Somaliland

The Economist recognises Somaliland as a ‘flawed democracy’

Somaliland is democratic, has a free press and is unrecognised by the rest of the world. It is time this ‘country’ was given support that would rid us of the turbulent Somali piracy problem… and much, much more. This map of the continent from The Economist and its Intelligence Unit is one of the first [...]

Ireland’s crash is bad news, but digital will save its sorry arse

Like most dark-haired* people with blue eyes, I love Ireland and the romantic bones it rattles in my soul, so this week’s invitation to do a keynote at the annual Dublin Digital Summit was accepted eagerly. The keynote went down well, people were interesting, funny and always up for a drink… and there was great [...]

Is social capital the new currency or a pile of Somaliland shillings?

Last summer I had an adventure and flew to Addis Ababa from Mumbai and then travelled through Ethiopia on African buses to the Red Sea and spent a week in Somaliland on the way. Right up there with the best of life. I had to hire a soldier for $15 per day, had a few [...]

TechCrunch – Could Tiny Somaliland Become the First Cashless Society?

Bob Dylan once said that ‘money doesn’t talk, it swears’, but in Hargeisa the capital of Africa’s Somaliland it stinks. It literally stinks, reeking of rotten paper, like a leaky library in a monsoon.