By Hamse Warfa

It has been almost 20 years since my family and I left the Horn of Africa region fleeing from violence in Somalia’s civil war and the degrading conditions of the refugee camps (Dhadhab and Utange) in Kenya. Although I have been away for all these years, my heart has always been close to the region as I have always attempted to contribute my two cents in policy matters, especially in Somalia.

The purpose of my trip was three-fold: To visit my family members that I have not seen for such a long time while also assessing the challenges and opportunities that exist in the region. The third aspect of my trip was to engage the region’s leadership in peacebuilding talks. This was against the background of my decade-long efforts at creating a regional peacebuilding framework to help reduce the use of violence as a bargaining tool in Horn of Africa politics.

During my trip to Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia, I had the pleasure of meeting with government leaders, civil society, and ordinary people. Although time wasn’t on my side, the limited period that I spent there was a real eye-opener. Most importantly, it exposed to me the challenges and opportunities that the region has to grapple with.

Opportunities

A significant opportunity exists in integrating the region’s economies and opening up business and employment prospects for the people, especially for Somalis. This is more so considering Somali people’s natural entrepreneurial abilities, the country’s strategic geo-political location, as well as its vast untapped natural resources.

To the north of the country, there is Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Yemen, which are fast becoming an economic bloc within the Horn of Africa region. These countries have in the past had their differences, but from my discussions with officials in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, I came to appreciate the close economic ties that now exist among these states (excluding Eritrea which is isolated from most of the region). I believe that by joining this unity, Somalia will benefit from interactions with the business communities in the region.

A second and major player in the regional political and economic development is the East African Community. This regional bloc, to which I am glad to learn that Somalia has already made a formal application to join, could open up the gates to Somalia’s growth. This is more so considering the close ties that the country has had with East African states, especially Kenya, which has been home to the largest Somali refugee community in the world.

The East African Community already has impressive trading policies among its member states. The region has done much to remove barriers to trade, and is in the process of allowing free movement of persons across the borders. Such a benefit would be a great opportunity for the thousands of Somali youth seeking meaningful trade and social interactions with the world. The region’s business community would also greatly benefit from favorable trading opportunities in the virgin territory of Somalia, where labor would be plenty and production costs lower.

In all this, I foresee Somalia becoming an integral link between the economies of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti to the North, and Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda to the west. This kind of regional integration would not only widen market for local businesses, but also serve as a great attraction for foreign direct investments, and hence employment opportunities for the growing workforce in the concerned states.

Challenges

However, a few challenges still stand in the way of such developments. A foremost issue has remained security, whereby some states fear that opening up their borders to states that have had a long history of political instability could lead to spill over of violence into their own countries. With this, I have in mind the situation in Somalia. This is certainly a valid concern given the serious threats posed by Al Shabaab to the region’s security and economic interests.

I have also observed a number of underlying issues that have in the past undermined political and economic stability in the country. These include clan based politics, as well as exclusionism, which often leads to disenfranchisement of the excluded populations. This is where Somalia and many other regional states require help in establishing proper governance structures, as well as peacebuilding, to bring all the affected people to the negotiating table and discuss the real issues affecting them. A more encouraging fact is the realization by the region’s leaders that existing peacebuilding mechanisms are inadequate and need further strengthening.

Peacebuilding

Advancing a regional peacebuilding framework was an important agenda of the visit to the region by a team of peacebuilders from the US. I am glad to have been a member of this team, which comprised of experts in peacebuilding who have done an admirable work in supporting the Horn of Africa region’s goal of building sustainable peace.

As a team, we visited Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia to participate in conferences and engage in dialogue with key government and civil society leaders to advance the concept of regional strategies to reduce violence and build peace. The high correlation between peace and the prosperity of nations and regions is well established. Unfortunately, the Horn of Africa, with over 200 armed conflicts since 1990, has been particularly impacted by violence. Yet, opportunities are available to reverse that experience and build a more peaceful and prosperous region. I am glad to have participated in track II diplomacy talks (which I will not disclose it here per agreement of confidentiality).

Going forward, I nonetheless see Somalia emerging as an important investment destination for foreign businesses seeking to capture the two markets of East Africa and the Horn of Africa region. This is an important opportunity that the current and future Somali regional and federal governments should seek to maximize on. With the current dire need for wealth generation and employment creation in order to achieve sustainable political and social-economic development, as Somalis we can’t afford to get our eyes off the target. After all, if a country like Rwanda could emerge from the 1994 genocide to become what is today one of East Africa’s largest destination of foreign direct investments, I believe Somalia can achieve a similar fete by setting our priorities right.

By Hamse Warfa
Email: hamsew@yahoo.com