Do-It-Yourself project – Somaliland: 5 photos and Me

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are currently circling the airport because there are some goats and sheep on the runway that need to be cleared. We apologize for the delay and will be landing as soon as they have been cleared”. That was my introduction to Hargeisa, Somaliland. When many of us hear a Do-it-Yourself project, we often think about cute little arts and craft Buzzfeed videos. Somaliland, however, is that but on a larger scale – extraordinarily so. It is an embodiment of a state that chose to build on its own, for its own, and by its own – a lesson for many African countries.

Welcome to #2 in my five photos and what they mean to me series: Hargeisa, Somaliland!

This post is about East Africa’s invisible and unrecognized state. A place I did not know existed until last year. For many, you are probably thinking of Somalia, but I said Somaliland. Two different places; you can look it up. Yes, you were wrong, that’s ok. The picture below is my gift to you, from Hargeisa.

At the end of this post, I share a bit more about the journey to Somaliland so do read on.

While my introduction may sound bizarre, a day or two in Hargeisa will normalize this occurrence. Pastoralism and animal husbandry – camels, goats and sheep – is a characteristic feature of Somaliland. About 85% of the territory’s export income is from sales of sheep, goat, camel and cattle. Each year, they export over four million animals, mostly to the rich Gulf States during the annual Hajj. Livestock production contributes an estimated 60% of Somaliland’s GDP and employs up to 70% of the population.

It’s capital, Hargeisa, is a place much like no other – and yet awfully familiar. On some level, it could very well represent any thriving city in a developing country; on the other hand, it just looks, and might sound, out of place. The city’s dusty and neglected roads, loitering young people, minimally regulated bus drivers, and free-roaming goat, sheep and camels lies in contrast to the complex mobile money and financial transactions that underpin the economy. Hargeisa Somaliland is much more than the often-perceived “dead zone”. It is far from that and is in fact the centre of a sea of complex international transactions as traders connect with partners in its global diaspora and merchants across the dry arid lowlands of the Horn of Africa. Read more here.

Understanding East Africa’s do-it-yourself project (state)

When you visit Hargeisa, a monumental display of the Mig-17 fighter bomber exists to commemorate the country’s 18 May independence.

The bomber jet was one of those used by South African and Zimbabwean mercenaries under Siad Barre’s command to decimate the city leading to many thousands of civilian casualties, the creation of what became known as a “roofless city”, and its now large global diaspora network which currently acts as the economic anchor of Somaliland. Prior to this, Somaliland was a British protectorate until 1960 when it declared its independence and subsequently joined Somalia.

Given the instability and tyranny of Siad Barre’s rule, the state decided to reassert its independence – a decision they are still, in essence, paying for today. Somalia is hesitant to recognize Somaliland as an independent state and worse, others (UK, US…AU), who fear that they would encourage dissidents or secessionist movements are caught in a diplomatic bind. Thus, many are choosing to turn a blind eye to Somaliland’s plea for a recognized status. I am really trying not to go into too much detail because you, my friends, complain too much so let me stop there.

The lesson about DIY projects

The state’s lack of international recognition as an independent country and its resulting exclusion from the benefits of “sovereign rents” places a huge burden on the government, financially. It doesn’t have access to a lot of the financial resources that many other countries can access. Nevertheless, since the signing of the peace treaty in 1991, Somaliland has maintained its peace. It managed to build for itself a functioning state – albeit unrecognized – with relatively minimal help and in some cases “against active opposition from the world’s self-appointed nation-builders and doers of good”.

Somaliland’s history of self-help is evidence of bottom-up development. Its consultative way of building the country from nothing is one that offers many lessons for several other countries. It is somewhat similar to what Mombasa did to tackle terrorism and violence in the county.

Today Somaliland has crafted for itself a stable, secure, democratic and functioning society with minimal aid and outside interference. This success did not just happen. Rather, it is the fruit of a stable political coalition. One that combined power groups from both the informal and formal institutions of its society. It is intriguing that informal institutions, particularly clan-based networks, form the core base of power distribution in Somaliland. In other words, the achievement of stability in Somaliland requires a parallel distribution of benefits among formal and informal actors.

When the international community is ignoring you, make it a Do-It-Yourself project

So while the international community was pursuing a succession of top-down, externally-supported efforts to stabilise the southern neighbourhood of Somalia, with little success; in Somaliland, an extraordinary bottom-up, self-generated peacebuilding process brokered by tradi­tional elders resulted in sustainable peace agreements. Some 29 years later, this do-it-yourself enterprise as Dave Kilcullen calls it, is still evolving with restored security, and a democratic, legitimate and effective self-governing region.

Somaliland has done well for itself.

There is of course more to be done particularly, acknowledgement of their sovereignty by the international community. This will give them some street credit to access much more needed capital and other resources. Until then, or at least until they come up with a creative solution to channel remittance into more productive uses, the do-it-yourself enterprise is caught in a vicious cycle of some sorts.

Much of its income comes from remittances estimated at a yearly value of $700 million-plus. In 2018, the national budget was US$382million making remittances the single biggest inflow. This is in fact larger than aid and humanitarian assistance combined. Somaliland can do so much more with remittances as a capital source.

There are of course other shortcomings that also need to be addressed. The poor literacy rate is one. Another is the fact that after 2:00 pm, loads of people convene around wooded kiosks (shown above) toiling for the daily stash of khat – the tightly-wrapped leafy stimulants that file into the country from Ethiopia and cost the country an estimated $400 million per annum of its hard to come by foreign earnings.

