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How Somaliland Can Leverage Public Protests to Strengthen Fair Competition and Inclusive Growth
- Introduction
Somaliland’s constitutional commitment to a free-market economy, as enshrined in Article 11, seeks to foster prosperity, equitable wealth distribution, and the attraction of private investment. Yet, recent public protests against coordinated price-fixing by telecom giants Telesom and Somtel have exposed deep-seated gaps in market regulation. These events have opened a rare window for Somaliland to realign its economic policies with its constitutional principles, ensuring that markets function in the public interest without undermining private sector dynamism.
This analysis examines the private sector’s historic role in Somaliland’s post-war recovery alongside its structural challenges, the government’s constrained regulatory capacity, lessons from international experiences where public protests catalyzed reforms, and a roadmap for creating a balanced economic environment that safeguards public welfare while nurturing business growth.
- Somaliland’s Private Sector: Engine of Growth and Exclusion
The Post-War Economic Miracle: Since declaring independence in 1991, Somaliland’s private sector has been the central driver of its remarkable economic revival. Contributing over 90% of GDP and operating largely without foreign aid or direct government intervention, private enterprises have fuelled national resilience. The telecom sector, for instance, has delivered world-class innovations in mobile money services such as Zaad and Edahab platforms, which have achieved global recognition for their penetration in both urban and rural communities. The diaspora has played a pivotal role, with remittances sustaining nearly 40% the households and funding critical gaps in social services like healthcare and education that the state cannot yet provide, according to the World Bank. Additionally, Somaliland’s informal economy rooted in clan-based trust networks has provided reliable access to credit and supply chains, offering a form of social and commercial stability in the absence and fragile of formal systems.
Challenges Threatening Inclusive Growth: Somaliland’s private sector success story is marred by self-inflicted and systemic obstacles that hinder inclusive growth. Monopolistic practices have taken root, with dominant firms in sectors such as telecommunications and trade engaging in anti-competitive practices with impunity. Market leaders routinely coordinate price hikes, engage in predatory pricing, supply chain barriers and other tactics to eliminate competitors, block new entrants and leverage their capital to dominate multiple sectors and in all scale from importer and final retailer, creating an economic oligarchy. This concentration of power is exacerbated by political capture, as corporate actors openly fund electoral campaigns and lobby against regulatory reforms.
Moreover, an entrenched short-term outlook has led to overinvestment in import-based trade monopolies rather than value-added production, stifling job creation in manufacturing and processing industries. The trade and telecom sectors, for example, have exploited weak oversight to raise prices in tandem, operating without quality checking, full taxed, with technological sophistications and not openly regulated mobile money operations with potential to influence the monetary policy leverage of the government. While consumer protection and environmental safeguards remain afterthoughts. These distortions persist because Somaliland’s regulatory framework never caught up with its rapid private sector growth a legacy of post-conflict institutional building that prioritized basic governance over economic oversight.
- The Government’s Dilemma: Mediator or Spectator?
Limited Capacity and Limited Leverage: The Somaliland government faces considerable challenges in regulating markets effectively. Fiscal constraints are acute, with revenues amounting to only about 5% of GDP, leaving little room for robust enforcement. Institutional gaps, including the absence of a dedicated competition commission and outdated commercial laws drafted before the mobile money revolution, and a tax administration that struggles to track corporate earnings across interconnected businesses. This institutional vacuum creates perverse incentives: firms that initially filled governance gaps now resist oversight, having grown accustomed to operating without checks on their market power.
The prevailing political economy further complicates reform realizations. Corporate actors have become kingmakers in Somaliland’s competitive democracy, financing campaigns and leveraging clan networks to block legislation that might threaten their dominance. This dynamic was evident during the past administrations’ failed attempt to introduce meaningful corporate taxation and approval regulatory and competition safeguarding bills and acts, for example commercial banks act, which is persistent with the current administration of Cirro, despite trials and formation of dedicated committees.
Recent Efforts – Little and Late: The current administration’s introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) marked a tentative step toward formalizing the private sector, but the system remains riddled with enforcement loopholes, making it unattained, yet. Along this, the administration now faces another major economic crisis with the telecom protests, responding with ad hoc price negotiations that treat symptoms rather than the disease of market concentration.
What’s missing is strategic vision. Somaliland needs more than reactive price controls it requires a comprehensive competition policy framework that realigns private sector growth with national development goals. The government’s current approach of case-by-case intervention resembles whack-a-mole, unable to address the systemic nature of anti-competitive behaviours across sectors.
