Latest Mogadishu Pictures

[Daqane]

Mogadishu Chinese structures endure cctv video

 

 

[Daqane]

New Construction Everywhere

 

Every street corner, intersection, and alleyway in Mogadishu is covered with men and women hard at work. Food for work programs, volunteer groups, ngos, private businesses, and residents are ambitiously clearing away the rubble, constructing new housing, opening restaurants, and hotels. Over the course of 2011 & 2012 the city has had a serious makeover, to the point where it is disorienting. There is more traffic on the street, more people on the sidewalk, and constant noise. The pounding of hammers, the buzzing of drills and the grating teeth of saw blades mix with horns, shouts, and sirens. The city is alive and chaotic, but in a way that makes me want to pick up a hammer, go out, and build something.

 

Rebirthofmogadishu.com

[Daqane]

 

n front of the office of the Benadiir Regional Administration offices is a collection of paintings. One in particular always catches my eye and imagination. It is a painting of Mogadishu that pulls together an array of buildings and landmarks, yet it somehow how looks more like the future than the past. Images of Mogadishu are always profound, with its unique blend of medieval buildings, art deco facades, and architectural motifs consistent with much of the Swahili coast. Yet this painting always my imagination by blending these historic elements to create a vision of tomorrow. How many cities, in their nostalgia, illuminate the future?

rebirthofmogadishu.com

[Daqane]

Mogadishu as Future Tourism Destination

 

 

A lucky aspect of my work in Mogadishu is the ability to travel freely throughout the city. With 16 districts in the city, many of them retain their own unique characteristics either inherited from history or newly developing amidst the current revival of the city. A couple days ago, while meeting with members of the local business community, a successful restaurant owner showed me some of the other ventures he is developing. One in particular had already caught my eye while rolling down the street.

 

 

The zebra-stripped facade stands boldly from the ruined landscape. In the neighborhood of Liido, across the street and down a ways from the restaurant Indian Ocean, the Safari Classic Beach Resort is a visionary step toward a future tourism economy. The owner returned two Somalia from many years in Canada in 2009 and said that these days everything is dramatically different. When I asked him if he ever plans to bring his children to Mogadishu he looked at me with a smile and said "they will be here in two days!"

 

 

We walked around the grounds of his new establishment toward the ocean. The sand was covered with boys playing soccer while young girls ran into the crashing waves. The air was warm and the water was cool. Apparently where we stood was once occupied by some of the largest mansions in Mogadishu, and today, it is simply a popular place for recreation. I have no doubt that this can become a big tourism hotspot.

thehumanitarianspace.com

[Daqane]

After the War: Why Inflation in Mogadishu is Not a Problem

 

Over the last 24 hours, the interwebs have been buzzing over an Al Jezeera Report about the disproportionate rise in property values in Mogadishu. Suddenly, after months of positive gains in Somalia, there is panic that those who have suffered so long at the expense of war and poverty will again be abused, but now by the forces of capitalism. Returnees and speculators are blamed for rapid inflation, making housing and property costs far from accessible for displaced and impoverished populations. This is a valid concern given that free markets typically facilitate the accumulation of capital faster than the distribution.

 

But this criticism is wrong. Inflation is not a problem in Mogadishu.

 

Certainly many are returning to invest and property prices are rapidly changing. This is necessary. The only way for Somalia to rebuild from 21 years of war is for outside investment to facilitate change and for the quality of life to improve, so does the price tag.

 

While Somalia does have some natural resources, its greatest asset is its location between the Middle East, South Asia, and all of Africa. It was founded because it was an important link for international trade, and in recent years Somali pirates were able to poach billions of dollars from international markets because they exploited this strategic location. With a geography founded on international trade, the recipe for Mogadishu to become a successful city and for Somalia to become a stable nation is to rebuild accordingly.

 

After the Transition

 

Within every post-war reconstruction process, rapid inflation occurs. The sudden influx of foreign money distorts local markets and in most cases creates a two-tiered economy. Typically, as in the case of Kabul Afghanistan or in Phnom Penh in the 90s, you will find a wealthy foreign class paying exorbitant prices, a rapidly growing class of wealthy business owners, and the bulk of the population stuck with low incomes, low prices for basic goods, high prices for real estate, and an increased ability to acquire luxury goods. When the wealthy foreigners leave the cities struggle to adjust, and in the best circumstance, distribution of capital becomes a little more even. This scenario is brutal as the intentions of reconstruction are only partly established and the process is economically painful to local populations. But Mogadishu has multiple advantages.

