A boom in mobile phone use is creating an explosion of innovation that is changing lives, lifestyles and the economy Guy Alexander in Nairobi It is mid-morning in Nairobi’s iHub, a community space for techies and a kids’ hackathon – where children as young as 10 are learning some of the basics of coding – is...
Small business owners are using a unique form of mobile money to connect with customers. Hamza Mohamed Mogadishu, Somalia – Abukar Abdulle Mohamed is a busy man. His three phones keep beeping away as he negotiates and shakes hands with a group of mainly middle-aged men. Fifty-four-year-old Mohamed is a livestock trader with more than thirty years...
Internet and Phone Disruptions Leave Millions Struggling to Access Money, Information and Essential Services as Fighting Returns Mekelle (WDN) — Tigray is once again being pushed into isolation. Internet and telephone services have been severely disrupted across the northern Ethiopian region following the latest outbreak of fighting, cutting millions of people off from essential communications...
The U.S. administration has once again stirred controversy over immigration policies, targeting Somali residents in Minnesota under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) while narrowing protections for African countries. In just over two weeks, the Trump administration has moved to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for two African countries, sharply narrowing U.S. immigration protections Following the...
By Mohammed A Mohammud (Baldho) The Islamic State (IS) Somalia was reportedly formed in 2015 by a group of defectors from Al Shabab who pledged allegiance to ISIS. In 2018, the group gained recognition as an official province of ISIS. IS-Somalia follows ISIS’s strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law and seeks to expand the self-proclaimed...
By Faisal A. Roble Introduction This essay is based on two unpublished manuscripts on the Political Economy of Intervention and Historical Injustices against Somalis. I will argue that intervention in the Horn of Africa Region is a colonial function and has roots both in African enslavement and subsequent colonization. Beginning with the 1884 Berlin Conference,...
Kalkidan Yibeltal Bekele’s sister is one of dozens of students from Ethiopia’s Debark University who have been missing for a week now – she got on a bus to go home at the end of the academic year, but never reached her destination. No-one in the family had been able to make contact with her,...
More than a dozen bombings in and around Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, in November and December 2023 revealed a clear pattern — telecommunications company Hormuud Telecom was being targeted. Bombs killed at least three employees and destroyed offices, communications towers and vehicles. Analysts believe al-Shabaab has targeted the country’s largest telecommunications provider for refusing to pay...
ADDIS ABABA -Ethio telecomdisclosed that it has amassed 11 billion Birr net profit in the first six months of the current fiscal year, surpassing that of last year same period by 14 %. Presenting the company’s six- month performance report yesterday, Ethio telecom CEO Frehiwot Tamru said 42.9 billion Birr total revenue has also been...
SAHAMIYE FOUNDATIO/ Somaliland has one of the worst literacy rates in the world, with most adults unable to read and write By Sara Monetta Hodan Artan is patching up the roof of her home, sewing together pieces of fabric of different colours with blue string. She works as a cleaner in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa. With...