- The Current Telecom Protests: A Watershed Moment
This Crisis Uniqueness: Past episodes of inflation, particularly in food and fuel prices, have not succeeded in uniting the public. The telecom protests, however, have proven to be different in both scale and impact. This time, the collusion was visible: firms raised prices simultaneously, making coordination undeniable. The repercussions were cross through as telecommunications and mobile money services are used by virtually every citizen, unlike price hikes confined to specific sectors. Moreover, the protests were largely youth-led mobilization through social media platforms circumvented traditional clan and regional divisions, creating Somaliland’s first truly national consumer rights movement.
Global Precedents: How Protests Drove Reform: International examples show that public mobilization can be a decisive catalyst for policy change. In South Africa in 2017, revelations of bread price-fixing by Tiger Brands triggered widespread boycotts, ultimately leading to antitrust fines and market liberalization. In Kenya in 2022, public outcry over Safaricom’s dominance in mobile money services resulted in fee caps and policies to open the market to new competitors. These precedents underscore a critical lesson for Somaliland: public outrage, if organized into clear policy demands, can break entrenched patterns of regulatory inertia, so it presents structural solutions rather than temporary price rollbacks.
- A Roadmap for Reform: Balancing Markets and Public Interest
Realizing systemic reform demands more than momentary outrage, it requires sustained, coordinated efforts across all sectors of society, with each actor playing complementary roles. The media, often termed the “fourth estate,” must amplify public awareness, scrutinize power imbalances, and hold both corporations and regulators accountable. Without this ecosystem-wide engagement, even well-designed policies risk stagnation or capture by vested interests.
For the public, sustaining pressure through lawful and strategic means remains essential. Beyond street protests, citizens must channel energy into formal mechanisms: petitioning for a competition law, participating in regulatory consultations, and leveraging local councils to demand transparency. Grassroots movements should document and publicize market abuses from price-fixing to exclusionary contracts to build an irrefutable case for reform. Most crucially, elected representatives and political bodies with public mandates must take leadership in advancing this agenda. They should develop clear policy positions, communicate them consistently to constituents, and drive legislative action to address market distortions
The government’s response must be phased yet decisive. Immediate actions should include a freeze on telecom price hikes pending an independent audit of market concentration, coupled with a nationwide campaign to educate citizens on antitrust principles. Medium-term priorities must focus on drafting a Somaliland Competition Act, drawing lessons from Kenya’s 2021 framework and South Africa’s antitrust reforms. Establishing an independent Somaliland Competition Commission with investigative powers and judicial authority will be pivotal to enforcement. Long-term institutionalization requires formalizing the informal sector through simplified registration and tax incentives, diluting monopolies’ grip while expanding the revenue base.
Corporates must recognize that self-regulation is not charity it’s self-preservation. Leading firms should adopt transparent pricing methodologies, publish annual competition compliance reports, and invest in productive sectors like agro-processing to diversify the economy.
Academia, Elite and think tanks must bridge the knowledge gap through rigorous research and contextualized knowledge generation. Universities should host public forums linking antitrust reforms to Somaliland’s constitutional goals, while legal clinics assist SMEs in navigating new regulations.
The media’s role is existential. Investigative journalism must expose backroom deals between politicians and corporates, while op-eds translate complex market concepts into public discourse. Social media influencers and traditional leaders, often gatekeepers of public opinion, should be engaged to disseminate reform messaging.
This multi-front effort public vigilance, government action, corporate accountability, academic rigor, and media scrutiny forms the only viable path to transform protests into enduring institutional change. No single actor can succeed alone, but together, they can recalibrate Somaliland’s market ecosystem to serve the many, not the few.
- Conclusion: A Defining Moment for Somaliland’s Economy
The telecom protests are not solely about price increases; they represent a broader referendum on economic justice in Somaliland. The private sector’s post-war achievements risk being undermined by unchecked monopolies, while the credibility of the government depends on its willingness and ability to act decisively.
History has shown that public outrage can be transformed into meaningful reform but only when paired with strategic policymaking, empowering regulatory bodies, and fostering a culture of corporate accountability, Somaliland can honor its constitutional vision of a thriving and equitable market. The choice is clear: safeguard the public interest to ensure the sustainability of the market itself.
About the Author
Roble Muse is a Somaliland-based economic analyst, development strategist and policy researcher specializing in economic policy, development, and governance. Currently, he is pursuing doctoral research on pastoral economies and climate change, with a focus on Somaliland.
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions or perspectives of Somaliland Chronicle and its staff.
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