Saturday, February 9, 2013

How Much Money Will It Cost to Rebuild Somalia Today ?


When the regime of former Somali president Siad Barre fell in 1991 the ensuing conflict damaged or destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of infrastructure. Before the collapse of the last Somali regime, the Americans, Soviets, Italians, Iraqis, Emiratis, Chinese, Saudis, and a number of smaller partners took turns financing and constructing various parts of Somalia’s civil infrastructure and developing its manufacturing capacity.
Today, Somalia’s wide-eyed former partners no longer have any interest in the country. But Somalia is not left out in the cold since it still has possessions worthy of desire. The only reason why the Chinese built the roads and the Soviets built the ports and the Arabs built the refineries in Somalia was for a pragmatic ulterior motive.
Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
 
UK gives £3m in new aid for Somalia
To no one’s surprise, newcomers like Turkey, the United Kingdom, and even India are focusing on Somalia and offering to pick up where others left off. Even during war, Somalia still attracts old partners–China, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and a handful of former assistance-providing states are refocused on Somalia and wanting a piece of the pie they once lusted after.

Old costs

To understand how much money Somalia’s reconstruction will demand, you must first assess individual costs, and the first clues are in the past. The Italians spent $250 Million constructing a road between Garowe and Bosaso. And in 1989 contracts were signed with Romania to construct a $500 million oil refinery with a 200,000 barrel per day capacity, though the project never materialized due to the conflict that erupted two years into planning.
Somali ports, chiefly Berbera and Kismayo, were built and improved both jointly and separately by the Soviets and Americans, and are said to have cost in the league of over $100 million. Somalia’s only major agricultural undertaking, the Baardheere Dam Project, was estimated to cost $600 million by the world bank, though it never came to fruition.

New costs

A 120,000 barrel per day refinery in Lamu, Kenya is expected to cost $2.5 billion, meaning that the same refinery that was planned in Somalia back in ’89 would cost roughly $4.2 billion if built today. When considering Somalia’s odd though advantageous shape and abundance of ports and possible harbors, any pipeline from the oil or gas source to the nearest shores would cost under a billion dollars.
Similarly, roads and railroads can be easily and cheaply built in Somalia, costing altogether no more than $5 billion to serve the entire country. Somalia’s flat landscape and narrow rivers also leaves demand for expensive bridges virtually nonexistent. Networks of bridges over land and rivers across Somalia would cost no more than a billion dollars in the effort to ease travel.
Somalia’s petroleum and natural gas potential also eases the demand for energy-producing hydroelectric dams. Any dams in Somalia would be to the effect of supporting agriculture. Somalia’s aridity can be alleviated through canal networks and a system of boreholes in the driest regions. In the near future, Somalia will not need desalination and thus we can avoid worrying about those costs. For all agricultural infrastructure let’s say $2 billion would be needed in the near future.
Somalia currently has four major ports, three of which are meeting their current demands. While Mogadishu, Kismayo, and Berbera will only need technological upgrades, Bosaso seaport will need a major reconstruction to meet future demands. As is already happening, the business and production needs and exports of Somalia’s inland communities can be diverted to any of the major ports; Somalia’s port infrastructure is in no need of further development at the moment. The total funding needed for seaport renovation and reconstruction would not float much more than a billion dollars initially, if even that.
Since the outbreak of civil war in 1991, Somalia has only had one new airport/airstrip built, and it’s the Bandar Qassim International Airport in Bosaso. The airport comfortably handles its current demands, though it is in dire need of a technology and services upgrade. Only Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu is currently equipped with the tools to qualify even as semi-modernized.
Somalia will need at least one new airport to meet future aviation demands going in and out of the country, and a modest $1 billion upgrade to Aden Adde International would do the trick. From Mogadishu, passengers can take further flights to other locations across the country. Smaller airports like those in Bosaso, Hargeisa, Kismayo, and elsewhere will need only minor technological upgrades.
Thus far we are floating around $15-20 billion total needed to rebuild Somalia’s most key infrastructure for the decade coming.

Secondary infrastructure

After the roads, sea and air ports, dams, and refineries are patched up Somalia will need to rebuild its manufacturing infrastructure. Textile factories, tobacco processing plants, fisheries, and mineral processing plants will need to be reintroduced to meet Somalia’s domestic demand if it is to be reintegrated into the international community as a modern nation.
The costs of these factories prewar are hard to find, and negligible as well since the Somalia of 1980 was not expected to be a strong performer. But today there is immense pressure on Somalia to produce and to compete on a higher level, from both its neighbors and a demanding global community. To meet major demands, Somalia will need to invest at least $5 billion to construct factories and train its people in the capacity to meet expected demands.
Health, education, and other types of social infrastructure will have to take a backseat to Somalia’s economic needs. Taking a page out of Asia’s growth trends, the first decade should be focused primarily on getting everyone into work so the current generation can afford to put their children in school.
How will this be financed?
Abound are plenty of outlets to seek financing. Loans from international organizations are plenty, though dangerous. Another way to go about this is to use leverage. Somalia has to entice investors with its goods; minerals, oil, natural gas, agricultural property, and whatever else it can potentially sell to interested parties. And considering the level of interest nations like Turkey and the UK have taken, Somalia must have already pitched a hell of a campaign.
 
footnoted
 
Somali Industry in the 1970s and 1980s. Siad Barre’s economical reforms
 
 
We welcome your ideas and comments  terrorfreesomalia@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter  @terrorfreesomal
 
 
Abdirahman Warsame (Rahm)

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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