Somaliland Finance Minister meets with Kenyan Prime Minister

Now this is what I call diplomacy, we need to be on the offensive not defense.

Somaliland government should make regular contacts with other governments, especially neighbouring countries, and present our case to the fullest.

It is the neighbours which other governments will ask for opinions regarding Somaliland. We should put more strength in the diplomatic front. This trip to Kenya is good.

Kenya is an important nation but it's concern about Ethiopia's growth in particular in the agriculture sector and we already alley with Ethiopia. Kenya is playing hidden war game against Ethiopia. Ethiopia has taken over Kenya as the largest economy in the Horn of Africa, it's the leading coffee producer and also plans to take the tea from Kenya and it's not far from that so this is worrying Kenya even though it's acting cool its not relaxed at all.

Most of those aid agencies based in Nairobi will in the future move to Addis Ababa if Ethiopia continues to grow at the pace it is now. It is the 4th fastest growing economy in Africa at 9.8% after Angola (16.30%), Sudan (12.80%) and Equaterial Guinea (12.70% – dubbed 'The African Kuwait').

This one of the fastest growing nations on earth today remember the fastest growing economy in the world is Qatar (

Part 1
All the other countries Kayse has mentioned have access to sea and have achieved their remarkable growth rate thanks to their oil production. On the other hand Ethiopia has no sea and no oil is found in its territory so far!! Therefore, their achievement is much more impressive. The way things are going in the Horn of Africa, I have the feeling that Somalis will one day be at the mercy of the Ethiopians. They have a huge and growing population coupled with strong economic growth and a modernisation of its military with the help of powers like the US and Israel.

Part 2
With their population close to 100 million they will need a lot more land than they currently have and hence predictably the Ethiopian government will encourage the occupation of the Ogaden region and the displacement of the Somali people from their land. They will also control and manipulate every other Somali region as their interest dictates. The Somalis might even become like the Palestinians are today – squeezed, surrounded, exploited, and oppressed. As a Somaliland citizen, it pains me to see the lack of foresight of my follow Somalis. I wished that the Somalis in the South, Puntland, and Ogaden knew better and looked after their national interest and the future of their people instead of being their own worst enemy.

Abraham you mean the sub humans who kill eachother over a cigarrete in Somalia

Elmi,

It is ironic that your name and words are complete opposite.

Abraham… Somalia is Finished! and it's been finished for a long time now.
It's time for the world to recognize somaliland.

And we isaqs should stop calling ourselves somalis! and have nothing to do with thoses backward handicapped self hating fools!
Walahi the somali name has been killed by darood and hawiye, so we isaqs should change our countries name to the republic of Isaq and STOP CALLING OURSELVES SOMALIS.
We shouldn't care about what gadabursa or dhulbahante think, it was us isaqs that created somaliland with no outside help, and it's us isaqs that have been defending it.
So we should change our countries name and have nothing to do with somalis!

Amen changes, I wish we had more people who think like you. Everytime we utter the words "I'm Somali" our recognition takes a step backwards and we are thought of as people who are waiting for the mess in Mogadisho to clear so we can work out a deal and be Somalis again. Lets all hold hands with the killers who butchered our children and women and sing kumbaya. This week the idiots who run our government opposed a plan to reach out to the government of Israel they are the same ones who call walaweeyns our brothers, so tell me how do we expect any country to take us seriously when our name and our leaders are pro Somalia?

Abraham(?… unusual spelling for a Somali person) has raised some intersting and valid points. I have long pondered what the future holds for somali people in the context of this information. Today what is there to stop Ethiopia from encroaching its borders (further) into Somalia & Somaliland. Somalis, do not have a government or army to take charge, speak for and protect its people and are therfore very vunreable. In a similar way gaza's government (Hamas) is de-ligitimised.

As well as government and military action, Ethiopians openly live in Somalia & Somaliland in significant numbers, moreover in Somaliland in growing numbers. Ethiopia has shown that it will not allow a government is does not approve of to be established in Somalia, we have all wittnessed its military intervention. So the question for Somalilanders is how can it protect its citicens in both the short and long term. We are all aware of the abbhorrent way in which Somalis in Ogaden are treated, how palastinians are treated in Palastine/Israhell; is this what is coming for somali people. At least now they live in their own chaos. Somalilanders may be poor, but at least they have some freedom.

"squeezed, surrounded, exploited, and oppressed", Somalis already are. Talking about it is not good enough. It is up to us, up to you, to change this.

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world”.

Correction of spelling error: Israel.

