Golis Telecom: Puntland's largest phone company and the Sahal mobile wallet

The short version

Golis Telecom (Somali: Shirkadda Isgaarsiinta ee Golis) was founded in 2002 to supply GSM mobile, fixed-line and internet services. Its head office is in Bosaso, the port city and commercial capital of Puntland (Golis Telecom profile, archived 2007). It is the largest operator in Puntland, and its network covers the main cities and more than 50 districts (same source).

Golis has service centres in Garowe, Qardho, Galkayo, Las Anod, Erigavo, Armo, Galdogob, Burtinle, Bursalah, Badhan, Dhahar, Bargal and Hingalol, among others (Golis Telecom, About us). Wikipedia lists its chairman as Abdiaziz Guureeye Karshe and its chief operating officer as Mohamed Ahmed Bari (Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia).

Services

• Sahal, the Golis mobile money wallet, used across Puntland. Wikipedia reports Golis was certified as a licensed mobile money provider for Sahal in 2023 (Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia).
• Xogmaal, an early phone information service for email, web search, exchange rates, weather and news from Somali and international broadcasters (Golis, Xogmaal, archived 2007).
• Kaaftoon, a mobile banking service that Salaam Bank launched with Golis in Bosaso in August 2011 (Puntland Voice, archived).

In 2005 The Economist reported that Somali mobile users enjoyed some of the cheapest call rates in Africa, in an article about Golis (The Economist, Somalia calling, December 2005).

Money and growth

A 2012 Hogan Lovells Africa newsletter, written by Hassan M. Osman of the Somali Economic Forum, said Golis bought its first equipment from China for $2.7 million and had repaid the whole sum two years later (Hogan Lovells Africa newsletter, September 2012). A 2023 report in Kenya's Standard said Golis had grown to more than 1.2 million subscribers and was investing in 4G (The Standard, How Golis telco is changing Puntland's story).

How it connects with others

In 2022 Golis joined the National Communications Authority's interconnection framework, which lets customers call between networks (NCA, interconnection framework). The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study describes Golis in Puntland and Telesom in Somaliland as entities aligned with Hormuud Telecom, each with its own local shareholders, and reports that the three held about 81 percent of Somali SIM cards (Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019).

Sources disagree

• Who came first. The 2012 Hogan Lovells newsletter calls Golis "among the first" private operators, while the same text names Somali Telecom (1994) as the first; Golis gives its own founding year as 2002 (Hogan Lovells).
• Profit. The same newsletter says Golis reported over $40 million of profit in 2005, the same figure it gives for Hormuud's yearly sales (same source).

See also Telesom, Hormuud Telecom and Who connects Somalia.