November 12, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali Parliament To Debate On Aviation Bill
12 November – Source: Halbeeg News – 184 Words
Members of Somali Parliament are today expected to debate on the country’s Civil Aviation Bill, less than a year after the country regained control of its airspace. The bill, which was drafted by the Ministry of Aviation, was approved by the Cabinet in May this year before being submitted to the Federal Parliament. The bill is expected to help the country manage the aviation industry, a development which could spur economic growth. Late last year, Somalia retook control of its airspace after more than two decades.
Air traffic over the Horn of African nation had been under the control of the United Nations’ Nairobi office in Kenya since 1992. This was just a year after the Somali civil war broke out, following the collapse of the collapse of the central government. Prior to the collapse of the Mohamed Siad Barre-led government in 1991, the country effectively and efficiently managed and controlled its airspace and was able to collect overfly charges. When the country plunged into civil war, Somalia lost millions of dollars as there was no credible oversight organization to control air traffic over Somalia.
Key Headlines
- Somali Parliament To Debate On Aviation And Air Space Bill (Halbeeg News)
- Flights Delayed As Fire Guts Down Mogadishu’s Airport Restaurant (Radio Dalsan)
- Garbaharey Residents Hold Demos Against Madobe’s Visit (Goobjoog News)
- Kenya Airways To Unveil Straight Flight To Somalia (Standard Digital)
- Deploy Formed Police Unit To Somali — AMISOM (Graphic Online)
- The Special Position of Somalia’s Remittance Industry (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Flights Delayed As Fire Guts Down Mogadishu’s Airport Restaurant
12 November – Source: Radio Dalsan – 91 Words
Hundreds of travellers remained stranded at Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle Airport after an inferno forced flights to be delayed this morning. The fire gutted down a section of a restaurant that serves travellers, within the airport. .
Firefighters arrived at the scene to put out the inferno, which threatened to spread to other parts of the airport. A security source at the airport told Radio Dalsan that the cause of fire had been established as an electrical fault. No one was injured in the early morning inferno at Somalia’s busiest airport.
Garbaharey Residents Hold Demos Against Madobe’s Visit
12 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 137 Words
Hundreds of people gathered in Garbaharey town the headquarters of Gedo region to protest against the expected visit of the Jubbaland state President, Ahmed Madobe. Garbaharey’s deputy governor Adan Sirad told Goobjoog News they had been trying to stop residents from taking part in demonstrations in the past few days, but finally allowed them on Sunday to engage in peaceful protests.
The protesters said they were angered by Jubbaland administration’s neglect of the region in the past seven years. Said Mr. Adan Sirad: “We have requested and even sent invites to the Jubbaland leaders to visit the area but they never responded..” The residents also accused Madobe of incompetence and failure to ensure political stability in the region. Jubbaland authorities in Kismayu however told Goobjoog News there were no plans for the President to visit the area.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya Airways To Unveil Straight Flight To Somalia
12 November – Source: Standard Digital – 334 Words
Kenya Airways is set to launch direct flights from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Mogadishu on Thursday. The airline is expected to fly seven times weekly linking cities and expediting movement of people and products. KQ Managing Director, Sebastian Mikosz said in a statement that the move will open new trade opportunities for the country. “The addition of this route to our network demonstrates our commitment to improving connectivity on the African continent, while creating new opportunities for corporates, investors, traders and tourists”, said Mikosz.
The daily flight is expected to depart from Nairobi’s JKIA at 0740hrs and land at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport at 0945hrs and back to Nairobi at 1300hrs with Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 making its first trip on this route. Mikosz said that the extension will help ease travel demands from Nairobi to Mogadishu for investors. “The launch of this route is expected to ease travel between the two cities that are the focal points of business in the two countries and spur commercial activities.
We want to extend our network reach and make it convenient for our guests who work and invest in Somalia,’’ stated the CEO. The launch of the direct flight from Nairobi to Mogadishu will benefit Kenya by reducing trade gaps which amounts to Sh99.8 billion well as fostering ties between the two nations.
In March 2017, Kenya signed a trade agreement with Somalia by stating plans of opening two border posts and re-launching of direct flights from Nairobi to Mogadishu to help facilitate movement of people and goods in its quest to expand mark to the Horn of Africa. Since more than 18,000 Somaliland citizens live in Kenya, the move is expected to trigger more trading with the nation as more trickle in using the flight. So far, Ethiopia Airlines. Fly Dubai also has flights that fly between Dubai and Hargeisa bringing business people from all over the world. The non-stop flight will leave JKIA at 0740hrs and arrive in Mogadishu at 0955hrs.
Deploy Formed Police Unit To Somali — AMISOM
11 November – Source: Graphic Online – 422 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has appealed to the government of Ghana and the Ghana Police Administration to consider deploying a Formed Police Unit (FPU) contingent to Somalia to advance peace and security efforts in the country. The appeal was made by the acting Police Commissioner of the AMISOM, Mrs Christine Alalo, when she interacted with 13 journalists from Ghana and Nigeria on a field visit to Somalia at the invitation of AMISOM.
Ghana presently has a continent of 37 Individual Police Officers (IPOs) serving with AMISOM but has no FPU contingent in Somalia. Mrs Alalo said the AMISOM Police was currently made up of three Formed Police Units (FPU) deployed from Uganda, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The FPUs, Mrs Alalo said, played a crucial role in ensuring improved security in the liberated areas of Somalia which were occupied by members of Al-Shabab and other insurgent groups.
