![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
|
![]() |
Thursday, 15 November, 2001, 17:04 GMT
Somalia: The land of opportunity
![]() Companies like Nationlink say they can try whatever they want
By Stephane Mayoux in Mogadishu
Mogadishu's international airport is closed. Children use it as a football pitch, goats graze on it and part of the runway has been mined by a warlord.
Roads are in chaos and the currency, the Somali shilling which loses half of its value every year has all but been replaced by the US dollar. After 10 years of civil war Somalia lies in ruins. But amid the destruction, a quiet economic revolution is taking place. Getting connected One of the companies making it happen is Nationlink, a telecommunications firm that has grown into one of the country's largest businesses.
Mogadishu has three competing mobile-phone networks. Their users can call anywhere in the world for only one US dollar a minute. The Nationlink switchboard is a small but frantic place where three full-time operators field hundreds of calls six days a week. Potential new customers inquire about their services and current users report faulty lines. Harsh climate But every time Nationlink technical staff walk out onto the streets of Mogadishu, the reality of Somalia catches up with them. As Managing Director Ahmed Dini explained, that reality is not easy.
Mr Dini said that someone somewhere will always ask for money if a job needs doing, say the company wants to install a new cable in Mogadishu. "You can do two things. Either fight with them or pay. We usually pay because if you fight, you will either kill someone or get killed... and anyway at the end of the day you won't do any business," he explained. But in a country with no law-courts, few rules and no government, Somali business-people turned to traditional customs to enforce business commitments. If one of Nationlink's customers cannot pay, one of the company's employees will call on his clan-elders, his family, sometimes the local Muslim sheikh to make sure his debt will be paid up. Amazing paradox For Mohammed Elmi, head of HornAfrik, a multi-media company operating a television channel, a radio station and a web-site from Mogadishu, there is an amazing paradox in Somalia. "After years of civil war, the only thing that binds people together is an instinct to trust each other across clan boundaries to do business together."
A perfect example of a Somali company for which everything seems possible is Barakaat. Started with a money transfer, Barakaat is now Somalia's largest business, having developed into a fully fledged bank. It had built the country's largest telecommunications network and currently invests in farming projects, construction ventures and hospitals. However, last week it was labelled as a terrorist organisation by the United States. It rejects the accusation but is desperately struggling to cope with the consequences. Answering to the people "We answer the needs of the people. We are always ready to invest," said Mahmoud Mohammed, one of Barakaat's senior consultants.
"We are getting a lot from the people. And we have to return some of what we get to the people." Somalia is an Islamic country and Islam instructs its followers to give away a share of their earnings to the poor. In fact, once a week hundreds of people queue up in front of some local businesses to receive money. In the absence of any sort of government, business-people often play the roles usually expected of the government. But they are not necessarily happy to carry on doing so. Security, trust, responsibility Both Ahmed Abdu Dini and Mahmoud Mohammed are desperate to see a Somali government in full control.
It's not often that you hear of businessmen talking about wanting to pay taxes. But in Somalia, there is no government to pay them to. Instead they adhere to three basic self-imposed rules - security, trust and responsibility. To hear the full programme, tune into African Perspective on the BBC World Service at 0930 GMT on Friday 16 November. |
![]() |
See also:
![]()
08 Nov 01 | Africa
23 Aug 01 | Africa
30 Jul 01 | Africa
31 Jul 01 | Africa
29 Aug 00 | Africa
25 Aug 00 | Africa
25 Nov 99 | Africa
Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Africa stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Africa stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Africa stories |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> | To BBC World Service>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |