Don’t invest in Kenya, Somali government warns citizen

Image result for money laundering

Somalia Finance Minister A.Beileh has challenged Somalia’s business community to invest the country and not elsewhere in an apparent reference to Kenya.

Addressing the media Somalia Finance Minister A.Beileh said that Kenya has benefited from Somali a lot and thus it should target its community.

Dr. Abdirahman Beileh urged Somalis to be repatriating their scattered wealth home for safekeeping and to stimulate the country’ economy.

He quoted Arabic proverb which roughly translates – Maro aadan lahayn Maroor kuuma daydo.

Kenya had earlier launched searches on Somali owned money transfer companies in connection to money laundering.

According to the 2014 US government money laundering and narcotics report, Kenya remains vulnerable to money laundering and financial fraud. “Kenya is a transit point for international drug traffickers. Trade-based money laundering is a problem in Kenya, though the Kenya Revenue Authority has made recent strides in improving internal monitoring and collection procedures,” the report says.

Two years ago, the government shut 13 Somalia-linked firms in April, saying it wanted to prevent militant Islamists from using them to finance attacks.

Kenyans Somalis accused the government of blanket punishment.

The United Nations estimates that Somalis in the diaspora, almost all of whom are Muslim, send home about $1.6bn (£1.1bn) annually, significantly more than foreign aid.

More than 40% of Somalis receive remittances, the bulk of which are used for basic needs, including food, clothes, medicine and education, according to a UN survey.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since the fall of Siad Barre’s government in 1991, and has been beset by religious and clan conflicts.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *