Somalia needs to reinvent itself

[EDsomali]

Assuming the unlikely scenario that we defeat shabaab , put aside our differences and end this stupid federal tribalism system we have now - Somalia will still have a bad reputation in the eyes of the world. This image of war and poverty that the media has portrayed of Somalia will make it hard for tourists and investment to come to our shores.

What we need is radical change. For example, our capital is associated with terrorism and the events of the 90s therefore it may be wise to consider moving it to a new location, preferably somewhere brand new so it can be built ground up and people couldn't fight over ownership of it. Personally i think it should be somewhere uninhabited on the banks of the shabelle river.

Secondly, the name of our country itself had bad blood and reputation behind it, perhaps we ought to come together and think of a new name for our nation maybe looking at our history which may lead to something we can all agree on.

Lastly, our flag , while i love our flag it also is scarred by the civil war we've been having for 3 decades. As a result i'm in favour of a new flag which still affirms our fundamental commitment to the creation of Our true nation of Somaliweyn yet allows us to start over similar to how the flag of Japan changed after the second world war.


I'd love to hear your opinions on this even better if you disagree with me i'd like to hear the reasoning behind your criticism but please don't derail this thread with low IQ tribalism or pointless arguing.

 

[chosen one]

Assuming the unlikely scenario that we defeat shabaab , put aside our differences and end this stupid federal tribalism system we have now - Somalia will still have a bad reputation in the eyes of the world. This image of war and poverty that the media has portrayed of Somalia will make it hard for tourists and investment to come to our shores.

What we need is radical change. For example, our capital is associated with terrorism and the events of the 90s therefore it may be wise to consider moving it to a new location, preferably somewhere brand new so it can be built ground up and people couldn't fight over ownership of it. Personally i think it should be somewhere uninhabited on the banks of the shabelle river.

Secondly, the name of our country itself had bad blood and reputation behind it, perhaps we ought to come together and think of a new name for our nation maybe looking at our history which may lead to something we can all agree on.

Lastly, our flag , while i love our flag it also is scarred by the civil war we've been having for 3 decades. As a result i'm in favour of a new flag which still affirms our fundamental commitment to the creation of Our true nation of Somaliweyn yet allows us to start over similar to how the flag of Japan changed after the second world war.


I'd love to hear your opinions on this even better if you disagree with me i'd like to hear the reasoning behind your criticism but please don't derail this thread with low IQ tribalism or pointless arguing.

fk tourism and who cares about our reputation we should be content with ourselves first and we need to increase our population to 100m before we open the flood gates or we will be minorities in our own country

 

[7even]

I agree. Start again from the beginning. Tear everything down. Though we both know none of this will happen

 

[RasCanjero-]

No bank or private equity investor would touch us regardless of the potential returns.

Could be good since that forces us to independently develop the necessary financial institutions ourselves.

Would proof as an advantage when we want to start dominating the regional and wider economy in Africa.

However most likely we'd just wallow in our own crap and complain how unfair the world is.

 

[EDsomali]

fk tourism and who cares about our reputation we should be content with ourselves first and we need to increase our population to 100m before we open the flood gates or we will be minorities in our own country

Investors will shy away from Somalia and that lack of investment will limit our potential economic growth which will lift our nation out of poverty. Tourism also brings in significant income and creates employment but ultimately allows us to show our culture and customs to the world which is why i think we should consider things like changing our name of the country to secure that investment and those tourists.

 

[EDsomali]

I agree. Start again from the beginning. Tear everything down. Though we both know none of this will happen

I agree , the likelihood of this happening is almost zero. But it's not impossible. Eventually something will spark change in Somalia.

 

[EDsomali]

No bank or private equity investor would touch us regardless of the potential returns.

Could be good since that forces us to independently develop the necessary financial institutions ourselves.

Would proof as an advantage when we want to start dominating the regional and wider economy in Africa.

However most likely we'd just wallow in our own crap and complain how unfair the world is.

The government needs to step in and be effective, we need better tax collection and use those taxes alongside consumption to drive economic growth in the short run. The world can only ignore a reformed Somalia for so long, I believe that if we can implement these changes to our nation then investors will be wiling and probably backed by international organisations could provide us with a route out of the sorry state that we are in today.

 

[chosen one]

Investors will shy away from Somalia and that lack of investment will limit our potential economic growth which will lift our nation out of poverty. Tourism also brings in significant income and creates employment but ultimately allows us to show our culture and customs to the world which is why i think we should consider things like changing our name of the country to secure that investment and those tourists.

Somalias reputation is already sunken dont worry what the world thinks of us rn. We can get investments in other sectors which would add a lot more to our economy than tourism. Remember al shabaab bombed the capital just a few months ago... I have no doubt that some crazy farax will start spraying bullets if suddenly some large amount of rich cadaans show up....let the country heal first.

