October 5, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Sudan Likely To Print Somalia’s New Currency
05 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 284 Words
Sudan could soon print Somalia’s new currency, talks between President Mohamed Farmaajo and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum have hinted at, but the details of the talks remain scanty. Sudan president Omar al-Bashir said his country had the requisite infrastructure to roll out the printing of the new currency which Somalia aims to replace with the existing notes most of which are counterfeit. “It’s an honour to respond to the request of Somalia to print its national currency. Sudanese Currency Printing Company owns the latest machinery and equipment for printing the currency, and it has the maximum requirements for insurance and safety and protection,” said al-Bashir.
It is not clear however if the talks focused on the financing which Somalia estimates at $60 million. Central Bank Governor Bashir Isse Ali said July the Bank was working with other affiliate agencies to develop the design and security features for the new notes but did not specify if the country had identified any donor to finance the printing. The notes, Ali said would be in denominations of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 but added there was room for 50,000 note and less than 1,000. Somalia, which does not qualify for lending from the international market owing to its debt relies on donor countries to print its currency which it expects to gradually replace with the old notes and the dollar notes which form the bulk of transactions through e-notes. Farmaajo thanked the Sudanese government for supporting his country adding ‘”Sudan has stood with Somalia in all its challenges during the past year.” The two leaders are meeting in Khartoum as part of Farmaajo’s two-day visit.
Key Headlines
- Sudan Likely To Print Somalia’s New Currency (Goobjoog News)
- President Farmaajo Meets His Sudanese Counterpart (Jowhar.com)
- ISWA President returns to Baidoa (Hiiraan Online)
- Somalia Bakool Region Bans Khat For Negative Effect On Al-Shabaab Combat (Africa News)
- Meet Clare Brown The Aussie Lawyer Fighting Against Sexual Violence In Somalia (Huffington Post)
- Somalia Conflict And Famine: The Causes Are Bad Governance Not Climate Change (The Conversation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
President Farmaajo Meets His Sudanese Counterpart
05 October – Source: Jowhar.com – 192 Words
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who is on an official trip to Sudan Wednesday night met his host President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir in Khartoum. During their meeting, the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the strengthening of the bilateral relationship between the two countries, security, and cooperation in social and economical aspects. Ministers accompanying President Farmaajo in his trip also met their respective counterparts. Both leaders underscored the need to enhance economic cooperation among the East African Nations. “A joint economic umbrella for the East African nations will enhance economic situation and help address instability in many parts of the region,” said President Farmaajo.
President Farmaajo arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday and was warmly received by several high-ranking Sudanese officials including President Omar Al-Bashir. During his stay in Khartoum, he is expected to meet Somali community members as well as Somali students. He is accompanied by the First Lady, Zeinab Abdi Maalin, Foreign Minister Yusuf Garad, Education Minister Abdirahman Osman, Agriculture Minister Said Hussein Iid, Livestock Minister Sheikh Nur Mohamed , Youth and Sports Minister Khadija Mohamed Dirie, State Minister for Presidency Abdulkadir Maalim Nuur, MPs, Central Bank Governor and the Police Commissioner.
ISWA President Returns To Baidoa
05 October – Source: Hiiraan Online – 89 Words
Southwest President Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan on Wednesday returned to Baidoa and confirmed the existence of a spat between some of the regional administrations and the federal government over the Gulf crisis. However, President Adan, who is among regional states leaders, who opposed Federal Government’s neutral stand in the Gulf crisis, expressed optimism in resolving the dispute soon. He returned from the United Arab Emirates amid increasing opposition against his administration, facing pressure from regional assembly members and Federal MPs from the region who want him to step down.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Bakool Region Bans Khat For Negative Effect On Al-Shabaab Combat
04 October – Source: Africa News – 246 Words
Somalia’s Bakool region has officially banned the use of khat, a flowering plant popular in the Horn of Africa region and used as a stimulant. Bakool becomes the first regional government to impose an outright ban on the product. The reason advanced for the ban is because of its negative effect on the fight against terrorism, a BBC journalist has said. “Bakool has become the first regional authority in Somalia to ban khat. It says it’s affecting their military operations against Al-Shabaab,” he said in a tweet.
An import ban of khat in 2016 angered growers of the crop as well as traders and consumers. The ban of especially imports from Kenya was subsequently lifted. There were concerns that beyond consumer withdrawal issues, the Somali economy was likely to be hit by the ban. The red-stemmed, green-leafed plant is a stimulant which works in a similar manner as a couple of cups of espresso. Khat is banned in the US, Canada and most of Europe – all places with large diaspora Somali communities. But no government or authority has ever succeeded in banning it in Somalia.
Chewing khat is an afternoon activity among Somali men but it is increasingly being abused with addicts commonly spending all their money on bunches of leaves and wasting hours in a stupor. While it is enjoyed in Somalia, khat is grown in neighbouring Ethiopia and Kenya, both of which have large farming communities relying on its export for their livelihoods.
