An Overview of Somalia (original) (raw)

Somalia: Country analysis (2012)

Peace and Security Council Report (Institute for Security Studies), 2012

Somalia is currently experiencing a political and historical turning point. After almost 8 years of the transitional period and 21 years of state collapse, the end of the transition and the launching of a new government have engendered the hope that this could be the inception of a broader political process embracing all Somalis. It also opens the door for a possible and much needed transformation from a war-based economy to a post-war civilian economy. However, the stabilisation of the country is a long way off.

SOMALIA: AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORICAL AND CURRENT SITUATION

Social Science Research Network, 2016

In Somalia as in many other conflict ravaged societies, “history is deadly ammunition in today’s political wars.” In that respect, to comprehend the depth of apparently unsolvable and protracted crisis in Somalia, it is essential to identify and analyse the underlying causes of these predicaments that have been unfolding since the colonial era. Additionally, understanding the causes and intricacies of the current political turmoil is also necessary for finding the way to end this madness, as other analysts rightly acknowledged with reference to the Somali conflict “an understanding of what went wrong is indispensable to the search for solutions to the president predicament.” In that respect, this paper provides some background information and analysis on the key events leading up to the complete collapse of the Somali State in 1991 and its devastating aftermath. Furthermore, this paper examines human rights records of subsequent Somali governments as well as non-state actors. Finally, it highlights and studies the challenges and problems associated with attempts to reconstitute collapsed state institutions.

The Economic Development of Somalia

Summary: This study attempts to explore on the Economic Development of Somalia, According to the CIA and the Central Bank of Somalia, despite experiencing civil unrest, Somalia has maintained a healthy informal economy, based mainly on livestock, remittance/money transfer companies and telecommunications. Due to a dearth of formal government statistics and the recent civil war, it is difficult to gauge the size or growth of the economy. For 1994, the CIA estimated the GDP at 3.3billionIn2001,itwasestimatedtobe3.3 billion In 2001, it was estimated to be 3.3billionIn2001,itwasestimatedtobe4.1 billion. By 2009, the CIA estimated that the GDP had grown to $5.731 billion, with a projected real growth rate of 2.6.According to a 2007 British Chambers of Commerce report, the private sector also grew, particularly in the service sector. Unlike the pre-civil war period when most services and the industrial sector were government-run, there has been substantial, albeit unmeasured, private investment in commercial activities; this has been largely financed by the Somali diaspora, and includes trade and marketing, money transfer services, transportation, communications, fishery equipment, airlines, telecommunications, education, health, construction and hotels. Libertarian economist Peter T. Leeson attributes this increased economic activity to the Somali customary law (referred to as Xeer), which he suggests provides a stable environment to conduct business. Keywords: Economic Development, economic activity, Somalia

Afterword: Somalia, An Economy with "Stateness"

2023

Much has changed in Somalia and Somali East Africa since the publication of Somalia: Economy without state almost two decades ago (Little, 2003). Despite a dizzying pace of transition in certain economic sectors, especially in telecommunications and digital finance, there are certain processes and pursuits, such as pastoralism and migration, that have remained stubbornly consistent. The collection of essays in this book, Trade Makes States, reflects this kind of unstable equilibrium between economy and 'state' in the region by treading across familiar and enduring themes, such as trade and trust, as well as new subjects, such as the roles of infrastructure and taxation in state building.