August 29, 2014 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Somali cabinet pass national education bill

28 Aug – Source: Radio Mogadishu/Radio Goobjoog – 171 words

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Religious Affairs of the Federal Government of Somali Mr Ridwan Hersi Mohamed Thursday chaired a regular meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Federal Government of Somalia, and the bill of National Education was passed. The cabinet has also debated on the new draft media law and re-scheduled for detailed discussion on Monday. After the meeting government spokesperson Ridwan Haji Abdiweli told the media that the cabinet discussed a number of issues including national education bill, new draft media law and ways of sending relief to the areas affected by droughts. On his side the Minister for Agriculture said the federal government sent a committee to the areas affected by droughts and reported that the people were in dire humanitarian conditions in need immediate help and support. He added that the federal government has sent 300 tones of emergency food to the most affected areas like Bakool and Gedo regions to save the lives of the people.

Key Headlines

Somalia sues Kenya at top UN court over maritime border (AFP/Global Post)
Somali cabinet pass national education bill (Radio Mogadishu)
20 arrested in security crackdown in Jowhar town (Radio Bar-kulan)
ISS celebrates ISO accreditation in Middle East and Africa (Ship Management International)
Over 70 women attend workshop on promoting business held in Mogadishu (Radio Goobjoog)
OIC launches urgent relief appeal for Somalia (Kuwait News Agency)
Former Somali PM denies he was captured by Somaliland Forces (BBC Somali Service)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali cabinet pass national education bill

28 Aug – Source: Radio Mogadishu/Radio Goobjoog – 171 words

20 arrested in security crackdown in Jowhar town

28 Aug – Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Jowhar Online/Radio Risaala -144 words

At least 20 people have been arrested in security operations carried out by security forces in collaboration with local police in Jowhar town, the provincial capital of Middle Shabelle region. Muse Killi, an official from Jowhar police force told Bar-kulan that the security operations were conducted in Hanti-wadag neighborhood where an official from the tax collection department was injured on Wednesday night. Those arrested in the security operations are suspected of having involved in the incident which left the tax collector injured on Wednesdaynight. Meanwhile, the condition of the injured tax collector is improving according to some of the medical staff at Inter-SOS hospital in Jowhar who spoke to Bar-kulan. This is the first time such security operations are carried out in the town since the new regional governor came to power early this month.

Over 70 women attend workshop on promoting business held in Mogadishu

28 Aug – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 123 words

Over 70 women from all the districts of Banadir region are taking part in a work shop on promotion of small scale business in Mogadishu. The workshop is funded by NRC and implemented by a local NGO Abro. All the participants of the workshop underlined the importance of encouraging and promoting small business in the country. Fatuma Daud, one of the business people taking part in the workshop said she is delighted to attend a seminar of its kind and hopes to get experiences that will enhance business activities in the region. Many Somali nationals have created small business to manage their daily lives but lacks expertise to development their business activities.

Former Somali PM denies he was captured by Somaliland Forces

28 Aug – Source: Radio Dalsan/Jowhar Online/BBC Somali Service – 143 words

The former Somali PM Prof. Ali Mohamed Gedi denied earlier reports saying that he was captured by Somaliland forces at Saahdheer. Speaking to Dalsan Radio on the line from Dubai, Ali M Gedi said the news by Somaliland that they arrested him in baseless. He however said that he is worried about the attack against that place where the blood of innocent Somalis was shed. He said friends told him what happened there and he also learnt the incident through media. “May be the official, Mr. Duunkaal caught another man with similar name like mine. It is not me. I am now in the UAE,”Ali M Gedi said. Mr. Dunkaal is an official who was among the Somaliland forces that attacked Saahdheer. He said the Somaliland forces were against an inauguration ceremony for Ali Khalif Galayr as the president of self-declared autonomous state of Khaatumo which was supposed to take place there.

Somaliland forces capture Saahdheer

28 Aug – Source: Radio RBC/Bar-kulan/Goobjoog – 108 words

Somaliland forces have seized Saahdheer village where the newly elected president of Khaatumo state Ali Khalif Galayd was scheduled to be inaugurated on Thursday. The forces attacked the village early morning on Thursday and took the control after meeting resistances from Khaatumo armed forces. Saahdheer, a small village which lies 70Km south to Laascaanood, the regional capital of Sool region which is now under the control of Somaliland, Somalia’s self-declared breakaway administration. RBC reporters on the ground stated that Khaatumo president along with delegations that reached Saahdher the past few days to attend the inauguration ceremony have withdrawn from the village and crossed into Ethiopia’s Somali region.

