By Abdifatah Hassan Ali (19 January 2021)Listen to a Somali (Af Soomaali) podcast with the author discussing this article here.

In today’s world, many aspects of our lives are entwined with digital technology. From simple mobile phone calls and texts to internet-based systems and software applications, people’s dependence on digital communications is becoming inexorable around the world. And yet, global and local inequalities of access to these technologies remain. This blog post looks at the distinctive case of Somalia – a country which enjoys some of the cheapest mobile internet data costs in the world, and yet has one of the smallest proportions of its population with access to the Internet (only around 15% according to official statistics).

Digital Shelter – a Somalia-based organization that I co-founded to promote online safety – is part of the Datafication and Digital Rights in East Africa Network. Over the last year, we have been participating in discussions with our fellow network partners – researchers, civil society activists, tech sector actors from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania – in order to identify key issues relating to the increasing importance of data in people’s everyday lives and local meanings of ‘digital rights’. East Africa is a diverse region, and to understand these issues from a Somali perspective, we need to look at how internet access has developed in Somalia. This blog post discusses the history of Somali internet connectivity, and current realities of who is actually included (or excluded) from digital spaces. It also looks at areas where further research is needed enable people in Somalia to take advantage of the opportunities brought by technology while understanding and protecting their digital rights.  

Internet development in Somalia: from late growth to cheapest access in Africa

Somalia’s first Internet Service Provider (ISP) was established in 1999, and since then online connections have started to become a lifeline for many Somalis. Due to conflict, Somalia was one of the last nations in Africa to get connected to the digital world. Slowly growing since then, digital connections have played an increasingly important role in the socioeconomic life of the population. For example, millions of people in the Somali diaspora scattered around the world have been able to send money back home instantly and remain connected with their loved ones in the country. Long-standing remittance companies (Hawala) have become reliant on internet-based connections, sending an estimated $1.2 to 3bn annually. These financial flows are a massive contributor to Somalia’s growing economy.

Although broadband connections in the first decade of the 21^st Century were expensive, overall internet access has steadily grown in Somalia at a relatively fast pace. As in many parts of Africa, the expansion of mobile Internet has played a huge role in this. It was early 2013 when the first 3G internet services was launched by Somalia’s largest Telcom service provider Hormuud, offering faster and more affordable internet. The growing smartphone penetration among the country’s younger generations has revolutionized internet connectivity.

In 2020, a year defined by a global pandemic and the indispensability of online connections,  Somalia made a surprise jump in the global rankings of mobile internet access cost. The previous year it was ranked 34th worldwide and 37th in Africa and within a period of one year it has become the country with the cheapest mobile data costs on the continent and the seventh cheapest worldwide. Today, the average cost of 1GB data now stands at $0.50. The second country in the continent in the affordability index is Sudan which sits at 13^th in the global table, and is followed by Algeria at 15^th.

Is low cost enough for inclusion? Continued challenges to internet access

However, despite this good news in reducing cost barriers to mobile data, nearly 85% of the population still do not have access to the internet. According to new report published by DataPortal, only 1.63 million people in 2020 (of a population of around 12 million). This is related to protracted displacement, widespread illiteracy and poverty. There are more internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Somalia (an estimated 2.2 million people) than there are internet users. These people often live-in a precarious conditions with no access to basic services, and access to internet is not among their top priorities. In general, they remain excluded from internet technologies. Currently, Somalia’s total literacy rate stands at 37.8 percent, one of the lowest in the world. Despite offering the cheapest internet services in the continent, nearly 70% of the population live in poverty struggling to make end meet and survive on less than $1 a day. This makes it very difficult for them to spend that amount on (even relatively cheap) internet bundles, or obtain a phone that can access the internet.

