Just wanted to tell u that it has notjing to do with being somali or tribal affiliation. It is rather human nature. You'll be amazed by what you see if you google this topic of hiring whom uyou know. I once wanted to prove a family member who said most decent jobs are given through referrals wrong and googled this. Statistics show that managers are more comfortable hiring through referral and who knows who, even if the referred person lacks some of the necessary skills other applicants possess.
Our twist is that many Somalis associate with their clansmen mostly, thus making it look like hiring or relying tolka on jobs. When I was in Mogadishu an exec at hormuud/barakaat was asked if he ever hired non-duduble and he said the reason I hired hebel and hebel is because i know them and i can trust them with my life. Also, Somali companies hire through share holders. If you buy good shares of one of the large companies you can bring in your folks if there are openings. The main reason ppl hire their relatives has something to do with trust. Nobody wants to hand his/her intellectual property to outsiders. Not only intellectual property, go to any business in Mogadishu and u'll see 100% of the security guys are related to the owner. It may look bad from outside. However, from business perspective, you hire the ppl who will fight for you when bullets start flying. You also trust your finances with some1 u can trust, like a close family member, etc. Somali business is all about family. By hiring relatives you kill two birds with one stone: u create jobs and you have less shahat...
Even villa Somalia is always run by the president's folks.
For me, I would never hire less skilled ppl over skilled unless there's some intellectual property is involved and the only way to protect it is to hire my brother, etc.
u can tell your cousin to take a hike but... lol