Somalia

Mursal Abdi, left, Bilal Bulshaawi, centre, and Asma Ali , right, all Tiktok users pose for photos during an interview in Mogadishu.

platform storm

Premium badgeSomalia suspends TikTok, Telegram to combat false information

Somalia has banned TikTok, Telegram, and betting app 1xBET, saying they contribute to immorality and are used by terrorists.

Hawa Mohamed Isack (R), 60, drinks water at a distribution point at Muuri camp, one of the 500 camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in town, in Baidoa, Somalia on February 13, 2022.

Hot tempers

Premium badgeClimate change fuels fresh community clashes in Somalia Central Somali state of Galmudug is at the epicentre of climate-induced upheaval in the Horn of Africa where water scarcity threatens herders and vill...
Standing inside the newly-renovated National Museum in Mogadishu, Abdi Baaruud, who was tasked by the Somali government to revitalise famous monuments and heritage sites. (Photo: Mohamed Sheikh Nor)

Heritage Renaissance

Somalia hosts its first international contemporary art exhibition in 30 years Restored national museum celebrates ‘the power of revival, the strength of turning tragedy into triumph’.
© Rising Internet penetration is expected to lead to growth in Ethiopia’s digital economy. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

Digital Lift-Off

Premium badgeEthiopia: Chapa fintech to start SME lending, eyes Djibouti, Somalia Ethiopian fintech Chapa is partnering with local banks to offer loans for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), CEO Nael Hailemariam tells The Af...

Somalia top stories

Mursal Abdi, left, Bilal Bulshaawi, centre, and Asma Ali , right, all Tiktok users pose for photos during an interview in Mogadishu.

platform storm

Premium badgeSomalia suspends TikTok, Telegram to combat false information Somalia has banned TikTok, Telegram, and betting app 1xBET, saying they contribute to immorality and are used by terrorists.
Hawa Mohamed Isack (R), 60, drinks water at a distribution point at Muuri camp, one of the 500 camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in town, in Baidoa, Somalia on February 13, 2022.

Hot tempers

Premium badgeClimate change fuels fresh community clashes in Somalia Central Somali state of Galmudug is at the epicentre of climate-induced upheaval in the Horn of Africa where water scarcity threatens herders and vill...
© Rising Internet penetration is expected to lead to growth in Ethiopia’s digital economy. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

Digital Lift-Off

Premium badgeEthiopia: Chapa fintech to start SME lending, eyes Djibouti, Somalia Ethiopian fintech Chapa is partnering with local banks to offer loans for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), CEO Nael Hailemariam tells The Af...

Somalia top stories

Mursal Abdi, left, Bilal Bulshaawi, centre, and Asma Ali , right, all Tiktok users pose for photos during an interview in Mogadishu.

platform storm

Premium badgeSomalia suspends TikTok, Telegram to combat false information Somalia has banned TikTok, Telegram, and betting app 1xBET, saying they contribute to immorality and are used by terrorists.
Hawa Mohamed Isack (R), 60, drinks water at a distribution point at Muuri camp, one of the 500 camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in town, in Baidoa, Somalia on February 13, 2022.

Hot tempers

Premium badgeClimate change fuels fresh community clashes in Somalia Central Somali state of Galmudug is at the epicentre of climate-induced upheaval in the Horn of Africa where water scarcity threatens herders and vill...
© Rising Internet penetration is expected to lead to growth in Ethiopia’s digital economy. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

Digital Lift-Off

Premium badgeEthiopia: Chapa fintech to start SME lending, eyes Djibouti, Somalia Ethiopian fintech Chapa is partnering with local banks to offer loans for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), CEO Nael Hailemariam tells The Af...

Join a global community who rely on us for insight into power, markets and people on the continent.

Join Now
© Kenya’s President William Ruto. (REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya)

terror menace

Premium badgeKenya: After Shabaab attack, Ruto beefs up security agencies After a lull in activity, Al-Shabaab has returned in full force, pushing the Ruto administration to focus on safety and security of citizens.
© REUTERS

20 ‘militants’ killed in suspected Al-Shabaab attack in Kenya: Police Kenya’s national police force said on Thursday that 20 “militants” had been killed and eight officers injured in a suspected Al-Shabaab attack near th...
Uganda Islamic Militant © File photo of rebel leader of the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), Jamil Mukulu, center, is escorted by prison wardens, 2015. (AP Photo/Khalfan Said)

Rebel regneration

Premium badgeUganda: Why has ADF outlasted other rebels fighting Museveni? When Uganda’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni took power in 1986 after a five-year guerilla war, other rebel groups quickly sprung up in the hope of ...
© A general view shows a section of the Presidential Palace area where the Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab Islamist militants attacked Villa Rose hotel, which is close to the palace, in Bondhere district, of Mogadishu, Somalia November 28, 2022. REUTERS

cross-border crime

Kenya-Somalia border reopening delayed after deadly attacks Kenya said Wednesday it was delaying the planned reopening of its long-closed border with Somalia after a number of deadly attacks on its soil attribu...
© A member of the Somali parliament casts a ballot during the first round of the Somali presidential elections, in Mogadishu, Somalia. May 15, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

one vote

Premium badgeSomalia announces universal suffrage to replace clan-based system Somalia has announced universal suffrage will be implemented across the country, thereby replacing the current clan-based election system. However, de...
© African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) peacekeepers outside their convoy in Mogadishu, Somalia, after being hit by a bomb on 3 April, 2023. (Abukar Mohamed Muhudin / Anadolu Agency via AFP)

pervasive threat

Premium badgeUganda: Corruption, no quality control…factors in AU Somalia mission attack A deadly al-Shabaab raid where militants overran a base of Ugandan soldiers in Somalia serving under African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMI...