Though it has been a while since I posted a Somaliland update, Somaliland has not been forgotten. A few recent stories demonstrate that under the surface Somaliland is attempting to come to grips with its past and continue its improved engagement with the outside world. Today we have three stories about Somaliland’s attempts to deal with under the surface issues, with its development of the private sector, its attempts to uncover mass graves from the Siad Barre period, and its efforts to work with gas and oil companies on exploration of its offshore oil reserves. All of these offer, in different ways, ways for Somaliland to increase its engagement with the outside world, a task that has not always been accomplished by its leadership.

Somaliland Business Fund

The current government has sought to use a Somaliland Business Fund (presumably funded by Somaliland’s diaspora), to develop the Somaliland private sector and encourage local businesses to increase their quality and capacity. According to their press release, small projects (less than $50,000) will be processed in less than two months, while larger projects (up to $150,000) will take up to five months to process as Somaliland seeks to help its private sector. The funding is basically a 50/50 matching grant, helping companies find funding in an area where funding has been rather limited in a capital-poor society. The avowed goal of these efforts are to improve capacity, productivity, and innovation, increasing sustainable long-term jobs in such industries as fishing, agribusiness, salt, mining, and oil/gas production [1].

It is unclear whether these efforts will serve to benefit Somaliland’s private sector, which is a necessary element to long-term economic success. Nonetheless, a desire to do small and meaningful efforts for companies, especially helping to develop a responsible finance sector, so long as these efforts do not become ensnared in crony capitalism, is a noble one. Hopefully their efforts bear fruit. A knowledge of where the nation needs help and a desire to help the people of Somaliland themselves resolve the problem are both far better ways of dealing with economic affairs than offshoring or seeking to create a culture of dependency. Obviously, the long-term goals of Somaliland seeking entrance into the international community would aid the capitalization of businesses as well. Failing that, Somaliland does what it can.

Uncovering Mass Graves

In a rather more grim example of digging beneath the surface, a Peruvian led team of excavators is looking to dig over 200 identified mass grave sites, mostly in the Maroodi-Jeeh and Sahil regions, in search of the estimated 60,000 victims of Siad Barre’s genocidal warfare against the people of Somaliland. The Peruvian Forensic Archeology Team (EPAF) has four main goals with their excavation efforts: finding the bodies of disappeared loved ones of Somaliland citizens to provide closure, helping locals gain access to international justice, and improving the conditions for political and economic development in Somaliland. In order to do this, the group engages in work in four areas: Forensic Investigation, Historical Memory, Forensic Training, and Human Development [2].

This work is sorely needed in Somaliland. The atrocities in Somaliland by their former dictator (who had long been supported by the United States) Siad Barre have largely been forgotten in the West. The damage done by Barre’s regime to Somaliland was not only physical, in terms of damaged cities and infrastructure as well as lost lives, but that damage included a lack of trust when the international community seemed more interested in preserving the unity of a dysfunctional and failed state rather than justice and equity for the people of Somaliland. Giving Somalilanders education in forensic investigation would allow them to continue the work of identifying and properly digging up currently unknown mass graves in the future. Hopefully this work will help the international community recognize the atrocities committed against the people of Somaliland and respond to that appropriately.

Oil Exploration

Genel Energy (in association with Britain-based Asante Oil) and Jacka Resources (in association with Britain-based Petrosoma, Ltd.) are currently engaged in aerial exploration for oil in Somaliland, with ground exploration to follow early next year. Somaliland is hoping for increased jobs through the exploration efforts as well as any discoveries that would follow [3]. Obviously, any substantial oil deposits that are found would turn Somaliland into a much more notable figure on the international stage. It would appear that much of Somaliland’s focus on its natural resources is seeking to find something that can be exchanged for political capital and geopolitical advantage.

So far a lot of Somaliland’s offshore oil reserves are ensnared in a complicated situation, and so far China has shown the most interest in exploring that oil. Finding oil within their territory, especially if the reserves are significant, would lead to a higher priority for Somaliland in the international community. It does not take a massive amount of oil for the international community to take notice. After all, Somalia currently ranked with no oil reserves at all [4], so any reserves found in Somaliland would certainly improve Somaliland’s international profile, giving it some leverage in seeking its cherished dream of international recognition. As to when that will happen, time will tell.

[1] http://somaliland247.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/somaliland-business-fund-private-sector-re-engagement-program-launched/

[2] http://somaliland247.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/mass-graves-exhumations-begin-in-somaliland-by-a-peruvian-forensic-anthropology-team-epaf/

[3] http://somaliland247.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/international-companies-to-begin-oil-exploration-in-somaliland/

[4] http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_oil_res-energy-oil-reserves