Somalia’s and Somaliland’s difficult histories have hampered the development of infrastructure that could support growth and improve lives. The energy sector has been particularly hard hit. In the continuing series of market analyses of potential opportunities, the prospects of wind power generation in Somaliland are reviewed. The need for review is given even more urgency by official Somaliland data indicating that more than 90% of the total energy consumed there has its origins in biomass. These biomass sources are derived primarily from fast-diminishing plant cover.

This paper is a primer that discusses the challenges and opportunities of Somali banking. A foreign investor interested in Somalia would need answers to the following questions:

The government framework for banking in Somalia was largely destroyed during the conflict of the last 20 years. The civil war also forced hundreds of thousands of Somalis to leave and start new lives abroad. As they became settled, many sought to send money home, and a growing group of Somali entrepreneurs worked to facilitate these transactions. With no banks in Somalia to receive outside wire transfers, these business people established their own systems for getting money into the country.

Microfinance helps many people in Somalia and across the globe lift themselves out of poverty by providing small loans to those lacking access to traditional financial services or funding opportunities. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have grown popular over the past few decades because they offer impoverished people access to funds that can be used to develop small businesses that can then provide regular income, and they provide financial resources to underserved markets.