November 12, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
Shariif Hassan Survives Double Attack On His Way To Mogadishu
12 November – Source: Wacaal Media – 113 Words
President of South West Somalia State, Shariif Hassan Sheikh on Wednesday survived an assassination attempt on his life after his convoy was attacked twice in the outskirts of Mogadishu. His security detail way laid a Toyota hilux surf car laden with explosive as it was aimed at the vehicle the head of state was traveling in. The convoy was on its way to Mogadishu and came under attack at Bood-boodka town, 5km from the district of Afgooye. The same convoy later came under a landmine attack in Alamada town near the city of Mogadishu but we could not immediately establish the extent of damage from both attacks. Al-Shabaab have already claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Key Headlines
- Shariif Hassan Survives Double Attack On His Way To Mogadishu (Wacaal Media)
- Three Elders Killed In Galgudud After Concluding Reconciliation Meeting (Shabelle News)
- Kenya Accused Of Expansionist Agenda As Somalia MPs Debate Border Wall (Wacaal Media)
- Lower Shabelle Region Governor Sacked New One Assigned (Shabelle News)
- Italian Diplomat Appointed UN Refugee Chief (VoA)
- EU Offers Africa Aid Easier Travel For Migrant Help (Reuters)
- Level Playing Field Needed to Expand Somalia’s Private Sector (World Bank)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Three Elders Killed In Galgudud After Concluding Reconciliation Meeting
12 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 139 Words
At least two elders have been killed and three others seriously wounded in a gun attack in an area between Guriel and Balanballe of Galgudud region, Goobjoog News correspondent in the region reports. The elders who were heading to Guriel after they concluded a reconciliation mission bringing together two warring clans in Balanballe were attacked by gunmen but our correspondent says the circumstances surrounding the killing is unclear since such killings of elders in the region is uncommon.
“The elders were ambushed on the way and their car sprayed with bullets by armed men who were later identified to have been from one of the clans in the area. Two elders were killed and three others injured,” said the correspondent. The region is notorious for constant clan rages and devastating communal fights but it is rare to see elders killed.
Kenya Accused Of Expansionist Agenda As Somalia MPs Debate Border Wall
12 November – Source: Wacaal Media – 120 Words
Somalia MPs debating the security wall Kenya is constructing along its border with Somalia have accused the latter of grabbing the land of Somalia. A section of the MPs led by Dahir Amin Jeesow and Abdullahi Goodah Barre pointed an accusing finger at the Somalia leadership for allowing Kenya to construct a wall on a land that they said belongs to Somalia. The MPs said there were brokers posing as leaders in the Somalia administration who were serving the interests of neighboring countries such as Kenya. On Thursday, the Parliamentary committee of Internal and Foreign affairs is set to discuss the security wall Kenya is constructing at Beled Hawo district of Gedo region which borders the Kenyan town of Mandera.
Lower Shabelle Region Governor Sacked, New One Assigned
11 November – Source: Shabelle News – 89 Words
The interim South West state leader Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden has sacked the long-serving governor of Lower Shabelle region Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Sidii on Wednesday. In a colorful ceremony held in Afgoye district, South west state leader has appointed Ibrahim Aden Ali as the new governor of the agriculture-rich Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia. The reason behind the dismissal of Abdulkadir Sidii who led the joint military operation that pushed Al shabaab militants out of the towns in Lower Shabelle during his time in power was unclear.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Italian Diplomat Appointed UN Refugee Chief
12 November – Source: Voice of America – 176 Words
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has named Italian diplomat Filippo Grandi as the new U.N. refugee chief to handle the world’s worst refugee crisis since World War Two. The appointment, which will have to be confirmed by the 193-member General Assembly, is unlikely to encounter resistance. Grandi will replace Antonio Guterres of Portugal, who was U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees since 2005.
Grandi was head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency from 2010 to 2014, after serving as its deputy chief from 2005 to 2010. He was also deputy envoy to the U.N. aid mission in Afghanistan. He worked for UNHCR in Sudan, Syria, Turkey and Iraq, and led humanitarian operations in Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among other countries. The UNHCR said last week that refugees and migrants were expected to arrive in Europe at a rate of up to 5,000 per day via Turkey this winter. Most of them are fleeing the more than four-year-old civil war in Syria, though many are leaving Iraq and Afghanistan.
