The African country that’s just seen more than £860m of ‘suffocating’ debt being cancelled

The African country that’s just seen more than £860m of ‘suffocating’ debt being cancelled

Source: Daily Express
By Tom Burnett
Sunday November 10, 2024

Somali Minister of Finance, Bihi Egeh signs the agreement with the US ambassador (Image: US Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia )

An African country blighted by warlords and piracy has had $1.1bn (£860m) of debt forgiven by the USA.

Somalia has announced the loans, around a quarter of what it owes, have been cancelled as part of a series of agreements.

The country’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Somalia had been “suffocating” under its debts, which have accrued interest since the collapse of a military dictatorship that accrued the debts up to 1991.

In a statement, the US embassy in Mogadishu said: “This $1.1 billion in debt relief is in addition to the $1.2 billion of development, economic, security, and humanitarian assistance the United States has provided to Somalia just this fiscal year.

“The United States continues to be a steadfast partner in support of the people of Somalia.”

Somalia, with a population of more than 18 million, became a failed state after the collapse of Siad Barre’s regime in 1991.

A civil war broke out, and with a lack of central government, the country broke down.

Somaliland, a breakaway self-declared country in the north west of the country, remains independent to this day – with the unrecognised state controlling its borders and producing its own passports and currency.

Elsewhere in Somalia, warlords and Islamist groups including Al-Shabaab have plagued the country in the decades since the collapse of the regime – with the government combating them with varying degrees of success.

Meanwhile the  seas around Somalia also became a hotbed for pirates operating from the country’s coastal towns targeting shipping – with some vessels and their crews taken hostage.

Although down from its peak in late in 2008/9 following concerted naval action, piracy has increased again – with Indian commandos capturing 35 Somali pirates after taking back control of a ship in March 2024.