Rebuilding Somalia
| Pages | 50-51 |
48 FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT | March 2020
IN THE TRENCHES
PHOTO: IMF/EUGENE SALAZAR
Rebuilding Somalia
Finance Minister Abdirahman Dualeh
Beileh sees hope for his country’s
economic development
A BIG CHALLENGE for fragile st ates is to hold on
to their most valuable asset: pe ople. More than
1 million Somalis have fled their country in
recent years, many choosing r amshackle refugee
camps in neighboring countr ies over the inces-
sant instability a nd conflict back home. But for
Abdirahman Dualeh Beileh, Soma lia’s finance
minister, years abroad helped prepare him for a
key post in a country t hat had virtually no func-
tioning public institutions for more than 20 year s.
After three de grees from the University of
Wisconsin–Madi son and a long stint at the African
Development Bank (Af DB), Beileh was beckoned
back to Somalia in 2014 to help the country get on
its feet again. He ser ved first as minister of foreign
affairs before being n amed finance minister in 2017.
Decades of devastat ing conflict have left Soma lia
with vast needs, a nd Beileh has focused on restoring
trust in Somal ia’s government to secure the resources
needed to rebuild.
In addition to his role as a public servant, Bei leh
is known for his talent as a n artist and songwr iter.
In this interview w ith FD’s Bruce Edwa rds,
Beileh says cultura l expression has been a unif ying
force in Somalia’s fractious history a nd plays an
important role in its development.
F&D: Could you paint us a pic ture of the place
Somalia is emer ging from?
ADB: Somalia had no recognized government for
20 years. ere was a total lack of institutions,
a total suspension of law and order. Everybody
went back to their roots, back to their clans where
the elders are in charge of small communities. If
you don’t have a recognized central government,
schools, or anything binding these communities of
small clans and subclans, then you suddenly feel
that you don’t exist anymore. We were saved by
our women and elders, who helped ease tensions
between communities. But we sobered up when
we saw that the country was slipping away. We
realized that people were leaving, and a country
cannot exist in a vacuum.
F&D: What was t he turning point?
ADB: e turni ng point was 2012, when the first
government was elected in a manner t hat resem-
bled normalcy, and the international community
recognized th at. Since then we’ve been climbing
a very steep mountain, and we’re heading for
the su mmit.
F&D: Insecurity h as been a long-standing is sue.
ADB: Se curity is always a problem. But when we
compare where we are today and where we came
from, I think it’s tremendous that we were able to
make it this far.
ere are still some securit y problems, some
terrorist elements in Somalia. But by and la rge, we
have rules that gu ide our economy nationwide. I
think we have the common agenda worked out:
one nation, one economy, and one budget. We’re
not there yet, but with the help of the international
community, we’ll get there soon.
F&D: Among your many priorities, which ones
are the most pressi ng?
ADB:
e most pressing issue is to deal with our debt
to the international community. In recent years,
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