 

The Mogadishu Advantage

1. Lack of High-Level Foreign Interests

There is evidence that Mogadishu will not follow the typical same formula as other post-war cities. Foremost, the collapse of al-Shabaab is the consequence of many different phenomena some being military, but many also are economic and environmental. The concluding war in Somalia is not entirely due to outside actors.

 

Likewise the reconstruction process taking place has very little to do with outside actors. So far I have yet to encounter another westerner while walking down a street in Mogadishu, unless the person has returned from diaspora. I have met many people who work in Somalia with NGOs or foreign aid agencies, but compared to most global development hot-spots, there is barely a humanitarian/development presence in Somalia. In that same regard, there is funding from EU, Turkey, USA but the budgets are far smaller than for other countries, so at the political level there is limited foreign involvement.

2. Investment by Somali Returnees not foreign expats

Mogadishu at Work. Photo: Sutika Sipus 2012.

At the local level, the situation is similar as outside investment is obtained primarily through individuals who have a committed personal interest in Somalia. These individuals will not disappear from the landscape with their pockets full of war profits, nor will their presence create a dual economy.

 

3. Reclamation is first issue among returnees

Many of those returning to Somalia are less interested in buying new property and are more interested in reclaiming the property they owned prior to the war. This becomes contentious with the massive quantities with internally displaced persons occupying many of the homes. There are no property records and the result is clogged courts over property ownership disputes, not rising costs of land. However I have been working with the Benadiir Regional Administration on this issue and have a feasible solution, it is just a matter of working with the proper ministries to implement the program. Notably, speed is a critical factor in this area.

 

4. Broad Multi-sector growth and regulation offset inflation

Inflation is only an issue if there is no access to employment or no means to regulate the growth so as to make the benefits accessible throughout the population. But this is not a problem in Mogadishu. While Al Jezeera argued that there is an "emerging economic divide" in the population and referred to a single estate at the cost of 8,000 USD per month to rent as evidence. the reporter had the situation backward.

Within a conflict, there is always rapid rise in prices for luxury housing, because there is so little of it. In the case of Mogadishu, there are were maybe 5 available properties like this among thousands of bombed out buildings, so 8,000 USD per month is actually a real deal!

 

Now that other housing options are emerging, supported by the construction boom (employment), luxury estates will cost less and populations will have more options. The widespread economic growth is evident in other sectors, such as the increase in internet access, and there are ongoing efforts to regulate growth, such as the developing initiative to register automobiles. In Mogadishu, rapid property adjustments is offset by widespread economic gains in employment and improved governance. As long as the rate of inflation is consistent with overall growth trends (assuming the distribution remains similar to now) an improved quality of life will be attainable to most the population in a matter of years.

 

Naturally there are other problems. Lack of maps, no land titles, no business registration, no functioning tax system. But these are on their way and will be implemented over time. Trust me, I'm working on it.

thehumanitarianspace.com

[Haatu]

Very nice Dhaqanow. But if you're in the city how comes you aren't posting more of your own pictures?

[Daqane]

[Haatu]

Taaladda isgoyskaas ku yaasha should never have been painted. The natural white stone looked much better. Also, why did they build those weird things at the bases of the solar lamp posts? Soomaali dookh xumaa.

[Daqane]

Haatu I will like I told oba, although some are mine from my flashdisk, I was almost shot in the face and my damn expensive coolpix was thrown under an oncoming bus, why do you think most personal pictures people put up are of lido/airport e.t.c in sha allah, I am going to get a darawish minder when I do my photo tour.

 

R.I.P

[Daqane]

Haatu;905374 wrote:

Taaladda isgoyskaas ku yaasha should never have been painted. The natural white stone looked much better. Also, why did they build those weird things at the bases of the solar lamp posts? Soomaali dookh xumaa.

I can not say about the monument but I know the white stone had long ago changed colour out of lack of maintainance ??:confused:

But the stone/cement structures at the base of lights act as a kind of accident barrier, and trust me they really need it no one knows how to drive in Xamar unless you mean the basic mechanical movement from A to B

[Daqane]

Apophis;905376 wrote:

Jalle Siyad hardwork ba lugu faani :rolleyes:

Hahaha yaa faaneya cuqdaadloow. Loool cuqdaada inta leeg maxay kutaari walaal, I am sure it is not healthy for you....,

 

[Daqane]

Drive thru the city 2012

[watch what happens at the end of the video, it could have been much worse if it was not for it being near the airport and in a crowded place].

 

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[Daqane]

Hahaha we are glad you are glad.

[Daqane]

Yes I do.....

[Daqane]

lool you asked a question I answered, is english not a language you understand?