@Elmi &Changes
It's beacause of people like the two of you Somalia is where it is! The faqash who burned down our cities had the exact same mentality! You need to stop this qabiil-bullshit! You're talking as if we Isaaqs are any different than our fellow somalis – you should know that qabiil does not stop at ISAAQ. Just look at the city of Burco – strictly divided between two of our subclans.

They say the present is always pregnant with the future – and if we dont change the way things are headed, it's only a matter of time before we end up in the same situation as our brothers and sisters in the south!

@Elmi &Changes
It's beacause of people like you Somalia is where it is today! You need to stop this Qabiil-B¤LL-Sh%&T! Nothing you do or say we'll ever change the fact that you are and will remain a SOMALI. Somaliland prides itself on being rid of qabiil – and sick, resentful people like yourselves keep undermining our efforts!

Israel?!!! There is a somali proverb that goes: Baahi baa ku haysa bakhtiga looma cuno!!

Sing KUMBAYA? What do you think we are Mr. Elmi. Some depressed house negros is 1800s? Get real men. We are Somalis. Full blooded ethnic Somalis. As there are Arabs and Slovaks in the world, there are Somalis as well.

It is true that we live in different regions like Somalia, North Eastern in Kenya, Ogadenia in Ethiopia, Somaliland and in the diaspora. But we are still Somalis.
The tribes and dialects just make us more unique. Otherwise we are all from the same pot. There is no tribe which is better than the other (as if that hasn't been proven so far!)

Call whatever you want to call yourself. Carry whatever document you want, but you are and will ever be a Somali.

Like Dr. MLK, I say: I have a dream. I have a dream that one day all the people of the Somali will come together and live in peace. Live in peace and harmony with itself and others. Live with respect with itself and its neighbours. Live without the Qaabil poison. Live whereby Somalis will be asking each other: Are you Habar Magal or Habar Miyi, and not otherwise.

PEACE.

To hassan.
We do not allow people to tell us what we are, we decide what we are.
And we can stop calling ourselves somalis if we choose to.
This country somalia was only created in 1960. Before that there was no country called somalia or people called somalis.
We used to call eachother by our qabil names. Now i think we should go back to that, but instead of it been qabil it should be national.

For example.
Somaliland should be called the repupliic of Isaq
and the people should be called isaqis.
Let this name somali burn! because it's a shame to be called a somali because of the shameful things darood and hawiyes are doing!

Walahi us Isaqs should stop calling ourselves somalis! it's a shame to be somali now because of darood and hawiye.

One must be a fool to bilieve "changes" is an I saaq person, He/She is definately from the deep south one of the giveaway was he reffered to Gadhabursi asq Ghadhabursa. This is like Isiayas Afewerki rooting for Meles zenawi to win a Nobel Peace Price.

As for Elmi, If you are the Elmi of your family, I would hate to meet your siblings that have less Elmi.

Long Live Somaliland…… We will overcome both Foreign and Domestic enemies.

I'm pure Isaq,Habryounis clan and Ali sied family. Both my parents are habryounis and Ali Sied infact.
If i was from the south would i have said those things i said about darood and hawiyes?

long live all the real Isaqsand may the word "somali" dissapear from the face of this earth!

Calm down dear!! this thread had descended into character assassinations. The first principle of any debate is to avoid insults and personal attacks and instead focus on the issues at hand.
Changing our name or title is as useless as adopting another language. You may speak as much Mandarin as a Hun Chinese person, but you will still be an ethnic Somali. The World outside of our borders does not distinguish between an Isaq man and a Hawiye or Darood. We are just another punch of uncivilised people in need of peace and aid. This sounds awful, but it is the reality. As an ethnic group, what we need is not name changes or name calling or not even more of the tested and tried useless clan reconciliations, but individual self reform and education. We need to stop being clan hooligans and use our clan identities just for the sake of socialising and helping each other. We need to see ourselves as a group of people with out any form of tangible security in a World where increasingly only the fittest can survive. We need to look beyond the tribal affiliations and see that half of our country is occupied by a rival nation whose ambition is to suppress Somalis regardless of their clans and displace them from their homes.

This is already happening. Harar is no longer Somali, Diridhabe (the once proud home of the Dir tribe) is officially taken off the Somali map, and Jigjiga is fast losing its Somali identity too. Did you realise that the ‘republic of Isaq’ and ‘Isaqis’ (as funny as the names sound) will do nothing more than remind the World of the hell hole that is already Iraq.

Well Saudi Arabia is named after Al-Saud tribe. Whats wrong with naming the country after the majority of its citizens and the sole clan who spell blood and wealth to free it from tyranny?

may Somalia burn in hell, may isaqland prosper in pace,may my prayer be answered.