Telecoms and internet
SomCable: the fibre internet company of Somaliland
Somaliland Cable (SomCable) is a private internet and fibre company in Hargeisa, founded in 2010 by the businessman Mohamed Said Guedi (Mohamed Aw Said). It built a fibre line from Djibouti to Berbera and inland, completed in 2014, became the first fibre network in Somaliland in 2015, and covers more than 1,700 km.
The short version
Somaliland Cable, known as SomCable, is a private internet service provider based in Hargeisa (SomCable, Company profile). It was founded in 2010 by the local businessman Mohamed Aw Said (Wajaale News), who is also known as Mohamed Said Guedi, its founder and chief executive (AllAfrica, 29 October 2019). His trading group is MSG (MSG Trading Est., listed in Clingendael 2019).
The fibre line
In 2010 SomCable said it had a contract to bring a cable from Djibouti port to Berbera. The company says it invested more than $100 million and that the work employed more than 10,000 local workers. The project was completed in September 2014 (AllAfrica, 29 October 2019; Wikipedia, SomCable). In 2015 SomCable became the first company to offer a fibre-optic network in Somaliland, and the network covers more than 1,700 km (Togdheer News, 2016).
In October 2014 SomCable launched the first 4G LTE service and the first fibre-to-the-premises (GEPON/FTTP) service in Somaliland. It also links to the Africa-1 undersea cable, built by Alcatel Submarine Networks, which lands at Berbera (Wikipedia, SomCable).
Links to Djibouti and the business community
The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study of Somali business notes that several large Somali firms depend on Djibouti Telecom for their connection to the global network, and quotes a member of parliament describing Mohamed aw Said of SomCable, "from Djibouti", and Abdirashid Duale of Dahabshiil as sharing land around the National Bank in Hargeisa (Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019).
Sources disagree
- Philanthropy. In 2019 the website Somaliland Chronicle published an article disputing SomCable's chairman's public account of his charitable work; SomCable and other outlets describe the chairman's donations and awards (Somaliland Chronicle, 8 November 2019; Wajaale News).
- Size of the investment. The $100 million and 10,000 workers figures come from the company and press interviews; the company does not publish audited accounts (AllAfrica).
See also Telecoms and internet in Somalia and Who connects Somalia.
Sources
- SomCable, Company profile · somcable.com
- Wajaale News · wajaalenews.net
- AllAfrica, 29 October 2019 · allafrica.com
- MSG Trading Est., listed in Clingendael 2019 · kpsrl.org
- Wikipedia, SomCable · en.wikipedia.org
- Togdheer News, 2016 · togdheernews.com
- Somaliland Chronicle, 8 November 2019 · somalilandchronicle.com
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Where this matters
- Boorama (Borama) and AwdalAwdal is the far north-west region, on the borders with Djibouti and Ethiopia, with Borama (Boorama) as its capital and about 300,000 to 636,000 people.
- 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.
- Burco (Burao) and TogdheerTogdheer is the northern region around Burco (Burao), with about 894,874 people including Buuhoodle.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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