Yahoo – AFP,
January 3, 2016
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New housing estates are being built amid an economic boom as diaspora
Somalis return and newly wealthy businessmen capitalise on the relative
peace in Mogadishu (AFP Photo/Mohamed Abdiwahab) |
Mogadishu
(AFP) - Somalia's elegant colonial villas were left in ruins by two decades of
street fighting among warlords, and the seaside capital Mogadishu was dubbed
the most dangerous city in the world.
But now new
housing estates are being built amid an economic boom as diaspora Somalis
return and newly wealthy businessmen capitalise on the relative peace in the
city.
Some seven
kilometres (four miles) outside Mogadishu in a formerly largely rural area, new
homes are springing up, with almost 50 houses now ready on an estate, builders
say.
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Those
returning to Somalia -- including
investors wanting to start new business
in
the their homeland -- say the Daru
Salaam estate offers them a more secure
place to live (AFP Photo/Mohamed
Abdiwahab)
|
Mohamed
Abdullahi Ali, from Salaam Somali Bank, said it was a "great honour"
to back the estimated $20 million (18 million euro) project.
Construction
began in early 2015 and the project was touted as offering commercial returns
and helping rebuild the nation.
"It is
a new neighbourhood for all Somalis to buy affordable homes, by leaving the
densely populated neighbourhoods of Mogadishu, and to come and stay with
families here," Ali said.
"According
to our plan, we are going to build 500 homes that can cover the residential
needs for 500 families in the first stage, and then will construct more
houses."
Different
vision of Mogadishu
Tens of
thousands forced to flee their homes still live in plastic and rag shelters in
the capital, sometimes in the ruins of war-shattered buildings, and more than a
million people are still in need of emergency aid in a country ravaged by
famine in 2011, the United Nations says.
Car bombs
and assassinations are still common, and a 22,000-strong African Union force
fights alongside the army to protect the internationally-backed government from
attacks by the Islamist Shebab insurgents.
The streets
in the new estate offer a very different vision of Mogadishu.
Those
returning to Somalia -- including investors wanting to start new business in
the their homeland -- say the Daru Salaam estate offers them a more secure
place to live.
 |
Somali
security forces arrive to the site
of a bomb blast near Makka al-Mukarama
Road
in the Somali capital Mogadishu
on December 19, 2015 (AFP Photo/
Mohamed
Abdiwahab)
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"I
came back to this city to buy a new home in Daru Salaam neighbourhood... the
houses are well built," said Abdiqadar Jimale Roble, 34, who grew up in
Sweden from the age of 12 after Somalia spiralled into civil war in the early
1990s.
"I
have been out of Somalia for long time but I came back because everybody needs
his country -- and the country is making much progress," Roble added.
"I had
to take part in that progress, and everybody should have a house in his
country."
For those
returning with dollars earned abroad, the estate reflects the possible profits
to be made even in a still dangerous country.
'Humanitarian needs remain vast'
Sadia
Sheikh Ahmed, who also grew up in Sweden after fleeing Somalia, said she had
helped her relatives abroad snap up property.
"Initially
we wanted to buy two houses, but now we and our relatives have bought eight
homes, scheduled to be completed soon," she said.
A
two-storey house can cost some $130,000, while a more simple bungalow comes in
at around $70,000.
Those are
hefty sums in one of the poorest countries in the world, with a gross domestic
product per capita of just $284, according to the World Bank, against a
sub-Saharan Africa average of $1,300.
Development
indicators are "among the lowest in the world", the World Bank says,
noting the Horn of Africa nation is "heavily dependent" on aid and
remittances.
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Migrants
from Somalia stand behind a
fence outside a temporary housing facility
for
migrants located in a former Olympic
hall in Faliro suburb of Athens, on
December 13, 2015 (AFP Photo/Angelos
Tzortzinis)
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Over
308,000 children are acutely malnourished, according to the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
"After
more than two decades of violence and political instability, Somalia is on a
positive trajectory," OCHA said, while warning the "promising
trend" takes place amid a "precarious" humanitarian and security
situation.
"Humanitarian
needs remain vast and Somalia's humanitarian crisis remains among the largest
and most complex in the world," OCHA added.
But the
estate is symbolic of the possible changes in Mogadishu.
"The
security here is very good and there have been no problems," said Fuad
Ahmed Warsame, marketing director of Daru Salaam Real Estate, which is building
the new neighbourhood -- meaning "house of peace."
The company
is headquartered in central Mogadishu's famous Bakara Market, the city's
commercial heart, once infamous as the 1993 battle when fighters shot down two
American Black Hawk helicopters. The bullet scars there have long been covered
up with business booming.
Related Article:
 |
Large
villas are seen at a new housing development on the outskirts of Addis
Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia White fences
and manicured lawns surround the
villas of an elegant housing estate in
Ethiopia, a potent symbol of the emerging elite
in a country better known for drought and
famine. Just 10 years ago, the affluent
suburb of
Yerrer View was little more than fields. Today, imposing villas with pillars
stand behind neatly-trimmed oleander hedges. (AFP Photo/Zacharias Abubeker)
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