 

[darklight]

Assuming the unlikely scenario that we defeat shabaab , put aside our differences and end this stupid federal tribalism system we have now - Somalia will still have a bad reputation in the eyes of the world. This image of war and poverty that the media has portrayed of Somalia will make it hard for tourists and investment to come to our shores.

What we need is radical change. For example, our capital is associated with terrorism and the events of the 90s therefore it may be wise to consider moving it to a new location, preferably somewhere brand new so it can be built ground up and people couldn't fight over ownership of it. Personally i think it should be somewhere uninhabited on the banks of the shabelle river.

Secondly, the name of our country itself had bad blood and reputation behind it, perhaps we ought to come together and think of a new name for our nation maybe looking at our history which may lead to something we can all agree on.

Lastly, our flag , while i love our flag it also is scarred by the civil war we've been having for 3 decades. As a result i'm in favour of a new flag which still affirms our fundamental commitment to the creation of Our true nation of Somaliweyn yet allows us to start over similar to how the flag of Japan changed after the second world war.


I'd love to hear your opinions on this even better if you disagree with me i'd like to hear the reasoning behind your criticism but please don't derail this thread with low IQ tribalism or pointless arguing.

i agree 100% with you, we need a fresh start. i feel like this would make somalis more united and excited for the future.

 

[EDsomali]

Somalias reputation is already sunken dont worry what the world thinks of us rn. We can get investments in other sectors which would add a lot more to our economy than tourism. Remember al shabaab bombed the capital just a few months ago... I have no doubt that some crazy farax will start spraying bullets if suddenly some large amount of rich cadaans show up....let the country heal first.

One of the main drivers of conflict is a lack of job opportunities and education. Both of which Somalia is lacking in today. If we choose to move slowly with our reform then there is the danger that those things will cause an endless cycle of conflict and poverty for our people.
Somalia has no time to waste . every second we waste is another child dying from a preventable disease or another child missing out on a good education a basic human right. This is why we need urgent and real change in our country.

And to respond to your last statement , would you rather have rich cadaans coming to our country as tourists or investors providing employment and economic growth and thereby benefiting our nation. Or would you stick to the current situation of thousands of Somalis fleeing our country trying to get to the shores of Europe.
The answer is clear.

 

[RasCanjero-]

The government needs to step in and be effective, we need better tax collection and use those taxes alongside consumption to drive economic growth in the short run. The world can only ignore a reformed Somalia for so long, I believe that if we can implement these changes to our nation then investors will be wiling and probably backed by international organisations could provide us with a route out of the sorry state that we are in today.

I agree.

The point of my post was that we have be proactive instead of putting our hopes on foreigners for development.

FDI's IMO are double-edged sword.

Foreigners would pump in money that would help accelerate development but they'll also pump a lot more out of the country as well.

Even if Somali investors aren't patriotic they would still probably leave 80%+ of their income inside the country.

Most countries that rely on foreign investors are literally stuck with their umbilical cord to the global financial system.

Let's first develop our own institutions ourselves.

I mean we don't really need international markets to fund basic infrastructure like ports, roads or even rail tracks.

After we get our own basic economy up and running those foreign investors would beg to return and pay full price for our assets.

 

[chosen one]

One of the main drivers of conflict is a lack of job opportunities and education. Both of which Somalia is lacking in today. If we choose to move slowly with our reform then there is the danger that those things will cause an endless cycle of conflict and poverty for our people.
Somalia has no time to waste . every second we waste is another child dying from a preventable disease or another child missing out on a good education a basic human right. This is why we need urgent and real change in our country.

And to respond to your last statement , would you rather have rich cadaans coming to our country as tourists or investors providing employment and economic growth and thereby benefiting our nation. Or would you stick to the current situation of thousands of Somalis fleeing our country trying to get to the shores of Europe.
The answer is clear.

Ok fine but tourism isnt always the way you imagine it to be. its well known most tourist abuse the poor countries their in especially europeans and americans.

 

[EDsomali]

I agree.

The point of my post was that we have be proactive instead of putting our hopes on foreigners for development.

FDI's IMO are double-edged sword.

Foreigners would pump in money that would help accelerate development but they'll also pump a lot more out of the country as well.

Even if Somali investors aren't patriotic they would still probably leave 80%+ of their income inside the country.

Most countries that rely on foreign investors are literally stuck with their umbilical cord to the global financial system.

Let's first develop our own institutions ourselves.

I mean we don't really need international markets to fund basic infrastructure like ports, roads or even rail tracks.

After we get our own basic economy up and running those foreign investors would beg to return and pay full price for our assets.

I totally agree , Somalia taxation system is extremely ineffective. We're barely raising more than a few hundred million dollars in the whole country even in the stable northern regions. We should be aiming to collect 30-40% of our GDP in taxes and using at least half of that to fund infrastructure which would lead to a positive multiplier effect.
The people really need to rise up to the corrupt and broken system we have now. Things can't and shouldn't continue like this.