed YusufTel: +252 6 155 022 66Email: ayusuf@hortel.netGolis www.golistelecom.comGolis is the biggest telecommunications company in Puntland.Founded in 2002, with its headquarters in Bossasso, it offers fixed line, GSMmobile, internet and financial services.The company claims that it network covers almost all the major towns anddistricts of Puntland.Golis has good call connections with Hormuud in South Central Somalia andTelesom in Somaliland, with which it shares a common large shareholder;Ahmed Nur Ali Jimale, who owned the now defunct Al Barakat money transfercompany.Golis offers a number of services that could be useful to NGOs such as the‘flashback’ service whereby people who can’t or won’t pay for a phone call‘flash’ someone else without their call being answered. The recipient of theflash is alerted to call them back.It costs nothing to make a ‘flashback’ call.Golis’s Xogmaal service allows users to access various internet services,including information on livestock prices, currency exchange rates andweather services.90