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Somalia: A 'Failed State'? Let's Look At the Other Side
By:Abdul Latif
July 26 2007

WHILE OPENING A SOMALI peace meeting in Mogadishu last Thursday, Prime Minister Mohamed Gedi departed from the usual cries about a failed state and asked his countrymen to build on the many positives around them.

He said: "As a country, we have been given as many negative tags: A failed state, a terrorist haven and the country that deleted the word peace from the dictionary."

Then he reminded them: "But we know ourselves better. We know the great potential of our people, our great business skills, and our hard work."

If you are a first-time visitor to Mogadishu on an occasional good day when the warring parties in the capital have "declared" ceasefire, you would not find it difficult agreeing with Premier Gedi.

Indeed, you would find it hard to believe all the jazz about Somalia being the world's most dangerous place to live in besides Iraq.

OF COURSE, MOST BUILDINGS IN Mogadishu have no roofs courtesy of aerial bombings, and most windows have been shattered by bullets.

But in the absence of chaos on the day of the visit, you would easily be convinced that the battle tell-tale signs are throw-backs from the Word War 11.

How come? Believe it or not, on a "normal" day, Mogadishu functions better than Nairobi. The telephone system, both fixed and wireless, is unclogged. Traffic flow is smooth and fast. Taps run with clean drinking water, and electricity supply is uninterrupted.

Yes. In an "ordinary" day, communication with the outside world and business transactions are faster in Mogadishu than anything you can dream of in Dar es Salama or Kampala. And it takes - Telkom Kenya should hear this - only three days to have a fixed line installed in your premises upon application in Somalia.

The situation on the ground in Somalia is best captured in a World Bank report prepared by economists Tatiana Nenova and Tim Harford and released last month.

The report has interesting data on the so called failed state. The population living on less than a dollar a day in Somalia is 43 per cent compared to the 47 per cent and 45 per cent averages in the Horn of Africa and West Africa, respectively.

Adult literacy in Somalia is at 81 per cent. The averages for the Horn and West Africa are, 35 per cent and 49 per cent respectively.

Telephone lines per million people in the country are 15, but 10 and 9 for the same population in the Horn and West Africa, respectively, while the kilometre tarmac/population ratio is the same for Somalia, the Horn and West Africa.

The World Bank report reckons that despite the war and absence of a central authority in Somalia, entrepreneurs are bridging the gap there by lowering rates of extreme poverty.

Somali entrepreneurs have applied two methods to beat the hurdle of absence of a central authority.

First, they have "imported" governance by relying on foreign institutions to control and regulate vital sectors. That includes air-line safety, currency stability, and company law.

In the second tier, they engage the entrenched Somali clan system and other local networks to enforce contract enforcement as well as payment and transmission of funds. For instance, through this system, Somalis scattered all over the world are able to send home a billion dollars every year, funds which reach every remote corner of the country.

Sheer determination by the Somali private sector has buoyed up different sectors to levels not known in the days of Siad Barre.

IN 1991, FOR EXAMPLE, THE NATIONAL air-line had just one plane plying one route. Today, there are 15 air companies with 60 aircraft between them, operating on six international routes and over a dozen local destinations.

Somalia now has 112,000 fixed lines from just 17,000 at the time Siad Barre was chased out of town.

All this means that Somalis can really go places if they so wish. But first they have to decide whether they want to live together as a nation. Short of that they can continue squandering the great potential they have and remain the laughing stock of the world. It really is a matter of choice.

Mr Latif is a retired diplomat
Nairobi

The report was released by World Bank last month. It puts Adult Literacy in Somalia to be 81% compared to 43% in other countries.

Where you do get that?


GOD BLESS SOMALIA. WE ARE BLESSED WITH RESOURCEFULNESS. IF ONLY EXTERNAL ENEMIES SHOULD HAVE LEFT SOMALIA ALONE??

These are the gains of 1991 Revolution.

If one puts its cuqdad aside, and looks beneath the daily anarchic events and battle scars, then one can see that there is clear economic transformation going on in Mogadishu and Southern Somalia.

Few quotes:

- ''Believe it or not, on a "normal" day, Mogadishu functions better than Nairobi''
- ''The telephone system, both fixed and wireless, is unclogged.''
- ''Traffic flow is smooth and fast. Taps run with clean drinking water, and electricity supply is uninterrupted''
- smooth communcation and faster business transaction better than Kampala or Dar Es salaam.

- ''Adult literacy in Somalia is at 81 per cent. The averages for the Horn and West Africa are, 35 per cent and 49 per cent respectively'' More effective than ''wax baro mise bar campaign'' of Barre's regime

-Poverty reduction without governemnt, amazing

''entrepreneurs are bridging the gap there by lowering rates of extreme poverty.''


''Somalia now has 112,000 fixed lines from just 17,000 at the time Siad Barre was chased out of town.''

Mogadishu political leadership has failed to institutionalize the gains of 1991 Revolution, they have failed to come up with a political formula that would represent the post-1991 situation in Somalia. The next leadership has its work cut out for him.

''IF ONLY EXTERNAL ENEMIES SHOULD HAVE LEFT SOMALIA ALONE??''

Achmed-Gurey,

You don't get it bro, Africa is now in the same process of europe on the eve of the notion nationstate was created. There were wars going on, rich economies been robbed, hegemonic powers and their ambitions etc.

Look at Congo conflict, all neigbouring and other AFrican countries have meddled into the conflict to rob the country from resources.

Look at Siera Leonna the same story.

In Somalia, Mogadishu economy was booming despite warlordship. It was the envy of neigbouring countries. The Tigre regime could not stand on the sideline and watch how the economic transformation went smoothly in Somalia while in Ethiopia its stuck despite billions of aid anually. So what to do? Robb the economy, make the transformation stop with military interference. This whole occupation is to disrupt Mogadishu economy, look at where the Tigre's are stationed: Hiiraan, Bay/Bakool, Afgoye etc...these are the regions connected to the Mogadishu economy. First they disrupted business routes going in and out from Mogadishu, then they have disrupted the engine of Mogadishu economy: Bakaaraha market...these Tigre's are on a mission, and their puppets want to pick a grain.

This is a lesson to Mogadishu people. Everytime you have a good economy, then you must defend it from envy pretadors.

[quote="Ahmed-Gurey"]The report was released by World Bank last month. It puts Adult Literacy in Somalia to be 81% compared to 43% in other countries.

Where you do get that?

GOD BLESS SOMALIA. WE ARE BLESSED WITH RESOURCEFULNESS. IF ONLY EXTERNAL ENEMIES SHOULD HAVE LEFT SOMALIA ALONE??[/quote]


I'm not surprised. My mum was telling me the other day about this young girl who was recently brought over from Xamar to Kenya to live with her uncle and how she got the highest marks in all her class in the first exams she did in a private school in Nairobi. Some of the schools in Xamar are really good, obviously not everyone has access to education but the ones that do, can speak fluent Arabic and English...and know more Math and Science than kids their age.

Untill recently, Business was also booming and although some people have lost everything, most people are hopeful about the future. Once we have a good government, Somalia is going to be an economic success. We just need to put an end to external interference and having warlord thugs as leaders.

Eyes, It is amazing to know the concomitant nature of events in Somalia.