Access to finance is a significant barrier for many young entrepreneurs, particularly in regions where traditional financing mechanisms are limited. With the support of SomBank and Shaqodoon, Somali youth entrepreneurs can now access more opportunities to develop their businesses and contribute to the economic growth of their communities.

Shaqodoon Kenya shines at Nairobi NGO Week, driving youth empowerment and sustainable development.

A two-day radio drama design workshop in Mogadishu provided an empowering platform for community representatives to collaboratively design impactful radio drama episodes, making significant stride in promoting peaceful coexistence and community cohesion.

Aisha credits confidence as the most valuable skill she gained from her graphics design program.

“I believe the program offered by Shaqodoon and The Next Economy was very beneficial to my business, I gained valuable knowledge that transformed the way I viewed by business approach.”

Fadxi says the Hargabits Program was invaluable in giving him the tools he needed to be successful in his line of work, and he believes it has made him a better professional.

It is the goal of this project to provide youth in Somalia/Somaliland with safe spaces where they can develop their capacity to make a positive difference and become productive and independent agents of social change.

Increasing the economic opportunities of disadvantaged youth through financing, equipping them with motorcycles, technical skills training, and leveraging mobile-based technology to simplify delivery systems by connecting motorbike riders, e-commerce platforms and clients. 

As an immediate response to the market incident, Shaqodoon in collaboration with Oxfam came up with an idea of supporting 80 micro business owners and street vendors (at least 60% women) with grants, on-site and one-to-one business skills training and mentorship to revitalize their livelihood means followed by a psychosocial support to help victims heal from the fire tragedy and facilitate to relaunch their businesses successfully. This timely support contributed affected households reclaiming their livelihoods, while at the same time contributing to the reactivation of market activities.

“In March 2020, I saw the business investment and training opportunity, The Next Economy program advertised by Shaqodoon on social media and I applied. Fortunately, my business idea was shortlisted, and I came to Shaqodoon to attend the interview. I was selected for the life skill training opportunity.” “I then underwent a two-month entrepreneurship training that gave me the knowledge to not only understand the business approach, but how to also brainstorm innovative ideas with income generating capacity.”

Most SMEs fail within the first 3 years of operation due to a variety of reasons including, access to finance, lack of enabling environment, unregulated market competition, lack of entrepreneurial skills partnerships culture, no solid regulatory body with policies to support youth and women-led ventures among many others.

Marking 15 years of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, this year, Shaqodoon hosted two events, one in Garowe and another in Hargeisa aimed at bringing together youth/women led SMEs and startups, and create an innovative sharing environment where the youth/women could connect with industry experts and explore experiences and challenges faced in getting startups to thrive.

According to UNAIDS, there is "a serious lack of understanding and awareness of basic information on HIV within Somali populations", which is why Shaqodoon - with its technology experience - has established an IVR HIV/AIDS Call Center (short code 328) empowering beneficiaries to access reliable information about the HIV/AIDS or directly call the commission through dedicated call agents to get referrals or other services provided by the commission and its partners.

Araale made the leap from jobless high school graduate to manager and co-founder of the Adeege Creative Agency, thanks to the skills learned through HargaBits Design Academy.

Fadxa’s academic achievement gave her a hope of expecting the university of Bossaso (UOB) would provide her a job opportunity. She was naively believing in her ability, hopefully predicting to get a job, especially if the recruitment process is fair and transparent. Fadxa was among 30 students who were provided an internship opportunity and was placed in Modern management department of UOB, assuming the position of the administrative assistant. She was pleased the administrative assistant job that was offered her after completing the internship.

Organisations or institutions’ recruitment culture contribute largely to the overall challenges of getting jobs through qualifications, consequently relying job seekers on personal connections and powerful and influential persons, even though the candidates are more competent and willing to compete for vacancies. Job seekers lost the trust in a formal recruitment process or applying vacancies unless the employers are personally known or someone in the job seekers’ network knows them. “My greatest worry was about job openings that are not openly announced, and an employment based on a recommendation, mainly through personal and family connections” Abdullahi stated.