Somalia has become the 182nd member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group, following normalization of its financial relationship with the World Bank.
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, Somalia’s membership affords it new opportunities for drawing foreign direct investment and fostering economic growth in the coming years.
“I applaud the Federal Government of Somalia on successfully meeting its membership requirements with MIGA,” MIGA Executive Vice President Hiroshi Matano said.
“In the face of the coronavirus outbreak and uncertainty about the capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa to respond, Somalia’s membership with MIGA marks an important milestone toward realizing the country’s long-term goals of economic growth and prosperity,” he added in a statement issued in Nairobi on Tuesday.
MIGA observed that Somalia has a vibrant and resilient private sector with high potential for investment and growth, however, noted that its current challenges include the need to improve business regulation, enhance trade facilitation and transparency, and manage security risks.
“Somalia’s vibrant private sector is key to our national development, economic prosperity and social progress. Membership in MIGA will ensure support to our private sector as well as foreign investors to expand, invest and create opportunities to enable sustainable development at a crucial time for the global economy,” said Somalia’s Minister of Finance, Abdirahman Duale Beileh.
MIGA has already begun discussions with funds interested in investing in Somalia, including in the agribusiness and small and mid-sized enterprise finance sectors.
In the intermediate term, MIGA is exploring opportunities in the information and communications technology and energy.
MIGA will also look at opportunities with the Somali diaspora to identify opportunities for further high-impact foreign investment that will spur economic development and growth in Somalia.
JK/abj/APA