# Forces moving now

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/forces/
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

- [AI brainpower got cheap](https://calankii.com/en/forces/ai-brainpower-got-cheap.md): Running artificial intelligence (AI) at the level of an older top model became about 280 times cheaper in two years, from about $20 to about 7 cents per…
- [Free open AI models caught up](https://calankii.com/en/forces/free-open-ai-models-caught-up.md): Free "open" AI models, which anyone can download and run, are now almost as good as the best paid ones.
- [AI now works on basic phones](https://calankii.com/en/forces/ai-now-works-on-basic-phones.md): AI no longer needs a smartphone or internet: people can call a short number or send an SMS and get answers by voice or text on any basic phone.
- [Somali language tech exists](https://calankii.com/en/forces/somali-language-tech-exists.md): Technology that understands and speaks Somali already exists and is growing. Jamhuriya University released an open Somali language model in March 2024…
- [Mobile money is the road to everyone](https://calankii.com/en/forces/mobile-money-is-the-road-to-everyone.md): Mobile money is how almost every Somali pays and gets paid: more than 89% use it as their main financial tool, while fewer than 1 in 10 have a bank account.
- [Telcos open their pipes to builders](https://calankii.com/en/forces/telcos-open-their-pipes-to-builders.md): Somalia's biggest telecom company, Hormuud, lets outside businesses plug into its payment, SMS, USSD and voice-call systems.
- [One national payment system](https://calankii.com/en/forces/one-national-payment-system.md): Somalia now has one national instant payment system, SIPS, with a single QR code standard, SOMQR, that went live in 2025 with 7 banks.
- [Digital ID and eKYC](https://calankii.com/en/forces/digital-id-and-ekyc.md): Somalia now has a national ID system and a shared identity check that every commercial bank uses.
- [Phones getting cheaper](https://calankii.com/en/forces/phones-getting-cheaper.md): Smartphones are becoming affordable for low-income families through pay-as-you-go financing.
- [Record money coming home](https://calankii.com/en/forces/record-money-coming-home.md): Money sent into Somalia from abroad reached a record $6.78 billion in 2025, up 5%, according to Central Bank of Somalia data.
- [A stock exchange and Islamic finance](https://calankii.com/en/forces/a-stock-exchange-and-islamic-finance.md): Somalia opened its first stock exchange, the National Securities Exchange of Somalia, on 19 June 2025, and it plans to list both shares and sukuk (Islamic…
- [African startup money rebounding](https://calankii.com/en/forces/african-startup-money-rebounding.md): Money for African tech start-ups grew again in 2025, to about $4.1 billion, up 25%, and Kenya, Somalia's East African neighbour, led every country.
- [Debt relief opened the doors](https://calankii.com/en/forces/debt-relief-opened-the-doors.md): In December 2023 the IMF and World Bank approved $4.5 billion of debt relief for Somalia, and its foreign debt fell from 64% of the economy in 2018 to under 6%.
- [The youngest country](https://calankii.com/en/forces/the-youngest-country.md): Somalia is one of the youngest countries in the world: half its 19.8 million people are under 15.6 years old.
- [Cities booming](https://calankii.com/en/forces/cities-booming.md): About half of all Somalis now live in towns and cities: 49.3% in 2025, up from about 42% in 2014.
- [Social media and LinkedIn growing fast](https://calankii.com/en/forces/social-media-and-linkedin-growing-fast.md): Somalis are joining social media fast: 3.51 million social media accounts in late 2025, up 14.1% in a year.
- [Radio and the spoken word](https://calankii.com/en/forces/radio-and-the-spoken-word.md): Somalis trust the spoken word: radio, poetry, voice notes and respected speakers carry news and ideas faster than print.
- [Online work worldwide](https://calankii.com/en/forces/online-work-worldwide.md): Up to 435 million people worldwide earn money from online work, and demand is growing fastest in Africa.
- [Cities getting safer and reconnecting](https://calankii.com/en/forces/cities-getting-safer-and-reconnecting.md): Mogadishu's streets are busier and better lit, visitors are rising, and new airlines are flying in.
- [The moment](https://calankii.com/en/forces/the-moment.md): Somalia is at a turning point. On 5 November 2026 the Supreme Court ruled that the terms of parliament and the president had expired and that extending them…
- [Proven tools from successful states](https://calankii.com/en/forces/proven-tools-from-successful-states.md): The digital tools that let successful states serve millions of people cheaply are proven, published and free to copy.
- [How fast startups reached people on basic phones](https://calankii.com/en/forces/how-startups-reached-people-on-basic-phones.md): The start-ups that grew fastest in markets with few smartphones did four things: they rode a network people already used, worked on basic phones by SMS…
- [Proof from those who built first](https://calankii.com/en/forces/proof-from-those-who-built-first.md): Several nations built working institutions before they held power, and those institutions became the state on day one.