@Shimbiris @novanova @Barkhadle1520 @Neptune @Zak12
Had to quickly come back and share this with you all. I found another major Somali business conglomerate that really puts things into perspective.
Their headquarters is in Mogadishu, they have multiple branch offices across various towns, and even an international office in the UAE.
Building Excellence since 1982
shakirgroup.com
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What’s fascinating is how some of these conglomerates start as trading companies focused on import/export and logistics, then diversify into multiple sectors and reinvest in local manufacturing. For example, this group manufactures furniture and mattresses in Somalia.
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I guess I was right , they use the UAE to bypass trade restrictions and credibility issues that Somalia faces, and from there they move products directly.
It really looks like Somalia’s main export markets are East African countries and the UAE/Turkey, with the UAE acting as the main funnel. Goods produced in Somalia livestock, agriculture, fish, manufactured items often go first to Dubai. From there, they’re re-exported globally under UAE paperwork. On paper, this makes Somalia’s exports look smaller, because they show up in UAE trade statistics instead of Somalia’s.
The same distortion happens with imports. Many Somali businesses set up headquarters or hubs abroad, run factories there, and then export products back into Somalia. It shows up as “imports,” but most of the profits flow back to Somali owners.
Take tuna as an example. OMAAR Tuna (which recently set up a tuna plant in Somalia), Jazeera Tuna, and likely Qandala Tuna all source fish locally, package it abroad, and sell it back into Somalia’s market while also exporting internationally. So in trade stats it looks like Somalia is “importing canned tuna,” but in reality Somalis are selling their own tuna back to themselves while also selling it to other markets. The value chain and profits still go back to Somalia. They employ local Somali fishermen, processers
And this distortion in exports is bigger than just tuna. A lot of Somali goods are funneled through Dubai, Nairobi, or Turkey before reaching global markets. That’s why they don’t show up neatly as “Somalia’s exports,” even though the business activity and profits connect back home. Now with local factories like SomTuna, Habo, and Bareeda operational inside Somalia, more of the processing is happening locally. But since much of their output still gets re-exported through hubs like Dubai, the same trade distortion continues it doesn’t always show up cleanly as “Somali exports,” even though the value and profits are Somali.
It makes a lot of sense, actually. I remember
@Shimbiris saying how he grew up eating Somali canned and processed food in the UAE. At the time it sounded interesting, but now it really clicks.
It also makes sense how local fishermen can earn $1,500–$3,000 a month. Their catch moves through a value chain: first sold to local processors, then to manufacturers/packagers, then to distributors, then to retailers, and finally to consumers. The same thing happens with banana farmers, who can earn around $18,000 a year (as that study showed). The key is that the longer and stronger the value chain, the bigger the income opportunities it creates. And since much of that chain is controlled by Somali businesses, the profits largely stay within Somali hands and cycle back into the economy.
The same goes for Frankincense. Many Somali-owned businesses distill it into various products abroad to bypass accreditation, certification, and lab setup bottlenecks. They then package, brand, and sell it to different markets. For example:
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They sell it even at the BBS mall in Eastleigh:
Another company I found on LinkedIn appears to be part of multiple businesses owned by descendants of the Majerteen royal family, who collectively inherited and manage the frankincense trees.
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It actually surprised me how many Somali owned companies are distilling abroad in the UK/West or UAE while being registered both there and in Somalia. This is ironic considering the misleading narratives online about exploitation. While that may have been true over a decade ago, today Frankincense harvesters are likely earning a decent income from a value chain they effectively control. Meanwhile, the Somali owned companies probably generate profits in the millions, and diaspora entrepreneurs have even built sustainability mechanisms to manage operations.
As far as I know, Botanika is the only company that has successfully bypassed barriers to central distilling locally. However, this setup distorts Somalia’s trade/export statistics because the value and profit return is much higher than what official figures suggest.
I suspect a similar dynamic exists with gold. Somali trading companies headquartered abroad often purchase gold and then resell it to Somali businesses or retailers, who in turn sell to wealthy customers or distribute it globally. In effect, Somalis act as their own middlemen in their own trade.
For example, this one company has offices in both the UAE and Somaliland located in Hargeisa’s Burj Omar Business District and the Gold Souq, where Somali shops operate. According to their website, they manage billions in assets owned by 50,000 Somali investors, who receive monthly returns. They fund gold mining and processing operations in Somaliland and maintain a transparent supply chain that complies with Islamic finance rules and certifications:
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