REGIONAL MEDIA

OIC launches urgent relief appeal for Somalia

28 Aug – Source: Kuwait News Agency – 211 words

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) made on Thursday urgent appeal to its member states, friendly states, international organizations and non-governmental humanitarian organizations to provide urgent assistance to Somalia. “This is in light of the difficult humanitarian situation the country is passing through which portends the danger of a second wave of famine that may affect hundreds of thousands of victims, according to estimates provided by the OIC Humanitarian Coordination Office in Mogadishu,” the OIC said in a press statement. “Current details indicate that about 1 million persons including more than 75,000 children are suffering from serious malnutrition.” The OIC also stated that depletion of various water sources has led to the critical condition in the country, with its catastrophic effects on agricultural production regions and livestock.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia sues Kenya at top UN court over maritime border

28 Aug – Source: AFP/Global Post – 326 ords

Somalia took its maritime border dispute with Kenya to the United Nations’ top court on Thursday, which could decide the fate of potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves off east Africa. The dispute has been simmering for years, keeping investors away because of the lack of legal clarity over who owns potential offshore oil and gas reserves. The internationally-backed government in Mogadishu is seeking to claw back authority over Somalia’s territorial waters, including the area bordering Kenya that is potentially rich in oil and gas deposits. Kenya, which has had troops in southern Somalia since 2011, first as an invading force and then as part of an African Union peacekeeping force, lays claim to a triangle of water stretching for more than 100,000 square kilometres (40,000 square miles) that Mogadishu also claims. Nairobi has already awarded exploration contracts to international firms despite the legal uncertainty. “Somalia requests the court ‘to determine, on the basis of international law, the complete course of the single maritime boundary dividing all the maritime areas appertaining to Somalia and to Kenya in the Indian Ocean’,” the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said in a statement.

ISS celebrates ISO accreditation in Middle East and Africa

28 Aug – Source: Ship Management International – words

Maritime services provider Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) is celebrating the awards of ISO 22000:2005 – Food Safety Management System and ISO 9001:2008 for the company’s supply chain operations in Dubai, Mombasa and Mogadishu. As a pre-requisite to fulfilling the requirements of a three-year (plus two-year option) contract with the United Nations to supply the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), ISS had to meet a number of operational criteria relating to the procurement, supply chain management, transportation, warehousing and distribution of food to the Mission. To enable the ISS (United Nations Support Office in Africa – UNSOA) team to demonstrate its operational competence and its commitment to ongoing continuous improvement, it initiated the ISO certification process in August 2013 and set itself a very short time frame of just six months to achieve full accreditation.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“Surprisingly Somalia is also a fast emerging nation. Somalia is attracting investors such Warren Buffett’s son Howard Buffett who has teamed with Michael Stock. Also an article by Swedish statistician Hans Rosling said that if comes to investing ‘’between Somalia or Mexico choose Somalia.’’ According to Rosling, Somalia as with many African states, offers a more profitable investment opportunity in potential returns.”

Africa Rising

28 Aug – Source: The London Economic – 659 words

Despite Africa’s long prophesied ascension as the next economic powerhouse there are still questions to be answered on whether this could ever materialise. The main question is whether it is a safe and solid investment. To invest in anything there needs to be a prospect of a strong return. You can never to be too cautious when entering any market let alone an emerging one. As Africa ascends she is showing exciting growth that is attracting many investors. Africa is home to seven out of the ten fastest growing economies in the world. Ethiopia, a country whose reputation was marred by the 1984 famine, but is today competing with the likes of China, whose growth rate is 9.2 per cent, and India, with a growth rate of 8.1 per cent. Ethiopia’s growth rate is 8.2 per cent with its economy growing at ten per cent a decade. The dynamics of the continent are changing as more and more educated and ambitious leaders and middle classes emerge. African countries are beginning to show a strong economic global presence. However, there is a risk in any investment but there are also great returns to be had by investing in Africa with a future that looks prosperous. The continent is not only rich in natural resources, traditionally seen as the main income driver for the developing nations.