# Telesom: Somaliland's largest phone company and the maker of ZAAD > Telesom in facts: founding in Hargeisa in 2002, its owners, the ZAAD mobile money service, users, leadership, links to Hormuud and Golis, and where sources differ. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/telesom/ Last checked: 2026-11-12 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## The short version Telesom was founded in **2002 in Hargeisa** by local investors and was the first telecommunications company to operate in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Telesom, About, archived 2020](https://web.archive.org/web/20200127231003/https://www.telesom.com/about)). It sells mobile and fixed-line calls, mobile and fixed broadband, SMS and cloud services, and runs the **ZAAD** mobile money service ([Wikipedia, Telesom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telesom)). Its chief executive is Abdikarim Mohamed Eid (same source). ## Who owns it A 2013 case study by the GSMA, the global mobile operators' association, said Telesom was "owned by 1,500 shareholders – all Somalilanders who live locally or abroad" ([GSMA, Innovative Inclusion: Telesom ZAAD, 2013](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf)). No list of shareholders is published. The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study of Somali business groups describes Telesom in Hargeisa and Golis in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) as entities "aligned" with Hormuud Telecom of Mogadishu, each with its own shareholders in its own territory, and says the three together held about **81 percent of SIM cards** in the Somali regions at the time ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019, box 6 and box 7](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). ## ZAAD, the first Somali mobile money Telesom launched **ZAAD in June 2009**, the first mobile money service in the country ([GSMA case study, 2013](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf)). With ZAAD people store US dollars on their phone, pay shops and bills, and receive money from abroad. By 2012, almost **40 percent** of Telesom's GSM customers were active ZAAD users (same source). In June 2014 ZAAD had about **450,000 registered users, 31 percent of them women** ([GSMA, Connected Women: the example of Telesom](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/programme/connected-women/reaching-half-of-the-market-women-and-mobile-money-the-example-of-telesom-in-somaliland/)). Later the service added a currency exchange function so users could swap Somaliland shillings and dollars on the phone ([GSMA, currency exchange functionality](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/programme/mobile-money/developing-a-currency-exchange-functionality-to-drive-mobile-money-usage-a-new-mobile-money-innovation-in-somaliland/)). In 2024 ZAAD received the GSMA's Mobile Money Certification ([Nation, 2024](https://nation.africa/africa/news/somaliland-s-telesom-earns-gsma-certification-for-its-zaad-mobile-money-service-4750276)). The money transfer service WorldRemit, founded by the Hargeisa-born Ismail Ahmed, connects to ZAAD so money sent from abroad lands in the phone wallet ([Wikipedia, WorldRemit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldRemit)). See [WorldRemit and Zepz](/en/businesses/worldremit/). ## Firsts the company claims Telesom says it was the first to bring 2G, 3G and 4G (LTE) to Somaliland ([Telesom, Telesom First](https://telesom.com/about/telesom_first)). Before Dara-Salaam Bank opened in Hargeisa in 2010, it operated as Salaam Financial Services ([Dara-Salaam Bank, About us, archived 2019](https://web.archive.org/web/20190314175014/http://darasalaambank.com/index.php/about-us)). ## Sources disagree - **Shareholders.** The GSMA's 2013 case study says about 1,500; a 2012 press article reported about 1,000 ([GSMA 2013](https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Telesom-Somaliland.pdf); [Somaliland telecoms: cashless doesn't mean less cash, May 2012, reprinted](https://samotalis.blogspot.com/2012/05/somaliland-telecoms-cashless-doesnt.html)). - **ZAAD launch month.** GSMA gives June 2009; the 2012 article gives May 2009 (same sources). - **Ties to Hormuud.** Clingendael describes Telesom as Hormuud-aligned; Telesom presents itself as a Somaliland company owned by local shareholders ([Clingendael 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf); [Telesom, About](https://web.archive.org/web/20200127231003/https://www.telesom.com/about)). For all the phone companies side by side, see [Who connects Somalia](/en/economy/who-connects-somalia/). For mobile money across the country, see [Mobile money](/en/economy/mobile-money/). --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.