May 26, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
High ‘Ranking’ Al-Shabaab Explosives Expert Among Terror Suspects Arrested
26 May – Source: Capital FM – 289 words
Police say several terror suspects behind the attacks within Mandera County have been arrested. Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet says one of the suspects, Ahmed Abdi Yare, who is a high-ranking Al-Shabaab explosives expert, is helping in the probe. Police found the suspect with assorted weapons and IED making materials. “We have also stepped our counter-terrorism operations in the region, aimed at eliminating the operatives who have infiltrated into the border areas from Somalia and their collaborators,” the IG said in a statement.
He states that they are also following leads that could suggest that the attacks could be linked to racketeering in contraband and other forms of crime. As the season of Ramadan nears, he said terrorists were likely to, “subvert the tenets of the Holy month by staging other attacks in their vain endeavor to seek martyrdom.” The police boss further urges Kenyans to promptly report any suspicious activity using the toll-free numbers 999, 911 or 112. The police service has suffered a major setback in the last two days, following the killing of 13 officers. Al-Shabaab militants according to police “are dispatching operatives into parts of the north eastern region to lay IEDs along routes used by our security patrols in efforts to frustrate our security operations at the border areas.”
Since 2007 Al-Shabaab has fought to overthrow successive internationally-backed governments in Mogadishu but only began attacking Kenya in 2011 after Nairobi ordered its troops into Somalia to fight the militants. Kenyan soldiers are now part of a 22,000-strong African Union mission fighting in Somalia. In 2013, Al-Shabaab gunmen raided a shopping mall in the capital Nairobi killing 67 people, and in 2015 a similar attack on a university in Garissa left 148 dead.
Key Headlines
- High ‘Ranking’ Al-Shabaab Explosives Expert Among Terror Suspects Arrested (Capital FM)
- Three Women Brutally Killed in Separate Incidents (Somali Update)
- Al-Shabaab’s Increased Attacks In Mogadishu Is An Attempt To Disrupt Security Operations Minister Says (Hiiraan Online)
- Africa Day Is Marked In Somalia With A Call For Increased Investment In The Country’s Youth (AMISOM)
- Somali Fishermen Complain About Illegal Vessels (Al-Jazeera)
- Aid Agencies Reach Somalia IDP’s With Cash Relief Programs (VOA news)
- A Game Changer – The Prospects And Pitfalls of Mobile Money In Somalia (Blog/World Bank)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Three Women Brutally Killed in Separate Incidents
26 May – Source: Somali Update – 254 words
Three women have been killed in two separate incidents in Mogadishu and Lower Shabelle region on Thursdaynight. The first incident occurred in Dirir-weyn, a small village between Leego and Wanla-weyn towns in Lower Shabelle region, about 90KM south of Mogadishu, where gunmen abducted two middle-aged women from their homes and later threw their headless bodies on the road. According to family members who sought anonymity due to safety concerns, the two women were neighbors who used to trade on Khat (Miraa) and were eventually beheaded. “About four gunmen raided the homes and took out the women. We do not know the reason, but later people saw their severed heads and bodies lying nearby road,” said a cousin to one of the two victims.
The incident shocked residents in Dirir-weyn and nearby locations and are reluctant to name the perpetrators in fear of reprisal. The militant group Al-Shabab are known to target Khat traders who sell the stimulant drug to government soldiers. In the second incident, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Halima Elmi Mohamed, a female delegate who was involved in the selection of legislators from Galmudug region during Somalia’s 2016/2017 indirect elections. According to Mrs. Halima’s son, she was working in a recently opened cosmetics shop in Seybiyano neighborhood in Hodan District where she was shot and killed. Members of the security forces reached the area and started investigation but no arrest was made. She becomes the 23rd delegate member who was involved with the selection of Somalia Parliamentarians killed since February.
Al-Shabaab’s Increased Attacks In Mogadishu Is An Attempt To Disrupt Security Operations, Minister Says
26 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 139 words
Somali government has commented on increased Al-Shabaab attacks in the capital, saying that the group’s objective is to disrupt ongoing security measures aimed at stamping out militants hiding in some parts of the city. Speaking to VOA Somali Service, Federal Information Minister, Abdirahman Omar Osman “Yarisow” said the government is engaged in plans to bolster security of the capital. “When they (Al-Shabaab) became aware of government’s plans to conduct big operations against them, they doubled their atrocities against the Somali people in a bid to disrupt the operations. They continue to kill civilians in their attacks, the latest happening on Wednesday,” he said. The rise in the attacks has been felt in Mogadishu at a time government security forces began security operations aimed at restoring stability of the capital and securing the lives and property of the local residents.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Africa Day Is Marked In Somalia With A Call For Increased Investment In The Country’s Youth
26 May – Source: AMISOM – 442 words
Africa Day celebrations in Somalia was marked in the capital Mogadishu today, in pomp. The day this year focused on the youth as a dynamic force, with potential to transform the continent, riding on the theme, “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youth”. In his remarks, the AU Special Representative for Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Caetano Madeira, highlighted the importance of Somalia’s youth in solving the country’s security challenges. “We do recognize that successes on the security front in Somalia cannot be realized without an agenda that includes the youth,” Ambassador Madeira told guests at the Africa Day celebrations.
