October 18, 2018 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Ethiopia And Eritrean Foreign Ministers Arrive In Mogadishu

17 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 145 Words

Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu and his Eritrean counterpart Osman Saleh arrived in Mogadishu on Wednesday. Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad received the ministers at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, as security forces locked down major roads in the city.

It was not immediately clear what the agenda of the visit was, but leaders of Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia, have in the last three months made far reaching statements and agreements, aimed at fully restoring relations after several decades.

The visit follows President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo’s visit to Asmara in late July. Also, Ethiopian Airlines announced on Tuesday it would resume flights to Mogadishu starting next month, ending a 40 year absence. Both Ethiopia and Eritrea have reopened embassies in each other’s capitals. Somalia and Eritrea have also pledged to reopen embassies in Mogadishu and Asmara.

Key Headlines

Ethiopian And Eritrean Foreign Ministers Arrive In Mogadishu (Halbeeg News)
MP Manhandled Another Blocked By Security Forces In City Lock-down (Goobjoog News)
Al-Shabaab Claims Killing Of A Former Electoral Delegate In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
Buy A Blender Online In Mogadishu? E-commerce Comes To Somalia (Reuters)
Somalia To Develop A National Communication Strategy On Preventing And Countering Violent Extremism (AMISOM)
Somaliland’s World-leading Move Towards A Cashless Culture (The National)

NATIONAL MEDIA

MP Manhandled, Another Blocked By Security Forces In City Lock-down

17 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 224 Words

A lawmaker was manhandled by security forces, while another was briefly barred from heading to parliament this morning along KM5 road, as security forces enforced a lock-down on main roads, ahead of the arrival of Ethiopian and Eritrean foreign ministers in the country. MP Mahad Salad told reporters that, the security forces blocked his car driving through KM5 since no vehicle was allowed. “The officers told us we could not proceed and two of them attempted to seize guns from my security guards,” the lawmaker said. The officers later allowed the lawmaker to pass.

Another lawmaker, Abdukadir Mohamed Osman speaking to reporters stated that security forces abused and manhandled him as well. “The security forces stopped me, I told I am an MP and i was headed for Parliament”, the lawmaker said. The MP alleged that one of the officers said “You are not my MP, you are the MP of your clan—, they argued with my staff and manhandled me. This is not a security measure but a politically motivated move,” the MP said.

The MPs were heading to parliament where the Lower House was set to debate on Arms Control and Auditor General bills, both in first and second reading stages respectively. Major roads stretching from Eelasha Biyaha to Maka al Mukarama, remained closed in the morning forcing city residents to walk.

Al-Shabaab Claims Killing Of A Former Electoral Delegate In Mogadishu

17 October – Source: Shabelle News – 108 Words

Al-Shabaab claimed to be responsible for murdering a traditional elder, involved in the election of a Member of Parliament, from Wadajir district. Mohamed Ali Feeldheer, the slain elder was reported to have participated in the election of MPs from Adado city in Galmudug state back in 2016.

Al-Shabaab has released a statement that is posted on their websites, saying the former electoral delegate has been executed by two militants armed with pistols. There is no word yet from the security officers in the area over the killing. Al-Shabaab has in the past vowed to target any traditional elders who took part in last parliamentary elections held across state capitals.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Buy A Blender Online In Mogadishu? E-commerce Comes To Somalia

17 October – Source: Reuters – 359 Words

Somalia might not seem a good bet for e-commerce. It’s one of the world’s poorest countries and has been at war for a quarter century. There’s no functioning postal service and less than 2 percent of the population is connected to the internet. But Safiya Ahmed, a finance officer at Golden University, a private college in the capital Mogadishu, loves shopping online, because it saves time she would otherwise have to spend out on the city’s hectic streets. She shows off a blender in her office that she ordered over the web.