She said AMISOM, with 718 police personnel, needed 322 more to reach its 1,040 target, saying that such a target could be reached with the deployment of two more FPUs from police contributing countries, including Ghana. “We need five FPUs but at the moment we have only three and we will be very grateful if Ghana will give us one FPU. “AMISOM has no police force. Our police personnel are members of their national police services and are seconded to work with AMISOM, she said. The AMISOM Police component, she said had the mandate to train, mentor, monitor and advise the Somali Police Force (SPF) with the aim of transforming it into a credible and effective organisation adhering to strict international standards. It provides mentoring and advisory support to SPF on police duties such as human rights observation, crime prevention strategies, community policing, search procedures and investigations.
Data available at AMISOM indicate that more than 4,000 Somali police officers have been trained by the mission in different categories of police work with support from AMISOM partners. Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Head of the Ghanaian Police Continent in Somalia, Chief Superintendent of Police Paul Kisi Frimpong said Ghana had offered to provide an FPU to AMISOM following a request. “The official process has been initiated following an official communication between AMISOM and Ghana, and we are working on getting an FPU deployed,” he said. Currently, he said Ghana had a standing FPU “and it will not be difficult to deploy. We are waiting for a team to go to Ghana and inspect our equipment and observe training of personnel before deployment.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The special position that the SRCs hold in Somalia’s economy cannot go unmentioned as the country strives to revive its economy from all fronts and largely relies on remittances from external sources. The expanding business environment in Somalia offers a wide range of opportunities to local Somalis, diaspora Somalis and foreign investors; this has been made possible by increased remittances.”
The Special Position of Somalia’s Remittance Industry
11 November – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1013 Words
The non-banking financial entities in Somalia have played a critical role in an economy where the state has been absent or weak. The thriving mini-industry has offered money transfer solutions to locals, diaspora Somalis and investors across the board, in need of money transfer services both locally and globally. Its special position in a promising economy goes without mention as a critical ingredient growth and development of a “new Somalia”. This article has been drawn from the recently published “Somali Remittance Report: Challenges Faced by the Somali Remittance Industry”.
The Somali money remittance business has its own special characteristics. Notably, Somalia is one of the poorest nations in the world and for many years, the country has suffered from internal conflict. With large scale immigration reported over the last three decades of instability, it is estimated there are about twelve million Somalis of whom around two million live abroad. The historical migration of Somalis outside the Horn of Africa is highly interrelated to the development of money transfer arrangements, starting from Franco Valuta system, to High Frequency Radio services, to the current branded Somali remittance companies.
Today, the country is yet to have effective banking and regulatory financial institutions that can provide the services required by individuals and private businesses in Somalia. Furthermore, internal and external investment is exceptionally reduced due to multiple risk factors inevitable in an economy that is just beginning to find its footing. However, the expansion of the traditional ‘Hawala’ services, which have been offered by remittance companies for over four decades, enables the remittance companies to act, not only as money-transfer agents, but also as conduits for trade and as quasi-banks.
Each remittance company has agents in various countries throughout the world and the process of remitting funds is simple. An individual will contact an agent of the remittance company in his/her country residence, present the cash they intend to remit, pay the “statutory fees”, and present detailed information on the intended recipient. The agent then deposits the cash in a local bank account.
The maintenance of the money transfer process by the Somali Remittance Companies (SRCs) is critical, but not easy. To outsiders, it may seem a simple process of transferring value from A to B, while to others it is a murky system where money changes hands secretly under the table or in an alleyway, and messages are passed on orally without leaving any trace. In fact, it is a very sophisticated business, which must overcome day-in day-out technical, regulatory, security, cultural, institutional, logistical and managerial challenges, in an environment which is anything but hospitable.
TOP TWEETS
@RadioErgo: #SOMALIA: The group of 150 youth have set up classes for children whose families resettled in #Hingalol,#Elbuh and #Damala-Hagare villages in #Sanag region.
So far, 120 children have enrolled for the #programme and are resuming their #learning. 2/4
@DalsanFM: BREAKING: All flights at Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport delayed after fire guts part of a restaurant within the airport. Cause of fire said to be electrical fault#Somalia.
@SomaliainChina: Somali Ambassador H.E. @Awalekullanegiving Keynote speech at the The First China-Africa (Chengdu) E-commerce Industrial Development Forum today. #AEF #Somalia#China #ChinaAfrica @TheVillaSomalia @SomaliPM.
@UNHCRSom: Mohamed Noor returned to #Somalia after decades in #Kakuma refugee camp, @UNHCRSom assisted him and he is now making a living as a fisherman:https://goo.gl/cdLHa3 Thanks to our donors, UNHCR has provided assistance to over 86,000 returnees from Kenya, Yemen and other countries.
@musebiihi: Received a joint delegation from #IGAD and the#United Nations. Discussed a wide range of issues including regional security, UN development programmes and #Somaliland – Somalia talks.
@AfricaDemocracy: Good morning! Our Monday read is an important blog by @JFisherBham, who asks whether #
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Mogadishu Mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman and his delegation are accorded a warm welcome in Dijbouti by Mayor Fatouma Awaleh Osman.
Photo: @engyarisow