In every game there are losers and winners, and the recent visit to Somalia by Qatar delegation didn’t disappoint in that regard. Despite limited information about plans of this meeting, questions had been waiting to erupt.
Look at the actual projects. What did the delegation bring on the table? Can we disregard them? Was it all of pledges or to deliver projects?
The Muslim country is yet to find a meaningful development project in Somalia. – courtesy of what some people term “empty promises”. This development curiously mirrors on the typical development tale of the region. More often than not, nations fail to deliver pledges thus making it difficult to build stability and security.
Well, we focus on bilateral agreements between the Somalia and Qatar government, revolving around pledges. The problems in Somalia cannot be solved due to economic hardship. It is against this predicament that a Muslim nation like Qatar should work out tangible development projects like getting involved in projects like building hospitals and schools, road construction, and even influencing worthy policies. Qatar has been faulted for lack of readiness and being dodgy to supporting development projects in Somalia each and every time they visit.
Qatar is not very keen as far as economic and political benefits are concerned, Qatar is probably unaware that Somalia has 50 million cattle, camels, goats, and sheep, which can play a crucial role in building a strong economy for the two countries. Also, the 8,000,000 hectares of fertile land, the 3330-kilometer coastline and a sea with various species of fish, doing business with Somalia
could be good. We also reveal why Somalis are losing their identity. To curb loss of identity of a country, land and language, perhaps as some of the utilities that connect people, comes into play. The land and the language are the identity of any country.
That is why it was better if Somalia was not sub-divided into kingdoms, or chiefdoms. With different states (there is Somali land, Jubaland and Puntland), identity is disintegrated. Similarly, Somalis are losing Somali language. Some don’t speak and write Somali language, which is very unfortunate. It is not wrong to use foreign languages. They should not forget their own language. If young people, for example, heed my advice and start to fight for their identity by speaking and writing in Somali, they will have a better chance of uniting the country.
And there are many more exciting stories to keep you glued to this particular issue including lessons from the lucrative telecommunication business in Somalia, who is starving Somalia population, renewable energy investments, growing oil and gas sector, and the unfortunate fact that only the wealthiest in town can travel by air.
These and many more stimulating stories make up the package of your exciting issue.
We are always happy to hear from you. Enjoy your reading.
Editor in Chief
