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somalilandlatest news & developments
Airstrikes, targeted attacks on leadership figures and the broader framing of regime change shift the political frame of reference. Photo: Supplied
IRAN

External pressure and internal consolidation: Lessons from Iran, Somaliland and South Africa

This is a familiar pattern. External intervention reframes political identity from internal contestation to collective defence

  • Joan Swart
5 min read
Drawing the line in the sand: The recognition of Somaliland’s sovereignty brings the dilemma of recognised borders back to the surface. Photo: Clay Gilliland
AU CONSTITUTIVE ACT

Somaliland and the African border dilemma

But insisting that borders are absolutely sacred under all circumstances brings its own dangers

  • Joan Swart
5 min read
A Somaliland police officer gives directions to voters in front of a tent operating as a polling station during the 2024 Somaliland presidential election in Hargeisa on November 13, 2024. (Photo by LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images)
CHINA

Ramifications of the US recognising Somaliland as a state

Somaliland’s strategic value in the Horn of Africa means the repercussions of such a decision would be far-reaching

  • Seifudein Adem
7 min read
Some elections show signs of progress — youth-driven political transitions and active citizen involvement — others reveal systemic problems, including political manipulation and disenfranchisement. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
AFRICA

Democracy tested: What the 2024 African election scorecard reveals about progress and problems

Some elections show signs of progress — youth-driven political transitions and active citizen involvement — others reveal systemic problems, including political manipulation and…

  • Nyasha Mpani
8 min read
Mdou Moctar of Mdou Moctar performs at Circolo Magnolia of Segrate on August 22, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images)
AFRICAN ROCK

Long live rock – as long as it is African

Three new African rock albums show how the genre has been given a new lease on life on the continent

  • Charles Leonard
3 min read
Students wave a Somali flag during a demonstration in support of Somalia’s government following the port deal signed between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland at Eng Yariisow Stadium in Mogadishu on January 3, 2024. (Photo by ABDISHUKRI HAYBE/AFP via Getty Images)
ABIY AHMED

Abiy’s port in a storm

Landlocked Ethiopia wants a port, any port. Somaliland has a coastline and wants someone to recognise the self-governing territory as a fully-fledged country. So a deal was made…

  • Samuel Getachew
  • Simon Allison
  • The Continent
  • Hussein Mohamed
7 min read
Hands off: Somaliand took control of Las Anod from Puntland state in 2007. Photo: Eduardo Soteras/AFP
HARGEISA

Fault line cuts Somaliland’s quest for nationhood

The Las Anod conflict complicates the mission for true independence from Somalia

  • Liban Mahamed
4 min read
People’s power: Voters wait at a polling station outside the hostels in Umlazi, Durban. Voting remains critical to bring about the change desired. Photo: Marco Longari/AFP
COVID 19 RECOVERY

East and Southern African governments must prioritise human rights ahead of elections

We cannot accept anything less than a full guarantee of the safety of vulnerable people before the polls

  • Tigere Chagutah
5 min read
Big brother is watching: Surveillance cameras, such as these at Tiananmen square in Beijing, China, are run by ‘algorithms of repression’ that allow governments to easily wield restrictive powers over their citizens. (AFP)
ETHIOPIA

‘Our cameras will make you safe’

Huawei’s pitch to African mayors ignores concerns that its Smart Cities technology can be abused

  • Simon Allison
7 min read
The library, open throughout the year, is small but strong on Somaliland literature but also much literature from the rest of Africa. (Michael Runkel)
COUNTRY

A literary snapshot of Somaliland

As part of the festival, the organisers have worked on ensuring that they nurture a new generation of Somali readers and writers

  • Zukiswa Wanner
4 min read
Muse Bihi Abdi has been recognised by Guinea as president of Somaliland. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
ALPHA CONDE

Somaliland gets the red carpet

The self-governing territory’s president received a head of state’s welcome in Guinea, much to Somalia’s fury

  • Simon Allison
3 min read
One cause of statelessness is non-state territories. Countries such as Somaliland are still struggling to gain statehood and for recognition. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)
CITIZENSHIP

Citizens of nowhere suffer social and physical deprivations

Statelessness is an affront to human rights and a breach of international law, and countries must be forced to put an end to it

  • Staff Reporter
7 min read
Cheetah cubs rescued in Somaliland, which is on the trafficking route from East Africa to countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are cared for at a centre in Hargeisa set up by Namibia’s Cheetah Conservation Fund.(Laura Orozco)
CHEETAH

Somalia’s cheetah smuggling ring

Africa’s big cats are being trafficked to rich households in the Middle East who want ‘something more exotic’

  • Louise Redvers
8 min read
On the far side of the path that Mars traces around the sun, but before the orbit of the gas giant Jupiter, we find our next goose: the asteroid belt. (German Aerospace Centre)
ABDISHAKUR MOHAMED

Book fair turns the page for literature in Somaliland

The book fair has been a key factor in Somaliland’s embrace of literature

  • Cyril Belaud
4 min read
Somaliland is nearer to its holy grail than even before. But it doesn’t take a poet to know that sometimes holy grails turn out to be poisoned chalices.
AFRICAN UNION

Somaliland’s independence bid boosted by geostrategic shakeup

But is Hargeisa sacrificing its values in its quest for independence?

  • Simon Allison
5 min read
The social media economy uses tactics such as rage bait to drive up algorithms, and in this way monetises outrage.
DJIBOUTI

An Ethiopia-backed port is changing power dynamics in the Horn of Africa

A deal brokered by Ethiopia to develop the port at Berbera will have a ripple effect across the Horn of Africa

  • Staff Reporter
5 min read
Djibouti’s ports have become a prime location for geostrategic competition
AL QAEDA

China dominant in Djibouti port spat

There are only two sea routes linking Europe with East Africa and much of Asia. Either you sail around the Cape of Good Hope or through the Suez Canal

  • Geoff Hill
4 min read
Mugabe’s exit does not in itself guarantee reform or positive change in Zimbabwe. But it does send the strongest possible message to those who would follow in his footsteps.
ADAMA BARROW

​Africa for optimists: 2017 in review

Not feeling so hopeful? Click here for the other side of the coin in our ‘Africa for pessimists: 2017 in review’.

  • Simon Allison
5 min read
Nomvula Mokonyane said the cabinet was concerned that appeals were now being made by minority rights groups to other countries for protection against expropriation without compensation.
ELECTIONS

Ruling party wins presidential vote in breakaway Somaliland

​"The tallying process of the election was concluded and Kulmiye party candidate Muse Bihi Abdi won the election and will be the president"

  • Staff Reporter
2 min read
Somaliland’s shift to using iris recognition in a presidential election stems from distrust in the voting system.
AFRICA

Somaliland’s voting technology shows how Africa can lead the world

In an extension of technological leapfrogging, Somaliland will become the first country in the world to use iris recognition in an election

  • Calestous Juma
5 min read