Two women carry loads of fuel and firewood at Merille bridge at Marsabit county, Kenya. The completion of the road is expected to boost trade and transport between the two Ethiopia and Kenya. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP By BEN KETT The construction of the Merille-Marsabit-Moyale road which is set to connect Kenya to...
By Alanna Petroff @AlannaPetroff Abdisamad Adan is starting at Harvard University later this year. Abdisamad Adan could barely carry a conversation in English five years ago, but he’s just been accepted to study at Harvard University. He credits the dramatic change in his fortunes to Somaliland’s Abaarso School, a very small boarding school he...
By Sadik Bashir On a Saturday afternoon earlier this year, I was invited for lunch to a relative’s house in Westlands, Nairobi. I decided to have my midday prayer at the Westland’s mosque before joining my relatives. At the mosque, I noticed a Somali man to the right of where I was seated. He certainly...
By Joe Brock JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – Wider smartphone and Internet access has allowed technology firms to reach remote African farmers with apps providing veterinary diagnoses, crop planting guidance and virtual marketplaces. Human food production will need to increase 70 percent by 2050 to meet rising demand and Africa is home to more than half of...
By GEORGE NGIGI The Kenyan economy is set to grow by six per cent this year, riding on infrastructure developments and low oil prices, the World Bank said on Thursday. However, the Bretton Woods institution warned of over-reliance on government spending in driving the economy. Economists at the bank said further drops in oil prices to...
In a nation once synonymous with chaos, there are hopeful signs of improved security and economic growth. Katherine Dhanani is President Obama’s nominee to serve as the new U.S. Ambassador to Somalia since 1991. Long torn by clan rivalries, stricken by drought and resulting famine, and attacks by a militant extremist group, the East African...
In a recent study by the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, the majority of the 1,600 residents of the capital, Mogadishu, said they witness less conflict between clans and fewer attacks by rebel groups. By Claire Felter Children gather on bicycles near a Mogadishu, Somalia, hotel that has opened a public playground and pool. Farah...
By Hassan Zaylai There are two definitions for the word reconciliation: 1) the restoration of friendly relations and or 2) the action of making one’s view or belief compatible with another. If people ever needed reconciliation so badly, it is the people of Somalia! Truly, Somalis need to restore that undercurrent through all Somalis of...
Mogadishu – As Somalia Prime Minister and former Somali Ambassador to the US, H.E. Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke is fully aware of the astronomical impact this announcement will have on the well-being of many Somalis and is determined to finding permanent solutions to maintain money transfer. “I have personally spoken to the US Government on...
US regulators are concerned money is being channelled to Islamist extremists Somalia has criticised a move by a US bank to close accounts of money transfer companies, warning it could create a dangerous black market. Merchants Bank of California handles about 80% of money transfers – remittances – from the US to Somalia, worth about...