EU Offers Africa Aid, Easier Travel For Migrant Help
12 November – Source: Reuters – 840 Words
EU leaders offered African counterparts aid and better access to Europe at a summit on Wednesday in return for help curbing chaotic migration across the Mediterranean and promises to take back those Europe expels.With Europeans’ attention now gripped by over half a million Syrians and others whose arrival has plunged the EU into crisis, memories have faded of the drowned Africans whose deaths in April prompted the Malta summit. Refugee haven Sweden imposed border controls as the leaders met.
But a 17-page Action Plan, seen by Reuters, to be signed in Valletta on Thursday, sets out dozens of initiatives. Many build on decades of stuttering cooperation between the world’s poorest continent and wealthy but ageing Europe, where many leaders are uneasy about their proximity to Africa’s booming population.Some are newer, including a European pledge to drive down costs for sending money home from Europe to Africa — a nod to African governments’ concerns that curbing migration could crimp remittances from expatriate citizens that are estimated to bring twice as much to Africa’s economy as foreign aid donations.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“After twenty years of conflict, Somalia is ranked the fifth poorest country in the world with an estimated GDP of about US$ 5.7 billion in 2014 and a GDP per capita of US$ 435. It is estimated that only 42 percent of its school-age children are enrolled in primary school, with girls making up just 36 percent of these. About 67 percent of youth aged between 14 and 29 are believed to be unemployed, which makes them vulnerable to recruitment into militia or radicalized groups.”
Level Playing Field Needed to Expand Somalia’s Private Sector
10 November – Source: World Bank – 738 Words
Job creation through private sector led investment will be critical for sustainable and inclusive growth and to lift Somalis out of poverty over the medium term. However, the country will need to deepen and accelerate the current reform agenda if it is to ensure a level playing field for Somalia’s vibrant private sector, according to a new World Bank report.
The first in a new series of Somalia Economic Updates, entitled ‘Transition Amid Risks’, warns that the absence of appropriate regulations is responsible for the emergence of the anti-competitive behavior currently hindering the emergence of new Somali enterprises as well as prospects for smaller and medium sized enterprises. Continued commitment to the reform process will create the opportunity for broader participation in the economy; improved regulatory frameworks will encourage investment, generate better services and create the jobs much needed by Somalia’s youthful population.
In particular, the private sector is constrained by the lack of a mature and well-regulated domestic financial sector, combined with the financial “derisking” action against some international banks. De-risking threatens the remittances channeled by Somali money transfer operators which make up about 24 percent of the GDP and have hitherto constituted a crucial source of funding for the private sector as well as households.
TOP TWEETS
@Daudoo: BREAKING: Sharif Hassan, President of SW state survives assassination attempt after his convoy ambushes by#AlShabaab near Afgoye. #Somalia
@SomaliPM: My Remarks at UN Security Council Nov. 09#Somalia @UNSomalia @Somalia111@@TheVillaSomaliahttps://madmimi.com/s/f8e6e6?
@radiogarowe: ISIL loyalty sparks off deadly battle in southern#Somalia http://bit.ly/1OFT9as
@maomar324: Report implicates Kenyan military in sugar smuggling racket in Somalia http://www.standardmedia.co.
@Cidilibaax: Level Playing Field Needed to Expand#Somalia’s Private Sector – World Bankhttp://www.worldbank.org/en/
@HarunMaruf: #Somalia: Abdulkadir Mohamed “Siidii” the flamboyant, media-friendly governor of Lower Shabelle is sacked, officials
@SomaliEmbDC: Special message from Emb. Awad@StateDept @US2SOMALIA @WhiteHouse @UNSomalia@washingtonpost @keithellison #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
A dock worker looks on while a crane loads cattle onto a ship in Mogadishu. In 2014, Somalia exported a record 5 million livestock to markets in the Gulf of Arabia.
Photo: AMISOM