Somalia’s recent (and ongoing) experiences of conflict have also affected internet penetration. In 2014 – just when mobile internet appeared to be taking off in Somalia – the militant group Al-Shabaab completely banned the use of mobile internet and devices such as smartphones in areas under their control. The group made an official announcement broadcast on local radio that “anyone caught using internet outside internet cafes will be considered to be working with the “enemy”. This left a large proportion of the population disconnected from the rest of the world. Many people lost communication with their family members outside the country. In some places, like Marka and Barawe towns and other regions of the country, high school students had to travel to the capital city (Mogadishu) to stay connected so that they could do their exams. Despite Al-Shabaab losing many towns and villages that it used to control, its ban on mobile internet ban is still active. As of today, people in many locations in which it has a presence are still not allowed to use digital devices and access the internet

Despite optimism on increasing connectivity in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed socioeconomic inequalities and has widened existing digital divides. For example, when the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in Somalia in March 2020, the federal government imposed a lockdown, ordering schools, universities and restaurants to close in order to limit the spread of the virus. Most academic institutions had no option but to adopt virtual learning alternatives forcing students to continue their classes online. However, shifting to online platforms was not straightforward for all students, particularly those coming from poor backgrounds. This meant that only those who had the means to access internet-equipped digital devices (laptops or smartphones) could get connected and would be able to continue their classes. Unfortunately, there were reports of students dropping out of their studies because of a lack of access to technology.

Achieving internet connection for all

In 2019, the Somali government endorsed a comprehensive National ICT Policy and Strategy designed to support the overall goals of the National Development Plan (NDP) and achieve internet connection for all. This was a move welcomed by the tech community, academic institutions and the public. The policy is also meant to support the broader Government vision to leverage ICT as a vital driver of economic and social development, including improving access and connectivity. According to the government, the plan is to reach Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9.C, which calls for a “significant increase [in] access to information and communications technology and [provision of] universal and affordable access to the Internet in Least Developed Countries (LCDs) by 2020”.

However, for a country ranked first in Africa and seventh in the world in terms of internet affordability, one must wonder how persistent digital inequality can be addressed. Can low-cost internet be a gateway to greater access and use in economic and social livelihoods? To take advantage of this unique position and the potential benefits of Somalia’s growing ICT sector, cost alone is unlikely to be enough. Concerted action plans are needed to build a digitally inclusive society. Both public and private institutions need to develop a framework for cooperation in order to ensure the universal goal of achieving internet connectivity for all with a specific focus on marginalized and disconnected communities. Priorities should be given to IDPs, disability groups and other minorities.

Currently, there are two dominant telecommunication companies operating southern Somalia (Hormuud) and one in Puntland (Golis). They provide essential telecommunication services including internet access, but there is a need to understand how or whether their services are actually bridging the significant digital inequality in the country. Even though telecommunication services may be available in rural areas, it is not clear how people are accessing and benefiting from services such as mobile internet.

As stated above, the literacy rate in Somalia is one of the lowest in the world, with the rural communities even more disadvantaged in this regard than populations in cities. Given security issues and fragmented political authority in Somalia, it is difficult to undertake research on rural mobile phone/internet use. However, an initial scoping of the telecommunications landscape in Somalia indicates some important future research questions:

• How can telecommunication companies effectively prioritize currently unconnected populations and extend internet access?
• Is the internet actually being used by some of the poorest people in society? If so, how?
• How can nationwide digital literacy campaigns target the most vulnerable groups of the community so that they develop the skills and confidence to use the internet safely?
• How can basic computer skills be effectively included in the national curriculum?
• How to ensure effective capacity building programmes for communities to be able to use technology to improve their quality of life and address poverty?

For us to build a digitally inclusive society it is time to consider access to internet as a basic human right and ensure that everyone is connected to an open and affordable internet. Answers to these research questions will help us move in this direction and capitalize on some of the advantages – such as low data costs and a vibrant and innovative telecom sector – that Somalia already has. 

Abdifatah Hassan Ali is the co-founder and director of Digital Shelter. He is also a partner in the Datafication and Digital Rights in East Africa Research Network. His colleague at Digital Shelter, Ayaan Khalif, discusses the particular issues that women face online in the next blog post in our series.