We Are Investing in Education as an Investment in Somalia’s Future
By: Abdullahi Nur Osman, CEO, Hormuud Salaam Foundation
Somalis are world renowned as innovators, entrepreneurs, artists, and traders. To reach Somalia’s full potential, we must provide our youth with access to a world-class education. At Hormuud we understand this and are proud supporters of many education programmes. These include the Hormuud University, our annual scholarship programme, and the Al Nur School for the Blind, to name a few.
On August 3rd, 400 students sat an exam for our most prestigious programme, the Hormuud Telecom Scholarship. Beginning in 2019, the fund supports 30 full scholarships to a Somali university each year. This year’s scholarship recipients will be announced at the end of this month. Students from all around the country apply.
Hormuud began the scholarship programme in 2019 and so far, most of the scholarship winners attended their top choice school. At least 25% of recipients come from either a one parent household or are orphaned. 23% of the scholarship winners are from families where the mother is the only breadwinner, 20% of them depended on a brother or sister as the primary family breadwinner, and 9% depended on relatives to support the family.
Most Hormuud scholars joined the universities of their choice. Before heading off to school, Hormuud hosts a month-long summer school to prepare the students to excel. So far, they have a 97% success rate.
Qamar Elmi Abdirahman, from South West Somalia is a 2019 Hormuud scholar. She is about to start her third year at Mogadishu University, where she is studying Economics and Management. She had always dreamed of attending university without having to place a financial burden on her parents.
Originally, Qamar thought of getting a job to pay her way through university. In her last year of secondary school, she learned about the newly established Hormuud Scholarship Programme through a friend. She was at the market when her friend called and immediately ran to market’s packed internet café where she applied for the scholarship on the spot. She was selected to take the entrance exam and passed with top scores. Qamar was chosen as one of the programme’s first cohorts.
Pursuing as an Economist will help Qamar attain the quality of life she wishes for herself and her family. Before winning the scholarship, her only barrier to fulfilling her dreams was the price of admission to university. The Hormuud Telecom Scholarship helped her over this hurdle.
Education plays a critical role in the future of Somalia. The opportunities it offers are near endless. Education enhances society, creates community cooperation, increases incomes, and changes community perceptions of being able to have a successful professional career in Somalia. The country has one of the youngest populations on earth and many consider leaving the country to seek opportunity overseas. Now they are beginning to see job prospects in Somalia, developing in tandem with education opportunities. For us at Hormuud, our aim is to help our incredible home-grown talent remain in Somalia and be part of building a prosperous and peaceful society.
From the onset, education programmes have been a pillar of Hormuud Telecom’s community work as we know our investment in Somalia’s youth will be invaluable as these students grow into constructive members of Somali society. We are proud to invest in their futures and that of our country.
