Hello, I'm pleased to see that my repost has got a response. Let me respond to each of you one by one. Jumatatu, Of course, I know something already of Somalia - it would be inconsiderate for me to come asking questions and expect to be furnished with all the answers without having done some prior research. The reason I have asked the questions I did is because I haven't been able to find the answers on the 'Net. I'm not sure what you mean by filling in the blanks - perhaps you think I come with a hidden agenda? I have already explained my motivation for asking these questions when I said in my original post: "...it's because I'm interested in how societies and individuals organise themselves in the absence of government." However, if you do not wish to answer, that's OK - I hope someone else will be more willing. Ngonge, As I mentioned earlier in my reply to Jumatatu, I have done some research on the 'Net. All the links you supply give information that I'm already familiar with - area, geography, history and current political situation, etc. However, your idea of doing a search on 'Somali private sector' threw up some interesting pages that I will look at later. But I'm still on the lookout for more views - just as looking at a statue from more than one side will give you a better idea of its shape, so also the more views/information you get about a topic, the better understanding you have of the topic. So I don't mind whether the views I receive from people on this site are 'biased' or not - let me be the judge of the bias. In fact, it is natural for everyone to have a bias in their views! Ah, and before I forget - I'm a fellow African myself - I hail from Nigeria. Chief, Your reply made me smile. I've already spoken a bit about why I want to know at the top of this post. I'm just a naturally curious person - in fact, I'm interested in things that most people don't pay attention to. But I understand your puzzlement - really, not many people are interested in goings on in Africa, never mind Somalia. So I'm afraid I'm won't be making any money from my findings. Garab Tuujiye, Thank you for your kind offer. I hope my replies earlier explain why I'm interested in the information I asked for. Seriously, I think we can all learn a lot about how Somalians have organised themselves to cope in the very tough situation they find themselves in. I'll be on the lookout for your answers, and thanks once more. Cheers all, Lanthano

Hello, I just thought I should follow up on this thread, after LixAfar's kind offer to furnish me with more information on the questions I asked. Any info?

Hello all, I'm someone who has followed events in Somalia since 1991 (after the fall of Siad Barre) with keen interest, even though I'm not actually Somalian. Partly it's because I'm interested in how societies and individuals organise themselves in the absence of government. The trouble is, it's very hard getting an idea how day-to-day life is in Somalia - all you hear about in the news is about the conference in Kenya, or sporadic fighting between warlords, or links between Somalia and terrorism. But I'm not really interested in this - I'm more interested in how people are making a living in Somalia. I realise that in effect, what used to be Somalia has been split into roughly three territories - Somaliland, Puntland and the rest of Somalia, so just to clarify, the questions I'm going to ask concern 'the rest of Somalia'. 1. What's the security situation like? Do people in towns form civil defence groups to protect themselves against armed gangs? Are there community recognised courts that deal with disputes between people? What about the countryside? Is there any sign that the various factions are getting tired of fighting each other - is the fighting less that at the beginning of the 1990's? 2. What's the role of Islamic groups and societies in present day Somalia? Are they largely replacing the government in providing much of the amenities needed by the populace, like health and education? 3. How do businessmen operate? Do they have to organise their own security? Is it still difficult for foreigners to do business in Somalia? I heard recently that parts of Somalia have mobile telephony and the Internet. If this is true, how do they protect the infrastructure against damage? Also, someone from Puntland was telling me several months ago that some private companies supply electricity to homes - what they do is to assess how many appliances you have, then based on that they charge a flat fee. Does this happen in places in the rest of Somalia as well? I tried posting this in the 'General' section of the board, but I got no answers there, so I'm hoping that my post here will yield more responses. Thanks in advance for any answers. Lanthano

Hmm... more than a day gone, and no answers yet. I think I'll try posting this on the Politics board, then.

Hello all, I'm someone who has followed events in Somalia since 1991 (after the fall of Siad Barre) with keen interest, even though I'm not actually Somalian. Partly it's because I'm interested in how societies and individuals organise themselves in the absence of government. The trouble is, it's very hard getting an idea how day-to-day life is in Somalia - all you hear about in the news is about the conference in Kenya, or sporadic fighting between warlords, or links between Somalia and terrorism. But I'm not really interested in this - I'm more interested in how people are making a living in Somalia. I realise that in effect, what used to be Somalia has been split into roughly three territories - Somaliland, Puntland and the rest of Somalia, so just to clarify, the questions I'm going to ask concern 'the rest of Somalia'. 1. What's the security situation like? Do people in towns form civil defence groups to protect themselves against armed gangs? Are there community recognised courts that deal with disputes between people? What about the countryside? Is there any sign that the various factions are getting tired of fighting each other - is the fighting less that at the beginning of the 1990's? 2. What's the role of Islamic groups and societies in present day Somalia? Are they largely replacing the government in providing much of the amenities needed by the populace, like health and education? 3. How do businessmen operate? Do they have to organise their own security? Is it still difficult for foreigners to do business in Somalia? I heard recently that parts of Somalia have mobile telephony and the Internet. If this is true, how do they protect the infrastructure against damage? Also, someone from Puntland was telling me several months ago that some private companies supply electricity to homes - what they do is to assess how many appliances you have, then based on that they charge a flat fee. Does this happen in places in the rest of Somalia as well? OK, I will leave off the questions for now, but if I can think of any more, I'll add them to this post. Thanks for any answers, Lanthano