Welcome to the first annual letter that will set out our achievements in the last 12 months, outline our focus for the next 12 months and give our overview or rather a general ‘state of the nation’ on how we see necessary progress or lack of in key areas for development in Somalia.

We established ourselves in 2020,  and this year’s letter will reflect on how we got here and where we believe the right actions are required. SOMDC is driven out of determination to create initiatives and embrace projects that will ensure the foundation is in place for the long-term economic development of Somalia’s key industry sectors.

While the government has committed to encourage private sector participation in key sectors (energy, ICT, agribusiness and industrial infrastructure), we are yet to see significant outcomes. The primary reasons we believe are the pro-business approach has not been led by the private sector, but rather been pushed from a top-down fashion. The structural obstacles and bottlenecks are still in place.

Somalia is unique in that the private sector has led investment into strategic sectors that are normally the prerogative of the public sector. For example, Somalia enjoys dependable and affordable access to the Internet due to private sector investing in undersea fibre-optic cables which has transformed Somalis’ economic prospects. The multimodal port facilities in Garacaad would also be another example of strategic investments led by the private sector.

 We don’t mean to imply that there is no role for the government. There are key aspects affecting the competiveness of Somalia’s private enterprises that only the government can address. From setting up a competent authority for the fisheries sector to ensuring interoperability for telecommunication firms, there are critical bottlenecks that only governments can address. We are advocating for a consultative private sector driven approach that takes into consideration the expressed needs of firms.

 We know there is a widespread appreciation for the Somali private sector that has not only proven its resilience throughout the civil war, but continues to grow in all sectors of the Somali economy. Only recently have the development agencies and investors begun to consider the private sector in their plans.

 The international communities continue with their efforts to make a difference. We know how hard it is for international staff to move around Somalia and to really get a deep understanding not just on what efforts or interventions are needed, but more so, on how to deliver them and ensure they are fully effective and have long lasting relevance to the people and to the economy.

Interventions by international agencies are tied to funding cycles that do not align to any long-term growth strategy. Budgets available are usually one off or 2-3 year at best. Despite best efforts, no programs seem to dovetail into one another, or pick up where another left off, deeming them as completed. This clearly isn’t the case and something we will address at SOMDC.

So, why is SOMDC any different to other organisations based in Somalia? How will we embrace initiatives that have an approach that benefits the economic growth of industry sectors in the long term? How do we make certain programs have continuation for each industry sector and ensure continuation of short-term efforts to reach the greater goal?

At SOMDC, we understand the importance of data. While we are big supporters of information management frameworks and maturity assessments, this isn’t what we are thinking about.

Instead our approach that can have a much greater effect is to focus on industry critical elements first, and work holistically across the industry to improve all aspects of this data across the information management framework.
Somalia lacks even basic inventories of data. The absence of good data classification makes it somewhere between difficult and impossible to manage and govern data based on its value profile and category.

We understand the information that is the most critical asset, then focus on all areas that affect this information.  Is the quality of information acceptable?  Is there comprehensive metadata for this information?  Are there data standards and architecture?  What are the processes that create, update, or use this information?

Data should be accessible, easy to discover, and easy to process. Leveraging data effectively is a critical component of Somalia’s success strategy.  Up-front analysis and strategy to make sure the core data assets of Somalia are managed effectively.

A final point on data is that in this era of online content (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram) we will be working towards more resources being accessible online in Somali context and Somali language. It is clear to us that a much wider audience can be reached with a simple online approach in comparison to the costly in person training, whereby the materials are rarely available after the event.

We have established ourselves through self-funding and with the support of key experts with common values and strategically aligned thinking. We all know that despite best intentions, many of the current efforts have yielded minimal outcomes and have not delivered value for money. SOMDC has been established to demonstrate how strategic investment made in the right way can be more effective for the Somalia economy with a greater positive impact for creating sustainable employment and wealth for the Somali people.