Economic Achievements in the Two Years of President Mohamud’s Administration

The past two years of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamuds’ second term has seen economic development in various sectors, which has put the country on the global map.

Under president Mohamud’s leadership, Somalia completed the debt relief and got a clean bill of health from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank – which declared that Somalia had reached the “Completion Point” of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

This meant that instead of an external debt of $5.3 billion at the end of 2018 Somalia had only a debt of $600 million by the end of 2023, which paved way for access to critical additional financial resources that will help the country strengthen its economy, reduce poverty, and promote job creation.

Secondly, Somalia achieved its goal of joining the East African Cooperation which not only creates more opportunities for the Somali people but also opens up markets for Somalia’s products within the region.

By joining the community, Somalia is also poised to benefit from EAC’s regional infrastructure projects such as roads, railways and energy networks which will improve connectivity, enhance transportation links and boost regional trade, ultimately supporting Somalia’s economic development and integration.

Economic growth is also a milestone achieved by president Mohamud’s government over this period. According to the World Bank, Somalia’s economic growth has increased from 2% in 2022 to 2.8% in 2023 and is projected to reach 4.3% by 2028.

In April, a delegation from the African Development Bank arrived in Mogadishu to assess Somalia’s strategy for 2022-24 and 2025-2029, focusing on economic development, efficiency and growth.

The Bank Group’s strategy 2022-2024 is to support the Somali government to address the core drivers of fragility and to foster high and inclusive growth, and economic resilience.

“Among the key targeted areas of national focus to grow our economy under the National Transformation Plan are creating a conducive environment for investment, attracting more financing for climate resilient infrastructure and energy, strengthening food security through investment in the productive sector and supporting our entrepreneurial people to benefit from Somalia’s strategic location,” finance minister, Bihi Egeh noted.

“We very much hope that this guides the upcoming Bank Country Strategy Paper from 2025”, he added.