Hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the brutal battles waged by Islamist militias in other parts of Mogadishu have now found a new safe market to trade.
In the government-controlled district of Hamar Weyne, business is booming, and the area is bustling with traffic with both people and vehicles. The district has grown dramatically in few months as a major business enclave in the heart of Mogadishu.
Hamar Weyne is oldest part of Mogadishu and is well known for the hotels that serve sweet and tasty dishes. It has the biggest fishing market in the entire country.
Before the fall of President Mohammed Siad Barre regime in 1991, Hamar Weyne Market was the biggest and cleanest market in Mogadishu, with people coming all over the city to trade on goods and services.
Now, the area is reclaiming its history of a renowned trade centre. The area is awash with business people who come from surrounding districts to buy and sell produce.
Lorries coming out of the seaport, which are carrying different kind of goods, first unload stuffs to stalls in Hamar Weyne before proceeding to Bakara, where there are some warehouses for the few remaining traders.
Mohammed Omar, a small scale trader, says the shift in Mogadishu’s business landscape has positively impacted on his business. He has now officially relocated from Bakara, a notorious market that was the economic powerhouse of Somalia. “Before the big businesses shifted to Hamar Weyne, we faced many challenges including, road blocks manned by Al-Shabaab which was extorting money. Consignments from the sea port will not reach safely in Bakara if you don’t pay Shabaab some money at the road blocks,” he said.
Bakara market is used by Al-Shabaab as a military depot and launching pad in their attacks against the government. Even though the group lobs mortars from the market to the government controlled to prevent the business to continue, Somali government forces and AU troops have marked it as NO FIRE ZONE.
AMISOM Spokesman Maj. Barigye Ba-huko says the peacekeeping mission has totally banned all its troops to reply attacks that emit from the market.
“Our soldiers have clear orders, not to reply are provocation from those extremists who are using the market as launching pad to attack our positions,” he said. Those orders are meant to save the civilians, who use the market, from any military confrontations that would result to unnecessary bloodshed.
People who own and manage big businesses in Bakara have also been receiving threats from Al Shabab, but instead of mortarts they get taxed by the militants. “They collect $100 from each stall in the market regardless of your financial status,” said a trader who requested not to be named for security reasons.
Al Shabaab forced some of the bigger companies to buy heavy weapons, such as anti-aircraft guns and mortars, while fuel dealers were asked to donate gasoline for the Shabaab vehicles.
The shift of businesses from Bakara has not come as a shock to Abdikarim Ilkow, a Mogadishu resident who used to go to the open air market to buy some goods.
“We knew one day people will cease to go to Bakara not because of the shelling and fighting but because of Shabaab themselves. They have closed the roads, digging trenches in some of the roads while diverting the traffic. The extortion is high.”
Hamar Weyne is one of the success stories of TFG security plans that allow peace and security to prevail in Mogadishu.
K4 Also Bustling
Another place that is bustling daily with economic activities is K4, a famous junction that connects the airport to the larger Mogadishu. The current scenarios in K4 was unthinkable few months ago due to mortars and stray bullets fired by Al-Shabaab. Thanks to AMISOM troops and TFG, the extremist has been pushed out the area.
“We can now do business without fear of mortar shells or stray bullets, those guys (Shabaab) have been pushed far from their targets. The life is slowly returning to normalcy,” said a currency exchanger who is based at the famous junction.
Economy | Africa Somalia | World Edition
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Walaalayaal lets be grateful for our capital's economic boom
Somalia ha noolato