Youth aged between 10 – 35 years, comprise 51-percent of the country’s population, while 60-percent of Africa’s population is currently aged 24 years and below, according to latest statistics. The African Union Mission in Somalia is at the forefront of engaging the youth to help them lead more purposeful lives. “Most of those who are fighting are young Somalis, we need to empower those young Somalis and rescue those who have fallen into the hands of violent extremism,” SRCC Madeira noted. The chief guest at the celebrations, the federal Minister of Information, Mr. Abdirahman Omar Osman, lauded the AU Mission for its unwavering support to Somalia.
“Somalia used to be one of the best and greatest nations in Africa that supported the struggle for independence in other African nations,” the minister said. He expressed gratitude at the resolve by African countries to keep their troops in Somalia. “We are very proud to be here today, to see African troops help and support us; so that Somalia can become the nation that everybody used to know,” he stated. The AU Mission is marking ten years since it first deployed troops in Somalia. An AU-UN joint review team is currently in Mogadishu to assess and determine a transition plan, before the onset of the drawdown of AU troops next year.
Somali Fishermen Complain About Illegal Vessels
26 May – Source: Aljazeera – video 2:32 minutes
Some fishermen in Somalia are being pushed towards piracy, because illegal fishing off the Somali coast is damaging their livelihood. They say flotillas from countries like Yemen, Iran, and South Korea are plundering their country’s rich fishing grounds.
Aid Agencies Reach Somalia IDP’s With Cash Relief Programs
26 May – Source – VOA – video – 3:05 minutes
A key innovation since the 2011 famine in Somalia is the growing use of cash assistance programs for people affected by current drought-induced crisis. The mobile money transfers enhance accountability, sidestep security challenges and enable recipients, many of whom are displaced, to get help no matter where they go. For VOA, Mohammed Yusuf has the story from Baidoa, Somalia.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Many Somalis report that mobile money is unreliable and puts their money at risk because of a lack of interoperability between different services and transparency over funds.”
A Game Changer – The Prospects And Pitfalls of Mobile Money In Somalia
26 May, Source: Blog/World Bank – 832 words
Mobile payments herald financial opportunity in Somalia. But for whom? And for how long? If Somalia’s telecommunications sector is the locomotive driving the economy, mobile money is the highway, transferring value and extending access to the economic playing field, nowadays at a rapid pace. Somalia’s mobile money services, such as Hormuud’s EVC+ or Telesom’s Zaad, have been acting as a virtual, dollarized currency since their inception. However, mobile money usage, and the extent of the dollarization and virtualization of the currency it represents, is actually far higher than previously thought. Research carried out throughout 2016, conducted with Altai Consulting through the World Bank’s Somalia ICT Sector Support Project and spanning all economic zones and Federally Ministered States, finds that it is the current mobile money ecosystem that achieves all this, and more.
A stark example is the prevalence of mobile money usage (73%) compared to the 15% of the population who have accounts with formal banks. And the use of mobile money to transfer incoming international remittances domestically reflects the strong links that exist between mobile network operators and money transfer businesses (MTBs). This is a substantially different environment than telecommunications in countries across the rest of the African continent, which have been dominated by incoming multi-national companies such as India’s Bharti Telecom or France’s Orange. Given the complexity of operating in the Somali political environment, investment in telecommunications has been almost exclusively led by Somalis, both from the diaspora and within the country. As a result, the ICT sector has been able to leverage Somali social and business networks, and has created products uniquely suited to the Somali context. Streets and storefronts in urban spaces and rural villages alike see customers using mobile money for purchasing everyday items, such as groceries, according to Egal Abdiwali, “Mobile Money, Why Somalia Should Take Charge of the New Financial Revolution.”