“I do not get time to go shopping in person,” she said. “You do not get everything from online retailers because they are new. But they are developing every day, so we hope to find everything online soon.” Parts of the country are still plagued by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants. But a degree of stability in the capital in recent years has begun to attract investment from locals and Somalis living abroad. Ahmed ordered her blender from Soomar, a company set up two years ago which now rings up sales of more than 25,000 items a month, offering an eclectic range of goods from fresh fish to electronics and office supplies.

Customers can pay with accounts on their mobile phones, a convenience which the company’s boss, Mohamed Mohamud, said is the key to his success so far. “Many online businesses have come up in the last two years but Soomar is the only online business that offers mobile payments,” Mohamud said.

Somalia To Develop A National Communication Strategy On Preventing And Countering Violent Extremism

17 October – Source: AMISOM – 357 Words

Somalia is in the process of developing a national communication strategy, to stem the tide in radicalization and violent extremism in the Horn of Africa country. The process of developing the strategy is being spearheaded by the Office of the Prime Minister and is expected to be completed this October. The AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)’s Protection, Human Rights and Gender Unit, is providing technical support to the Federal Government, to develop a suitable document, that captures the thrust of counter-extremism efforts; and ways of tackling the problem.

The first phase of meetings to brainstorm on the strategy ended in the capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, after fruitful deliberations between the Federal Government and key stakeholders. “The strategy should be forward looking, visionary and also have clear, sustainable activities that will be undertaken,” said the Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (DSRCC), for Somalia, Mr. Simon Mulongo, during the official opening of the three-day meeting last Monday.

The Deputy Head of AMISOM urged participants to develop a workable strategy, that will encourage coordination between the federal and state governments. “The strategy is an opportunity for Somalia to reconsider its approach to resolving conflicts and violence through use of effective communication,” he noted. The strategy is expected to give rise to projects and programs which will involve the youth, women, elders and leaders, at various levels. Mr. Mulongo urged participants to place emphasis on the root causes of violent extremism, while seeking ways to reduce the threat.

OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE

“The state’s minister of telecommunications, Abdiweli Abdilahi Suufi Jibriil, tells The National that government ministries have even used mobile money themselves, during particularly tough times for the Somaliland shilling.”

Somaliland’s World-leading Move Towards A Cashless Culture

17 October – Source: The National – 677 Words

Abdul Rashid has sold sweet Somali tea on the muddy streets of Hargeisa for decades. As night falls in the capital of breakaway Somaliland and worshipers flood out of the mosque, a handful congregate around his rickety table. While he pours from a flask into paper cups, buyers type a string of numbers into mobile phones, take their tea and go on their way.

A cup of Mr Rashid’s tea costs 2,000 Somaliland shillings – equivalent to $0.25 or Dh0.92 – and his customers pay almost exclusively with their mobile phones. “I never see cash,” he tells The National. Mr Rashid is not alone. Across Somaliland – which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but is yet to gain recognition from the international community – people are turning away from cash and embracing mobile money.

This makes the region, with its tiny livestock-dependent economy, a candidate for the world’s first cashless society. “It is the most incredible service we have,” says Abdinasir Ahmed Hersi. He is the director general of Somaliland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, but I bump into him buying a mobile phone – using the one he already has – in the clean but soulless Deero mall in downtown Hargeisa. “It’s so inclusive, whether you are in a rural area or in the city,” he adds. Mr Hersi is not wrong. From the road-side stalls hawking khat, a chewing leaf with mild narcotic properties which has found great popularity in Somaliland, to more high-end malls, cash is now a rarity.

Instead, buyers punch a string of numbers and a vendor code into their mobile and the money is transferred immediately. For now – with two main companies eDahab and Zaad controlling the market – there are no fees. Cash can quickly be withdrawn from, or added to, mobile accounts at specialised stores that dot the streets of Hargeisa.

With low literacy rates and just a handful of ATMs, Somalilanders are attracted to the simplicity of mobile money. Since it does not require a smartphone or internet access, even the most rudimentary mobiles can be used. It also eliminates the threat of theft that large quantities of cash carry in most cities.