Abdusalam Omer, governor of the Central Bank of Somalia, is on a mission to salvage Somalia’s broken economy and stricken financial system.
“The task is so daunting,” Omer told Gulfnews.com.
Omer was born in Somalia, but left when he was 16 and has returned just this year. He left his native country to work in Washington D.C. during the financial crisis of the 1990s, where he became part of a team that turned junk bonds into investment grade paper, reports Gulfnews.com
Returning to Somalia as lead of the central bank, Omer has become passionate about transforming the country’s financial state.
“We have to build brick by brick and person by person,” he stated.
It will be no easy task, as the country acutely lacks commercial banks and suffers from a long history of financial chaos.
In effort to jumpstart the process, the central bank is now providing provisional licenses for commercial banks. The banks must begin preparing to adhere with anti-money laundering regulations and other laws that will be demanded when full licenses are issued. Omer said that he plans to issue these licenses by the last quarter of 2013.
According to Gulfnews.com, Omer has also pledged to introduce a new currency as he stated, “There is a unanimous understanding and agreement on the part of the Somali leadership that there is a need for a new currency and the central bank of Somalia will be working on that in due time.”
Details about the new currency were vague, but it is clear that the country’s battered notes, which were last printed before 1991, are in short supply and desperately need a makeover.
Moreover, Omer will lead the central bank in rejuvenating the country’s banking system, as many Somalis have been living without a formal banking system. One of the first goals is to gather information about inflation and other benchmarks required for policy making. In the coming week, the central bank has said they will be releasing the first economic report, which will be posted on its new website.
Omer commented, “It might not be as useful as other reports around the world, but for us it is a giant step.”
To read the full story at Gulfnews.com click here.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More