Somali tea and jobs

N-B-5808

,
Chief Technical Advisor in Somalia

Talking over a cup of tea is the main drive for job creation in Somaliland.

It is the way Somalis do business, the way they build on the new opportunities that can deliver badly  needed jobs in a land where three out of four people under 30 are unemployed (*).

“Talking means trade, and trade generates work,” says Mustafa Othman, member of the organization Shaqodoon (Somali word for job-seeker). “Jobs generate income, so we can sit over a Somali tea and keep on doing business.” Continue reading

Puntland, between a road and a hard place

N-B-5808

,
Chief Technical Advisor in Somalia

To the outside world, the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland is largely known – if at all – for its pirates. But it has a lot more than that to offer.

Demands from leaders to deliver are high; rightly so. The ILO evidently has a key role to play in the region: every conversation turns to jobs and how to use whatever natural resources there may be in the barren landscape. There is a high probability of gas, if not oil, either inland or offshore. Continue reading