By Barkhad Dahir in Hargeisa
The World Bank unveiled a $14 million grant to the Somaliland administration last week to strengthen the fishing industry and advance privately owned businesses in the region, officials said.
![A Somali man holds a fish at a market in Mogadishu. New funding from the World Bank is expected to improve production and quality control of the fishing industry in Somaliland. [Jose Cendon/AFP]](http://sabahionline.com/shared/images/2012/09/26/somalia-fish-business.jpg)
Somaliland Minister of Fisheries Abdullahi Jama Geljire told Sabahi that $1.2 million would go directly to his ministry to develop a registration process and licensing procedure for foreign and local fishing boats and other vessels.
"These things did not exist in Somaliland before," Geljire said. "The programme will establish safety guidelines [for quality control of fish] from when it is caught until it is sold," he said.
In addition, the programme will teach the ministry and local fishermen how to sort the fish they catch and how to record information on the kinds of fish caught, Geljire said.
"It includes trainings for fishery associations on how to serve their members and teach them new fishing techniques," he said.
The World Bank has contracted French company SOFRECO to train local fishermen and enhance myrrh gum exports because local companies do not have the capacity to undertake the task, Geljire said.
"With regard to economic development, this is the largest [aid] the World Bank has given Somaliland," Ahmed Mohamed Diriye, a monitoring and evaluation expert at the Somaliland Ministry of Planning and Development, told Sabahi.
He said livestock, once the backbone on which Somaliland's economy depended, has been declining due to drought and deforestation.
"Fishing is an abundant resource that needs investment and can be a substitute for declining livestock, which is losing ground as the main economic backbone," he said.
Diriye said part of the programme will involve studying coastal communities in an effort improve the lives of local residents.
"Our policy is to create permanent fishing factories so that people can be occupied both in livelihood and work," he said.
Fishermen need modern equipment
Omar Aden Osman, head of Zakiya Fishing Company, said fishing professionals have many unmet needs.
"They have a great need for training to advance their knowledge, and they need help with equipment to store and market fish, particularly freezers and ice makers," Osman told Sabahi. "Our boats are small and most of them are faulty."
Osman said fishing gear is not sold in the country and fishermen face difficulties when ordering equipment from abroad.
"Since [fishermen] do not have modern equipment, large vessels, freezers or good skills, they do not gain any tangible profits from the sea, and at times they cannot afford to pay for the fuel and food they went to sea with," he said.
Part of the $14 million grant will be used to fund the Somaliland Business Fund (SBF), worth $3.6 million, which will be awarded to independent business owners in the form of business development grants ranging between $5,000 and $150,000, SBF official Mohamed Yusuf Elmi told Sabahi.
Individuals can submit applications directly on the SBF website. The deadline for accepting proposals is October 25th, and Elmi said they have already received many grant proposals. The money from SBF is expected to be distributed within two years, he said.
The World Bank programme will last until 2015 and will also fund programmes for livestock trade, farming, myrrh gum export and capacity building of Somaliland ministries, Geljire said.
http://sabahionline.com/en_GB/articles/hoa/articles/features/2012/09/26/feature-02
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