Disturbing Allegations of Adversary Influence on Somaliland GDP

“Son of Business Tycoon in Mogadishu Making Crucial Decisions Affecting 80% of Somaliland’s Gross Domestic Product” a remark said by the WorldRemit chairman

Growing covert integration between Somaliland and Somalia

Somalia has been plagued by political instability and absence of security for many decades now. This has made it difficult for the country to develop viable institutions and infrastructure necessary for a stable nation.

The presence of African Union peacekeeping forces contributed by the African governments makes it possible for whatever is currently in place in Somalia.

There is no shred of doubt that Somalia’s politicians, elites, and entrepreneurs of all shades are hostile to the statehood claim of Somaliland.

The political stance of Somali politicians is well known, but up until this point, no other groups or facets of Somali society have publicly endorsed Somaliland’s self determination, as it has its own government, which is separate from the federal government of Somalia.

This has led to the existence of contentious relations between the two for the past 32 years, and there is no minute hope in the horizon for any sort of rapprochement.

According to a growing sentiment held by many segments of the Somaliland people that has been expressed in the circles of social media, despite the fact that Somalia and Somaliland have not officially resolved their differences, the government of Somaliland appears to be looking the other way when it comes to a number of activities that appear to be encouraging covert integration.

Echoing this sentiment, the current chairman and founder of WorldRemit, Ismail Ahmed, revealed in the video below, which he shared on his Facebook timeline, that a single individual, that arguably unfaithful to Somaliland cause. has unfettered influence and decision making over nearly the entire smooth operation of the Somaliland economy

“I want to discuss a few points relating to ZAAD

The crucial importance of ZAAD. ZAAD manages and transfers more than 80% of GPD in Somaliland's economy

There is no country in the world whose economy depends to that extent on service provided by privately held companies

Perhaps the closest country to Somaliland is Kenya, where less than 35% of GPD goes through the services of mobile money transfer companies such as M-Peso, but the Kenyan government manages them differently compared to the way Somaliland does.

This is the reason that we need to discuss it as it affects all of us

Who is in control of this crucial ZAAD service? Because I have been closely following it for 13 years and we have worked together for 10 years, I have a lot of information about it.

Abdirahman, the son of Somali tycoon Ahmed Nur Jimaale, is directly in charge of ZAAD service management and its decision-making.

This can be seen from decisions and working relationship over the past 13 years, beginning in 2010 when I was founding WorldRemit, When I personally went to Djibouti, Abdirahman opposed and rejected if we could collaborate with ZAAD.

He suggested that we become a subagent for Qaran Express, which Hormood wanted to buy at the time, even though it was obvious that it would fail.
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Through another company after 3 years, WorldRemit started working with ZAAD.

Again in 2017, when we started a trial mobile wallet service in Somaliland, Abdirahman was very against it. He even stopped sending SMSes on the Telesom network. In the end, we moved the wallet pilot project to another country and closed the office we set up for it.

On another time, he demanded that WorldRemit raise the amount it pays to ZAAD. I've been discussing this with him for some time. Eventually, he got what he needed and the fee was increased. As a result, ZAAD's decision-maker is him..

These examples demonstrate that only Abdirahman is in charge of ZAAD's decision-making.

Over the course of the 13 years that we have been working with the ZAAD service, it has become really clear to me that the shareholders of Telesom who are interested in making a profit and the owner of the controlling interest — who appears to be thinking about other businesses and agendas — aren't on the same interest in Telesom.

The 3rd point is what is the solution

I think people ought to use the other services, such Premier Bank wallet and E-Dahab, so that all three of them, which are connected to the three biggest banks in Somaliland, would be used.

No one should be restricted to using just one service, in my opinion. We are aware of what transpired in Hargeisa last year when the ZAAD cable was cut off. This led to a problem that caused the economy to immediately stop. Not only for Abdirahman's recent choice of blocking and dropping platforms for mobile money remittances, but also for this reason and the fact that the country's economy is in one basket necessitates that people diversify and try the other services.

Synchronizing and linking these various services also presents a business opportunity, in my opinion. At the moment, the person who has ZAAD cannot send money to either the Premier bank wallet or the E-dahab wallet. The ZAAD service did not create this issue or obstacle. It's a business opportunity that anyone can take advantage of, and by charging a fee, it makes it easier to move money between platforms.

Finally, my advice to you is that even if you have ZAAD, you should also use services like E-Dahab and Premier Bank Wallet.”

The Somaliland government, Hormuud Telecom, and Telesom’s ZAAD services have not responded to this alleged claim that has surfaced thus far.

Consequences of & Countering such threats

Somaliland’s efforts to gain international recognition for herself and its still-expanding infant economy will undoubtedly suffer greatly when your adversary acquires a controlling interest in your economy.

This reality may have dire repercussions, some of which include: the use of that power to destabilize the local economy, influence the policies of your government, and ultimately harm national morale and confidence to attract trade and investment. This effectively reduces your nation’s sovereignty.

Regulations limiting foreign investments and influence in sensitive and critical infrastructure, such as telecommunication networks, must be enacted by the Somaliland government in order to protect the structures of the economy.