All of this talk of ‘rep’ is futile. Accept this and understand this, until Somalis get their act together and clean up their country and deal with the poverty and the corruption, we will always be looked down upon. No PR will save a society like ours until we become a wealthy one in which we as a gov and society can establish an image that works to our advantage. But when you have people living in camps, chaos, Karxiis, severe poverty, this is the end result. Even this Nigerian girl you’re complaining about is silly since Nigeria doesn’t have a good rep as well. Heck most of SSA doesn’t have a good rep and that’s due to rampant poverty and weak gov structures.
I half agree with you, especially on the need to invest in our own media and tell our own story. But wealth alone won’t fix Somalia’s image. Look at Saudi Arabia: it’s rich, its citizens enjoy a high standard of living, yet its global reputation is still negative. Every attempt at PR just gets dismissed as 'sportswashing' or 'image laundering.'
For Somalis, there’s an added layer we’re Muslims, Africans, and in some ways Arab-adjacent. That means we’ll always be filtered through an unfavorable lens. On top of that, Somalis aren’t docile; we’re outspoken, defiant, politically and economically active, and committed to self-sufficiency. That rubs a lot of people the wrong way. So the stereotypes placed on Arabs, Africans, or Muslims often get projected onto us, amplified by the 'middleman minority' effect.
That said, the picture you describe poverty, instability, camps, doesn’t reflect most people’s reality. Somalia today is more stable than outsiders think, and the majority don’t live in severe poverty. Progress has been real and significant across sectors, often achieved faster and with fewer resources than elsewhere. The problem is that it’s driven by communities, diaspora, and the private sector, so it doesn’t get captured in international narratives.
That’s why the focus shouldn’t just be on complaining about reputation but on showing the progress that’s happening and building on it. Reputation follows substance, but only if we’re the ones narrating it. Even if outsiders don’t acknowledge it, change is happening on the ground and that lived reality matters more than perception
That's how i see it.