Always Moving Always Sharing Somaliland

An Experiment in Democracy
In Somaliland, the boundaries between economic
actors, tribal dynamics and political influences
often remain blurred.
Somaliland is a self-declared independent nation without
international recognition. The Somaliland people are trapped
between an internal trajectory of independence that is relatively
stable held together by both a credible Western-inspired government
and a highly respected tribal Council of the Elders, the Guurti.
However, the nation remains constrained by its international status
as a northern territory of Somalia, thus being condemned to suffer
from all sanctions inflicted to its unstable and conflict-ridden
southern neighbour. The independence of Somaliland is a ground-up
democratic-experiment and rapid-success story in the Arab-Muslim
world and in Africa, with relatively little support from the
international community.
However, given the current severe lack of infrastructure, the
economy remains trapped in a almost complete dependance on
exports, remittances and natural weather cycles.
Despite this uncommon and difficult situation, Somaliland has also
been the base for incredible innovation in the telecommunication
and banking sectors, where businesses have filled the gaps left by an
unrecognised and challenged state, and have flourished in a deficit of
regulation.
Today, as the fourth largest destination for remittances in the
world*, the broader Somali economy relies deeply on external
financial support. Zaad has grown its successful mobile-money
platform from an influx of foreign currency, within a pastoralist
society with familial and tribal/clan-based interdependence and an
oral culture.
*Mohamed Aden Hassan, Caitlin Chalmers, UK Somali Remittances, Survey
http://www.diaspora-centre.org/DOCS/UK_Somali_Remittan.pdf
B&MG - SOMALILAND MOBILE MONEY STUDIO D RADIODURANS
MAY 2015 9