Meet Clare Brown, The Aussie Lawyer Fighting Against Sexual Violence In Somalia
05 October – Source: Huffington Post – 1080 Words
Clare Brown is on a mission, but it’s not an easy one. Though she practises law, she doesn’t go home from work each day to her apartment in Sydney or Melbourne to take a break from her job like the rest of us. She’s living and working in Somalia to fight for the rights of African women against sexual violence. “To become a lawyer you are expected to do a certain number of days of practical legal experience, which I did at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania,” Brown told HuffPost Australia.
“From there I met other people in training to become lawyers who connected me with my boss, Antonia Mulvey, who was in the process of setting up Legal Action Worldwide, the organisation I now work for. I came to Nairobi with the intention of helping her set up the organisation over the period of a few months and am still there four and a half years later.”
Brown has witnessed first hand the crimes that still occur today in Somalia and other parts of Africa which has given her fuel to fight. “The year I first started working in Somalia, 2013, was the year after the federal Somali government was established in August 2012. It was also the year in which five people were arrested for reporting rape… our partners estimated that three people had been convicted for committing it.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Because of the increase in food prices, [the famine] has been a boom for al-Shabaab’s recruitment campaign because when you don’t have purchasing power to buy the food, you will be encouraged to be recruited because then you will be saved, and you can use that salary or you could be given food. In other words, al-Shabaab takes advantage of the hunger and desperation caused by drought. In this way, climate worsens the conflict by giving al-Shabaab more manpower.”
Somalia Conflict And Famine: The Causes Are Bad Governance, Not Climate Change
05 October – Source: The Conversation – 923 Words
The link between climate change and violent conflict is a complex one. In specific circumstances changing weather patterns may lead to conflict. For example, people may be forced to leave their homes or grazing land and encroach on other communities. But the links are often exaggerated and oversimplified. Somalia is a case of subtle connections between drought, food insecurity and conflict. Understanding these connections better – and identifying other relevant factors – could help prevent suffering in future. The people of Somalia have been through regular cycles of violence and food insecurity in the last few decades.
Food and conflict: Since the collapse of the central government in 1991, there have been at least seven periods of food insecurity that coincided with droughts. Some were times of famine, which the UN defines according to certain measures of hunger, malnutrition and death, and others were food crises, when hunger and malnutrition rose sharply. The major events were: a famine in 1991–92, food crises in 1999–2000, 2006 and 2008, another famine in 2011–12, a food crisis in 2014 and a food crisis verging on famine in 2016–17.
At the same time, the country has been in a state of civil war. Conflict in Somalia has deep political roots that go back decades. After the Somali-Ethiopian war in 1977-78 drained the government’s coffers, severe austerity was implemented to control debts and protests were met with brutal repression. Eventually, the Siad Barre government, which had been in power since October 1969, collapsed in January 1991, ushering in civil war between rival clan-based political factions. Normal rainfall patterns: The seasons and livelihoods in Somalia revolve around rainfall.
The main rainy season (called gu) is from April to June and a second rainy season (called deyr) is from October to November. All other months are dry. Crop prices follow a seasonal trend: they decrease in July/August as the gu harvest replenishes stocks, increase between September and December as market stocks are used up, and decrease again in January/February with the deyr harvest. The rains are particularly crucial to the Somalis whose livelihoods depend on the land. In the pastoral zones, lush pasture nourishes livestock, thus increasing their value. In the agricultural zones, a good harvest lowers crop prices, replenishes household stocks and provides work. Drought has a severe impact. In 2016, poor gu rains led to a low harvest. Later that year, the deyr rains were also poor and the harvest fell by 70%. In the northern parts of Somalia the dry season was hotter and drier than usual, and the region had experienced drought during the previous two years. This destroyed the harvest and livestock.
TOP TWEETS
@HarunMaruf: Breaking: National Accountant General Ahmed Yusuf “Siraje” sacked, Fadumo Osman Farah appointed as the new AG after a cabinet mtg: reports
@TC_Africa: Somalia conflict and famine: the causes are bad governance, not climate change http://bit.ly/2y2hyEn
@farhanjimale: Bakool has become the first regional authority in#Somalia to ban Khat. It says it’s affecting their military operations against #alshabab
@farhanjimale: The self-declared republic of #Somaliland, says the recent telecom bill signed by #Somalia’s pres@M_Farmaajo, has nothing to do with them.
.@Goobjoognews: In negotiating these murky waters, Pres Farmaajo returned from Riyadh with a $50 million grant
.@adancabdulle: UN-backed innovation challenge opens in Somalia http://news.xinhuanet.com/
.@HarunMaruf: Somali soldier at a frontline base near #Baidoa.#Somalia
.@VOANews: Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Attack in Somalia http://dlvr.it/PsMBjp
.@AmbGamal: Today I was pleased to sign a very important bilateral dev’t & technical cooperation agreement with the German Gov’t. The 1st one since 1979
.@DalsanFM: BREAKING Galmudug High Court Judge Yahye Sheikh Arrives in #Mogadishu via Galkaayo After Fleeing Adado . He Upheld Haaf Impeachment.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Sudanese President Omar Hassan Albashir welcomes his Somali counterpart Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo who is in a two day official visit to Sudan for Bilateral talks.
PHOTO: @TheVillaSomalia