Mogadishu Forum Puts Somalia’s Energy Future on Center Stage
MOGADISHU — As the Jazeera Hotel fills with ministers, investors and telecom executives on Oct. 15, Somalia’s conversation about power is being reframed. The Somali Success Forum, now in its fourth year and hosted by Hormuud Telecom, has turned a routine business gathering into a public reckoning over how a fragile, resource-rich country can light its way into stability and growth.
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From dark nights to data centers
For decades, Somalia’s electricity story has been one of scarcity and uneven access. Where mains supply exists, it can be costly and intermittent; outside cities, many households remain off-grid. Yet the country sits on abundant sunshine and coastal winds — raw materials for a greener, distributed energy future.
That contradiction is visible across Mogadishu. Rooftop solar panels crowd the corrugated sheets of neighborhood markets. New mini-grids hum near industrial clusters. And in the background, telecom masts — once dependent on diesel generators — increasingly run on sun-charged batteries that keep phones and internet connected through fluctuating grid conditions.
“Reliable, affordable energy means more than just light — it powers livelihoods, industry and innovation,” Hormuud Telecom said in a statement ahead of the forum. “It allows farmers to preserve food, students to study at night, and businesses to expand and create jobs.”
That message underpins the forum’s headline panel: “Powering Somalia’s Future: Policy, Investment, and Private Sector Leadership in the Energy Sector.” The aim is not only to shine a spotlight on technology, but to connect it to laws, finance and the everyday decisions of Somali entrepreneurs.
Private sector momentum — and its limits
In recent years, Somalia’s private sector has driven much of the progress. Companies have rolled out rooftop solar kits, hybrid mini-grids and battery-backed connections for businesses that cannot trust municipal supply. Hormuud itself says it has transitioned nearly 90 percent of its telecom masts to solar power — a prominent example of a major Somali company reducing fuel costs and emissions while improving service reliability.
But private gains have limits. Small, dispersed customers are expensive to reach. Financing for larger grid projects is scarce. Regulatory frameworks that could attract offshore investors are nascent. And climate change, with rising temperatures and more frequent droughts, threatens both demand patterns and the ability of rural communities to pay for new services.
Bridging public and private ambitions
One of the forum’s focal points is the Somalia Electricity Sector Recovery Project, an initiative that illustrates how government, donors and businesses might collaborate. Recovery projects like this combine technical upgrades, capacity building and targeted subsidies to jump-start generation and distribution — but they require political buy-in and transparent governance to work in a fragile context.
The policy questions are straightforward but difficult: How do you make tariffs affordable without deterring investment? How do you integrate off-grid renewables into a future national grid? Who bears the upfront cost of batteries and storage that smooth renewable supply?
Those issues are not unique to Somalia. Across sub‑Saharan Africa, countries are experimenting with hybrid models that blend public investment and private delivery. International finance has been shifting, too — more risk-tolerant capital is nudging development banks and impact investors toward decentralized energy projects, while technology costs for solar and batteries continue to fall.
On the ground: what energy means to people
Behind policy debates are simple, daily transformations. In a coastal village outside Garowe, a cold chain for fish processing enabled by a small solar system can extend the market for a catch by days. In Mogadishu markets, better lighting and phone charging mean traders can do business after sunset. And for students studying in neighborhoods where power was once scarce, a steady evening lamp can add hours of study each week.
Those tangible benefits help explain why entrepreneurs in Somalia have been so active in the energy space. Where state capacity has been weak, agile private firms have stepped into distribution, payment collection and maintenance — sometimes with innovative pay-as-you-go models that match irregular income streams common in informal economies.
What the world can learn — and what Somalia needs
Somalia’s energy transition raises questions with global resonance. How do countries with limited state capacity unlock private finance without ceding essential public oversight? How do entrepreneurs scale solutions from neighborhood microgrids to national systems? And how do development partners balance immediate humanitarian needs with long-term resilience investments in energy?
The answers will matter far beyond Somalia’s borders. As climate shocks intensify, resilient and decentralized energy systems are becoming a priority everywhere. Somalia’s mix of private-sector initiative, diaspora capital and international partnerships could become a template — if the policy and financing architecture keeps pace.
From words to impact
Organizers of the Somali Success Forum say they want the meeting to be catalytic. “This conference is a catalyst,” Hormuud added — a signal that the goal is not merely debate but measurable change in communities and the economy.
Whether the forum leads to scaled investment, clearer regulations, or strengthened public-private coordination remains to be seen. What is clear is that Somalia stands at a crossroads: it can lean into decentralized, renewable solutions driven by local entrepreneurs, or risk remaining locked into costly, carbon-heavy patterns that limit opportunity.
As ministers and investors file into the Jazeera Hotel, the broader test will be whether the conversations translate into the kind of sustained, inclusive action that brings light and livelihoods to more Somalis — and whether that model can be shared with other countries confronting similar challenges.
Can a country rebuilding from long conflict craft a clean-energy pathway that is equitable, scalable and resilient? The answer will shape more than Somalia’s power supply; it will shape its future economic promise.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
