by BRIAN ORUTASaturday June 13, 2026 Somalia has stepped up its drive to spur economic growth and sharpen its regional competitiveness, unveiling a fresh round of infrastructure and public investment projects in Hirshabelle State that officials say are central to the country’s reconstruction effort. In Jowhar, the Hirshabelle capital, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud joined Hirshabelle President Ali Abdullahi Hussein, better known as Ali Guudlaawe, to launch a package of major projects intended to improve connectivity,…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Turkey’s effort to mediate Somalia’s political deadlock has run into fresh resistance, with technical disputes and widening foreign pressure slowing progress in the talks, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The discussions had been expected to move forward this week with a meeting of technical committees drawn from the opposition and the federal government, after both sides had already reached a preliminary understanding. But disagreement over which political actors should be officially…

Monday May 18, 2026 Hargeisa (AX) — North Western State of Somalia on Monday marked 35 years since it broke away from Somalia, staging military parades, public festivities and fresh calls for wider international recognition. Tens of thousands turned out in Hargeisa and other major cities, including Burco and Borama, to observe May 18, the date North Western State of Somalia says represents its 1991 declaration of independence after the collapse of Somalia’s central government in Mogadishu. The main ceremony took place in…

South Africa’s political temperature rose sharply after the Constitutional Court ordered Parliament to relaunch impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa, reigniting the Phala Phala scandal and placing him under fresh legal and political scrutiny. Ramaphosa has dismissed demands that he step down and says he will fight the process in court. He intends to seek a judicial review of the 2022 Section 89 panel report, which concluded there was preliminary evidence he may have breached the Constitution or engaged…

Monday May 11, 2026 Emmanuel Macron arrived in Kenya on Sunday, launching a visit that sets the stage for the Africa Forward Summit and for France’s latest attempt to redefine its role on the continent. In Nairobi, the French president will press a message of partnership over influence, even as Paris continues to reckon with the fallout from its military retreat across West Africa and a broader reassessment of its post-colonial ties. The French president’s trip to Kenya began on Sunday, ahead of the Africa Forward Summit,…

By: OMAR M ELMI, EconomistSaturday May 2, 2026 North Western State of Somalia sits on one of the world’s most sensitive maritime corridors, along Somalia’s Gulf of Aden coast where the Bab el-Mandeb strait opens into the Red Sea. | Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images As tensions mount across the Red Sea, North Western State of Somalia is nearing a turning point that could reshape not only its diplomatic ambitions but also its security outlook. For more than 30 years, the self-declared republic has pressed for international…

Hassan IstiilaFriday April 24, 2026 On a dusty roadside in Elasha Biyaha, some 15 kilometers from Mogadishu, Sharmarke Aden sits in his bajaj, thumbs moving over a Samsung phone as he tries again and again to pull up his digital national ID. The app, eAqoonsi, sits at the center of Somalia’s drive to take public services online. In the best-case scenario, it should spare Aden the expense and lost time of traveling to a registration center and standing in long lines, all while sacrificing a day’s earnings. Instead, patchy…

The European Union is already moving toward a fresh round of pressure on Moscow, with its 21st sanctions package now under discussion just a day after the bloc approved its 20th set of measures over Russia’s war in Ukraine. "We're really pushing to go on with the 21st package of sanctions," Ms Kallas told reporters ahead of an informal summit of EU leaders in Cyprus. "It sends a very clear signal to Russia that they can't outwait us. It also sends a clear signal to Russia that Ukraine is more important to us than it is to…

Saturday April 4, 2026 Fuel shortages and soaring prices have turned a familiar Mogadishu street scene into a snapshot of economic strain: three-wheelers sitting idle by the roadside, drivers stranded, and livelihoods slipping out of reach. On April 2, 2026, a staff member refueled a three-wheeler at a petrol station in Somalia’s capital as the ripple effects of war in the Middle East continued to push fuel costs sharply higher across the country.(Photo by Hassan Bashi/Xinhua) Abdulkadir Sharif eased his tuk-tuk to the side…

WFP warns Middle East war could push 45 million into hunger The U.N. World Food Programme warned that if the Middle East war continues through June, price shocks could push an additional 45 million people into acute hunger. By Ali MusaWellness Desk – Health & Nutrition Monitoring. Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said the outlook was dire as the agency contends with rising costs and disrupted supply chains. He delivered the warning at a press conference in Geneva. “If the Middle…