But, as the Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmaajo” prioritizes security, service delivery, and strengthening collaboration with the private sector, the mobile money sector increasingly finds itself caught between policy reform and private sector growth.The 2016 research finds 88% of Somalis above the age of 16 own at least 1 SIM card, while 83% of SIM card owners use mobile money. Mobile money services are often used for cash-in transactions or deposits of eMoney to mobile money accounts, cash-out transactions, and cash withdrawals. They are also used for bills, salary receipts, and merchant payment transactions (of up to 5 times a month) typically ranging between US$20-US$200 each. The ecosystem is already robust, with nearly two-thirds of users choosing to keep funds in their mobile accounts rather than cashing them out. Large shares in the value mix of disbursements and bill and merchant payments, suggest an expanding ecosystem as increasing numbers of institutions and businesses start using mobile money.
Real-time Growth and Reform
Yet, just as mobile money in Somalia offers startling opportunities, it also comes with staggering risks. The current system in use in the majority of Somali territory lacks formal Know Your Customer requirements on customer identity, and parity between eMoney and cash in banks. Many Somalis report that mobile money is unreliable and puts their money at risk because of a lack of interoperability between different services and transparency over funds. There are also reports of agents struggling to maintain cash for cash-out transactions while the system continues to lack customer guarantee. Yet despite these concerns, the sector is growing, and Somalia is forecast to play a significant role in reaching GSMA’s expected 725 million unique mobile money subscribers in Africa by 2020. As such, the following policy priorities are crucial for sustainable growth:
- Establishing parity between online and offline credit for mobile payments
- Developing trusted “know your customer” systems
- Ensuring interconnection of mobile payments between operators
- Passage of Communications Act to license mobile network operators
- Enabling Somali Shilling based mobile money transactions (alongside US$ based payments)
Through the Multi-Partner Fund and the State and Peacebuilding Fund, and the World Bank Group is supporting the Central Bank of Somalia, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Posts Telecom and Technology to pilot a government platform for bulk payments using mobile money, in collaboration with established mobile operators. The pilot will model and test the role of industry-friendly regulatory best practices through salary payments to civil servants and cash transfers to support Somalia’s drought response.
What’s next?
To leverage the full potential of Somalia’s mobile money industry, operators need to offer more diverse, value added services to build up their user base and spur more use of mobile finance. This will require reliable regulatory support from the government, as well as private sector adherence to financial and consumer security requirements. This could then help the industry gain more trust from the international community and Somali consumers. Recent Public Private Dialogues between the telecommunications sector and government have rekindled interest in collaboration. Will both sides be up to the challenge to support regulation and make these social and economic gains a reality?
TOP TWEETS
@Abukar_Arman: Congrats Sr Hawa Abdi (Somalia’s Mother Teresa) & others on being @HarvardKSR 2017 Honorary-Degree Recipients!
@M_Farmaajo: Somalia is a proud founding member of the #OAU now #AU. We are proud Africans & citizens of the world. Happy #AfricaDay2017 @AUC_DPA.
@SomaliaNewsroom: Many returnees end up in IDP camps, of which some are informal, poorly- resourced non-UN facilities. Right scenario for voluntary return?
@Vatescorp: #Somalia: Bodyguard shoots El Wak Deputy District Commissioner, Gedo region, motive unknown
@DalsanFM:Somaliland Freed the detained journalist Mr Oldon with Presidential Pardon. – http://radiodalsan.com/en/
@axmednuur: @somaliPM It’s not only to say that we are paying salaries of the Army Force but there has to be complete action and accountability.#Somalia
@TheVillaSomalia: #Qatar a valuable ally & supporter with whom we seek to further strengthen our bilateral ties in all areas of cooperation.@MofaQatar_EN.
@M_Farmaajo: Proud to celebrate #AfricaDay2017 today. We must continue to build a strong, connected, peaceful & prosperous continent @AUC_DPA
@HarunMaruf: Kenya: Survivor of Wednesday’s Al-Shabab attack in Mandera recounts what happened
Gamal M Hassan @AmbGamal: Today I had a very productive meeting with my Qatari counterpart Dr. Saleh Al-Nabit in Doha. @MoPIED_Somalia
@Aynte: Abdi Aynte Retweeted Adam A. Omar, Gut-wrenching footage! It’s a powerful reminder of the work that needs to be done on improving security in#Mogadishu and across #Somalia
@HarunMaruf: 300 Turkish military officers will arrive in #Somalia in August to train military officers, noncommissioned officers and privates: Amb Bekar
@JonathanMStarr: So proud of my advisee, Nimo Ahmed Ismail, the first girl from @AbaarsoSchool to finish US college. Nimo is headed back to@Somaliland
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Ambassador Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira (left), Somalia’s Minister of Information, Abdirahman Omar Osman (center), and The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Somalia, Michael Keating (right), cut into a cake during celebrations to mark Africa Day held at the AMISOM headquarters in Mogadishu, Somalia, on May 25, 2017.
PHOTO: AMISOM