The Vicarious Rentier
In this piece, we take look at the 2025 GDP report published by the National Bureau of Statistics and share our thoughts on how the report should be interpreted. The National Bureau of Statistics has just released its national accounts for 2025, and the headline the bureau wants
The latest
Africa’s yuan turn is a debt story, and Somalia should read it closely
On 26 June, China's central bank authorised two lenders, South Africa's Standard Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, to clear renminbi across Africa, giving African
Read →
Somalia accedes to maritime conventions in bid to unlock its coastal economy
By joining fifteen international maritime treaties at once, and at little cost, Somalia is assembling the legal machinery that shipping insurers, financiers and seafarer employers require. Somalia has moved to join fifteen
Read →
Central Bank to overhaul bank credit rules in IMF-backed reform
New reforms would force Somali lenders to recognise loans that fall behind and cap how much they can lend to a single borrower. The Central Bank of Somalia is preparing to overhaul
Read →
Regulator convenes first submarine cable working group to bolster broadband
The National Communications Authority (NCA) opened the country's first technical working group on submarine cable landings on Sunday
Read →
Somalia draws its banks into pan-African payments network
The central bank has gathered the country’s commercial lenders in Mogadishu as it works to connect them to a continental settlement system designed to smooth cross-border trade. The Central Bank
Read →
Somalia’s Mining Ambitions Draw Azerbaijani Interest
Azerbaijan’s state-owned mining company, AzerGold, opened discussions with the Somali Development and Reconstruction Bank (SDRB) on June 18 over potential cooperation in mineral exploration, financing and technical development, in what
Read →
$45m framework with the Islamic Development Bank signed
Somalia signed a Country Engagement Framework with the Islamic Development Bank on 19 June, at the bank’s 2026 annual meetings in Baku, Azerbaijan. The framework covers 2026 to 2028 and carries
Read →
Somalia’s fiscal discipline, three years on
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, Somalia’s public debt stood at $1.47bn, all of it external. The stock has remained broadly stable as creditors settle arrears under
Read →
Hormuud moves into smartphone financing
A new interest-free financing plan from Hormuud Telecom and Get-Phone lets low-income Somalis buy their first smartphones in small daily instalments, on better terms than similar schemes elsewhere in
Read →