Coca Cola’s Newest Home; Somaliland!
May 23, 2011 | Hargeisa, Somaliland
The Shaqodoon program has recently been discussing a partnership with Somaliland Beverage Industries (SBI), a licensed Coca Cola Bottling company based in Hargeisa, Somaliland, to streamline SBI’s upcoming recruitment activities. By far, the SBI venture represents the largest single business investment to take place within Somaliland, and is expected to eventually inject numerous job opportunities into the local employment market.
By bringing in lofty international standards of work ethics into the country, SBI is situated in a unique position to revolutionize the employment sector of Somaliland and pave the way for a new work culture, previously untried, that fosters diligence, efficacy and productivity. A company of Coca Cola’s stature has the capability to instill local workers with the appropriate workplace attitudes and behaviors, harness their aptitude, and package it as transferable skills, bumping up Somaliland’s pool of skilled workers in the long haul.
As part of Shaqodoon’s ongoing quest to supply livelihood prospects for the Somali youth, the program will serve as an intermediate vehicle that connects SBI with potential employees. Using an alternate version of Shaqodoon’s very own InfoMatch system, InfoMatch-Plus, Shaqodoon will handle the administrative portion of SBI’s recruitment process that includes; placing job vacancy adverts, screening applicants, and short-listing strong candidates, SBI will then take over the interview and hiring process.
The SBI business enterprise represents the first large-scale private investment in Somaliland, for this reason, governmental departments will heavily be engaged and liaised with to strengthen the level of mutual collaboration between the government and SBI. In addition, this will give the Somaliland government an opportunity to roadmap a more unified system that attracts and facilitates future partnerships with foreign investors. In line with this vision, on May 16th, 2011 nine government officials including ministers were invited to officially tour SBI’s factory site in Jaleelo. This tour afforded the government an opportunity to see the mass development SBI undertook to build the factory, and how the infrastructure of Jaleelo town was completely reshaped. The Deputy Minister of Finance, Warsame Said Abdi, admitted that he was not aware of the scale of the investment and was impressed with SBI’s accomplishments thusfar, and indicated that his ministry is looking forward to developing a closer working relationship with SBI. In turn, SBI shared with government representatives their experiences in setting up the factory in Somaliland, including the kinds of obstacles and challenges faced and how it was overcome.
Once the Coca-Cola factory is up and running, it will bottle coca cola, water, and other branded soft drinks for the local market.
For more Information or comments, please contact: ayan@shaqodoon.org