Money transfer companies
Kaah Express and KIMS: the money transfer firm and its microfinance arm
Kaah Express is a Somali money transfer company licensed in Kenya since October 2014, with an office in its own building in Nairobi's Eastleigh. In June 2014 it launched Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services (KIMS) in Hargeisa with Silatech and the American Refugee Committee, described as Somalia's first commercial microfinance institution. KIMS is now licensed by the Central Bank of Somalia and won the $100,000 Ethical Finance Innovation award in 2017.
Kaah Express
Kaah Express is a Somali money transfer business. The Central Bank of Kenya licensed it on 22 October 2014, at an address in the Kaah Building in Eastleigh, Nairobi (Central Bank of Kenya, directory of licensed money remittance providers, 2016). The research site MicroCapital described it as a US-based international remittances company (MicroCapital). A Somaliland press report described Kaah Express as working on enterprise training for young people (Somaliland Sun). See Eastleigh.
KIMS: the 2014 launch
In June 2014 Kaah Express, the Qatar-based youth employment initiative Silatech and the American Refugee Committee launched Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services (KIMS), presented as "Somalia's first commercial microfinance institution". The formal launch was held in Hargeisa on 11 June 2014, after pilots in Somaliland and Puntland earlier that year supported by the FAO-run SEED II programme and the African Enterprise Challenge Fund (Zawya press release, 15 June 2014).
The partners' 2014 market study found that less than 5 percent of demand for microfinance in the Somali regions was being met, and estimated a potential market of over two million small business clients. KIMS planned to reach them through Kaah Express's branches and hundreds of agents, offering Islamic (sharia-compliant) loans and savings with business training, with a focus on low-income women and young people (same source).
KIMS today
- Licence: KIMS, based in Hargeisa, is on the Central Bank of Somalia's register of licensed microfinance institutions (Central Bank of Somalia, licensed microfinance institutions).
- Branches and reach: the African Enterprise Challenge Fund says KIMS works through 13 branches across Somaliland, Puntland and southern and central Somalia, and that its AECF-funded programme reached 79,960 people, aimed at women-headed households (AECF, Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services).
- Award: in November 2017 KIMS won the $100,000 Ethical Finance Innovation Challenge and Awards (EFICA), co-organised by Thomson Reuters and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. Its board chairman, Mustafa Ali, is based in Dubai (Salaam Gateway).
- Goals: when it joined the UN-backed Business Call to Action in 2021, KIMS committed to reach 70,000 people, 35,000 of them women, and to lend $70 million by 2026. It said rural clients made up 10 percent of its portfolio, half of them women and 80 percent young people (Business Call to Action, KIMS).
Not the same as Kaah Electric
Kaah Electric Power and Lighting Company in Hargeisa, founded in 1997 as City Light Electric Company and renamed in 2006, is owned mainly by former generator companies and private shareholders (Wikipedia, KAAH Electric). The sources here do not describe a shared owner with Kaah Express.
Sources disagree
- Where Kaah Express is based. MicroCapital calls it US-based; Kenya's register gives a Nairobi address; Zawya calls it a "leading Somali money transfer business" (sources above).
- Name of KIMS. The 2014 launch used "Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services"; later documents use "Kaah International Microfinance Services" (sources above).
See also Islamic finance, microfinance and takaful and the Somali businesses.
Sources
- Central Bank of Kenya, directory of licensed money remittance providers, 2016 · centralbank.go.ke
- MicroCapital · microcapital.org
- Somaliland Sun · somalilandsun.com
- Zawya press release, 15 June 2014 · zawya.com
- Central Bank of Somalia, licensed microfinance institutions · centralbank.gov.so
- AECF, Kaah Islamic Microfinance Services · aecfafrica.org
- Salaam Gateway · salaamgateway.com
- Business Call to Action, KIMS · businesscalltoaction.org
- Wikipedia, KAAH Electric · en.wikipedia.org
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Where this matters
- Muqdisho (Mogadishu) and BanaadirMogadishu (Muqdisho) is Somalia's capital and makes up the Banadir region, with about 2.97 million people in 20 districts.
- Hargeysa (Hargeisa) and Woqooyi GalbeedWoqooyi Galbeed is the north-western region that holds Hargeisa (Hargeysa) and the port of Berbera, with about 1 to 1.45 million people.
- Boosaaso (Bosaso) and BariBari is Puntland's north-east region, with the port city of Bosaso (Boosaaso) as its capital and about 1.28 million people.
- Garoowe (Garowe) and NugaalNugaal is the region around Garoowe (Garowe), Puntland's capital, with about 656,910 people in three districts.
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
Keep reading
- Somali money transfer companies: directorySomali money transfer companies: the Central Bank of Somalia's licensed firms, Somali-run firms licensed in Kenya and firms in the UK, with founding year, base and source.
- Dahabshiil: the largest Somali money transfer companyDahabshiil in facts: how it began, its size, its bank and telecom interests, its regulators, and the 2013 Barclays case.
- Al-Barakat (Al-Barakaat): the Somali money and phone company shut in 2001Al-Barakat in facts: its founding in 1987, size by 2001, the US and UN listing after 9/11, what the 9/11 Commission found, the delistings and the relaunch.
- WorldRemit and Zepz: the money app founded by Ismail AhmedWorldRemit in facts: its Somali founder Ismail Ahmed, founding in 2010, the link to ZAAD, funding rounds, Sendwave and Zepz, and regulators' findings.
- Amal group: Amal Express, Amal Bank and the 2020 to 2021 auditThe Amal group in facts: Amal Express and Amal Bank, licences, leadership, the GI-TOC report on arms payments and the Central Bank audit, and where sources differ.
- Tawakal Express: money transfer company based in GaroweTawakal Express in facts: head office, reach, its TPLUS app and SomBank, its US partner Banana Pay, and how studies of the remittance trade describe it.