Do-It-Yourself project- THE lesson on state-building perhaps?

As the laggards, African countries need to understand that the burden of development falls squarely on their shoulders. No one can do it for them- for us.

If Somaliland, a small unrecognized and invisible state, can do so much for itself, what about the others? Countries like Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire and heaven forbid Nigeria can do so much more. We need to rise above the childish finger-pointing games and short-term thinking and make strategic plays that will guarantee our success, and safeguard our future. We no dey shy?!

Until then, Somaliland is still looking ahead – like me below 😁. Imagery matters.

They are forging ahead with bilateral partnerships and counting on their diaspora to invest.

Now that we’re here, what is it like travelling to Somaliland?

The journey there

I hope you did not just skip straight to this part, do better. Jokes

The journey to Somaliland was a rollercoaster. For someone with no knowledge of the place and its close association with Somalia, it was a little nerve-wracking. Would the travel document stamp hurt my chances of going to other places? Is travelling to Somaliland safe? Will I like the food? (That’s an important question for me). How do I dress? What do I have to know so I don’t make any major faux-pas….on and on. PS: If you haven’t noticed it was a battle in my mind only. The typical place we build cases for our fears. In this instance, I was feeding the ‘out of our comfort zone’ alarm that my brain was sounding, and I was spiralling.

How did I stop? I remembered one of my affirmations of the year: “I am ready and committed to making this year my best year yet”. Surely that requires newness, novelty, adventure, risk? So, one day I decided to stop, “I am not going to make a fuss about this, I am going to go with the flow”. Trying to fight it would do, in my opinion, much more damage than just going. Besides, how many people do I know who can say they have been to Somaliland? Just Drew. “You want to be extraordinary? Do extraordinary things”, that was my pep talk to myself. Future me is glad.

Anyway, I gathered all the paperwork and made the necessary arrangements. We were all set. I phoned a friend who walked me through different ways to wear my scarf and what types of clothing would be decent. I was ready, excited and scared but determined to fly closer to the sun. Somaliland here we come!

Arrival

If you missed the beginning of this post, please return there for my warm welcome to Somaliland.

As we began our descent, I had a couple of knots in my belly. But that announcement by the pilot turned out to be all I needed. It was a stress reliever because y’all, I laughed!

Hargeisa has a pretty small airport and it did not take us long to be on the other side, although I should add we had a lot of assistance and a receiving party. We got into our convoy of 4 x 4s and off we were, zooming through the streets of Hargeisa.

To me, it did not feel too out of place. That, perhaps, is the benefit of my lived experience as a “developing” country brat. Yup, I made that up, move on. It was not Accra but it could have been some part of Ghana with a few modifications.

On-location and movement in Somaliland

We had security at the hotel and in most official places of business – armed security. There isn’t anything extraordinary to report about that; it was expected.

After the nerves of arrival calmed down, it was just going up and down and doing the job I was there to do. In between that, of course, were several wonderful meals – mostly goat – and good company. At the end of my trip, a colleague joked that they could leave me behind because I seemed to be a favourite! Read it as you may but I enjoyed the good company, respect and openness. It always warms me up when people feel comfortable around me to speak about work and more. It fills my happy cup.

More.

We had a chance to go to the port of Berbera which was extremely beautiful. The water was clear, calm and beautiful.

It was blazing hot (~34 degrees Celsius) and the sun illuminated all the colours around me. Machines and containers were bristling. I loved every bit of it, despite sweating profusely through my scarf and long sleeves. I really wish I could relay what my eyes saw. That said, if you do visit and would like to see places outside of Hargeisa, you need to organise official security. No visitor can leave Hargeisa without one. This is simply a part of the Government’s initiative to create and maintain a good image. They don’t want no problems so they keep visitors safe and happy.

Would I visit again?

If the opportunity arises, I surely would. All that goat meat, rice and raisins, amazing tea, welcoming people, and good vibes were well worth my time, ‘concern’ and experience. The end.

Boring they say is invisible. I’m glad I chose adventure, exposure and a chance to be less wrong about the world – or should I say one world.

Conclusion

The issue of how we do governance and build a state is an interesting one. Countries have charted interesting paths – some remarkable, others laughable.

While the Somaliland approach was helpful to build an inclusive social compact, maybe even to a fault now, we see that it takes more than an inward approach. They still need some external recognition because the terms, and ideas, of nationhood we all subscribe(d) to make it such. Are there ways around it? Yes, at least I think so. What are those? I am not sure yet, but I am glad you asked. What do you think?

‘Do-it-yourself’ is a good idea. But you will soon realise that it really comes down to the willingness to do it yourself. African countries need leaders who are committed to making the hard policy and governance choices. Those that build states that cater to the people, create the fertile ground for people to flourish, maximise natural resources for public gain and future generations, and those that empower people to pursue the missions for which they have graced this earth. We can achieve so much more if we own our success and do things with intentionality and concern for popular welfare…

Have you seen successful models/examples for state-building and better governance? What are they, tell me.

If you missed my previous post on preparing for a crisis, check it out here.

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Noelle Wonders

Marie-Noelle is the creator and curator of Noelle Wonders - a blog created to pose questions, exchange ideas, explore power asymmetries, and humanize topics around growth and development.

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