Yearly Archives: 2010

Seizing Power – Somalia’s alternative energy sector holds huge potential..

Posted on October 5, 2010 by admin

One of the first things visitors to Mogadishu notice is the charcoal trade visible along the roads of the city.  Long convoys of heavily loaded charcoal trucks move through Mogadishu virtually every day, carrying huge loads of the country’s most … Continue reading →

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Loud and Clear..Somalia’s telecom industry is booming!

Posted on October 4, 2010 by admin

Somalia is currently in the midst of a telecommunications boom driven by private investors, who have created a mass market with the cheapest calling rates in Africa.  Private investors have put an estimated $194 million into Somalia’s telecommunications sector over … Continue reading →

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Cash Flow – How Diaspora money is fueling economic growth in Somalia..

Posted on September 28, 2010 by admin

Decades of internal strife have left Somalia with collapsed central state institutions, faltering social and economic infrastructure and massive internal and external migration.  But at the same time the traditional Somali spirit of entrepreneurship remains strong, and the private sector … Continue reading →

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Mogadishu..recent pictures..

Posted on August 29, 2010 by admin

Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, the so-called ‘failed state’, continues to function, despite the efforts of extremist groups such as Al-Shebab and Hizbul Islam. Life continues, under terrible circumstances where civilians are caught in the cross fire between AS/HI and the … Continue reading →

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Failed states & US policy in the Middle East..

Posted on August 18, 2010 by admin

In the May-June 2010 issue of influential magazine Foreign Affairs, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates states wrote: “In the decades to come, the most lethal threats to the United States’ safety and security are likely to emanate from states that … Continue reading →

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Video – Somalia: back from the brink

Posted on August 17, 2010 by admin

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Albany event – Somalia – on the brink again..

Posted on July 21, 2010 by admin

With just a few months to run on the mandate of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG), can international policy makers find the right strategy to set the country on the road to recovery after decades of turmoil? Is Somalia best … Continue reading →

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Forward to basics: the communications debate in post-McChrystal Afghanistan

Posted on July 2, 2010 by admin

As Washington Post columnist David Ignatius noted recently, the Rolling Stone article that did for Gen Stanley McChrystal is a “wake-up call for both sides [the military and the press] that the cosiness that has evolved over the past decade.” … Continue reading →

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AMISOM education initiative takes off in Somalia..

Posted on June 1, 2010 by admin

Student enrollment is rapidly outpacing expectations at an AMISOM pilot school project meant to encourage parents of Jazeera village in southern Mogadishu to bring their children for free primary education.  Initially just nine students signed up for the program. Within … Continue reading →

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First Person: a former child soldier recalls a young life in arms.

Posted on May 5, 2010 by admin

Nearly two years ago al-Shabab fighters colluded with a Quranic teacher to kidnap 20 children from the Fagah area of north Mogadishu and conscripted the youths.  One of the children captured and forced to fight by the militant group was … Continue reading →

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