By Coletta Wanjohi
After years of living and working abroad, Shakur Shidane returned home for what he thought would be a one-off consultancy in the telecom sector in Somalia.
Little did he know he would choose to not only stay back, but also work on building something that could be a game changer in his country's finance sector.
"One of the issues I wanted to resolve were concerns with regards to the financial infrastructure in the country," Shidane tells TRT Afrika. "What we set out to do was help create a platform to facilitate payments as quickly as possible."
In 2021, he set up the money transfer platform @Bixi. "In the last year alone, we have been able to process over six million dollars. We are looking to build a payment gateway for Somalia because we see the future is in online platforms. Somalis now have a head start in that respect," Shidane says.
Scores of other Somalis, both within the country and abroad, share Shidane's optimism as their country moves towards self-dependence after decades of stunted growth.
Long road
As Somalia was recovering from a 30-year civil war, the challenge of terrorism from Al Shabaab further slowed down development.
There are currently at least 687, 000 Somali refugees in neighbouring Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Djibouti. The gradual road to Somalia's recovery from the ravages of civil war has attracted many organisations seeking to support this process.
But, as many development experts point out, the fundamental problem that the gush of money and participation is very top down.
The World Bank acknowledges that Somalia is experiencing "rapid urbanisation, the growing use of digital technologies, and planned investments in energy, ports, education, and health."
This growth has come against the odds, including some that are not of the country's own making.
The effects of climate change have caused protracted drought in Somalia. Although there are already 335 organisations offering assistance to over 8.25 million people bearing the cross of drought and famine, a lot remains to be done.
The United Nations says it needs at least $2.6 billion for a graded, effective response.
Rock dams
Beyond all the brainstorming for solutions stand individual change agents like 75-year-old Fatima Jibrell, an environmentalist born and bred in Somalia.
She introduced "rock dams" to communities in the Sool and Sanaag regions of the country that suffer severe drought and desertification. "We trained the communities in something they already know (but probably weren't using)," Fatima tells TRT Afrika.
"Collect stones that are all over, put them on the path of the water flow. During the rainy season, these rocks reduce the runoff, and because the water will stay there for an hour or so, the moisture seeps downwards. If you manage the flow and prevent overgrazing, grass mushrooms and trees begin to sprout and grow," she says.
Fatima suggests that if non-governmental organisations want to support drought-affected communities in Somalia, they should invest in such water retention projects.
"Will the NGOs take part in that and give them the resources to buy the required tools, and let the community manage the rock dams? If not, the money given to those affected by drought will vanish in a month or two," she says.
At the International Somali Awards event held in Istanbul this March, Fatima received the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements.
Through an organisation called Adeso, she has teamed up with her daughter to advocate "an Africa that is not reliant on aid".
The onus is on the Somali government to set up and implement policies that will support industrialisation and propel private-sector growth, according to Degan Ali, executive Director of Adeso.
"Aid has just created dependency — that is what it is designed for," she tells TRT Afrika.
"We need to figure out how to basically take the matter into our own hands," Degan says. "A situation where people become internally displaced for 20 years and dependent on aid from the international community is not sustainable."
Untapped wealth
Conservative estimates by the United Nations Environment Programme shows the annual yield of marine fishery resources in Somalia to be between 180,000 and 200,000 tonnes.
The country's coastline, important coral reefs, seabird colonies, and turtle nesting beaches could be some of the least exploited in Africa.
The presence of oil and gas, both offshore and in Somali waters, has already attracted many international exploration companies.
In 2022, Somalia signed a petroleum exploration agreement for seven offshore blocks with the United States-based Coastline Exploration.
According to the National Economic Council of Somalia, the country's salt and mineral extraction sector has the potential to expand the extractive industry. Somalia is counted among the world's top exporters of livestock, mainly camels.
Solar energy potential remains untapped, ranging from 5 to 7 kWh/m2/day, with over 310 sunny days in a year, or 3,000 hours of sunshine per annum.
The country's National Development Plan shows that the country has about 8.9 million hectares of cultivable land, of which almost 2.3 million hectares produce or could produce crops under rain-fed conditions.
Somalia is hoping that more of its diaspora will return home and invest in its infinite potential, thereby reducing its over-dependence on aid.
