By Sarah McGregor Jan 29, 2014
Somaliland, a breakaway territory in northern Somalia, has a gross domestic product of $1.4 billion with a “high” income gap between rich and poor, according to the World Bank’s first economic output estimate.
Somaliland’s GDP per capita of $348 in 2012 ranked as the world’s fourth-lowest after Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi, the Washington-based lender said in an e-mailed presentation released today in the capital, Hargeisa.
“A focus on how to address inequality in Somaliland and ensure access to services for all, will be important to secure progress for all,” the bank said, according to the statement.
Somaliland, which has a population of 3.5 million, declared independence from Somalia after the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. No sovereign state has recognized the region as an independent nation. Companies including London-based Genel Energy Plc (GENL) and RAK Gas LLC of the United Arab Emirates are exploring for oil and gas in the region.
Somaliland’s Gini coefficient, a measure of the income gap, is 45.7 in rural areas compared to 27 in Ethiopia and 42.6 in urban centers against 37 in the neighboring country. The index ranges from 0, which represents perfect equality, to 100, which implies complete inequality, according to the bank.
The uneven distribution of wealth is a “major challenge,” with 29 percent of households in urban areas and 38 percent in rural Somaliland living in poverty, according to a 2013 household and enterprise survey carried out by the World Bank from January to March.
Livestock Contribution
The livestock industry accounts for 30 percent of the economy, followed by trade at 20 percent, crop production at 8 percent and real estate at 6 percent, the bank said.
The accuracy of the estimates is hindered by a lack of data and difficulty in measuring output by nomadic populations, and remittance and foreign aid flows are not captured, the bank said. While there are no isolated figures for Somaliland, overseas workers send home $1.2 billion to Somalia every year, while official development aid totaled $150 million for Somaliland in 2012.
The country’s “low” level of domestic revenue, which at 8.5 percent of GDP is about half of the sub-Saharan African average, consists largely of trade levies, while the country’s few “large businesses” pay insufficient taxes, the bank said.
The region should review its tax regime, which charges companies 10 percent of their profit, compared with 26 percent in Ethiopia and 28 percent in Kenya, according to the bank.
Half of government spending in the decade through 2012 has been spent on security, while health care and education expenditure has been kept low, it said. The al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group al-Shabaab has waged an insurgency against the Western-back government in Somalia since 2007 in a bid to impose Shariah law.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah McGregor in Nairobi atsmcgregor5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net
Bad Somaliland all went wrong, very low GDP and even more bad news is well kept secret
What about Somalia's GDP? Somalia isn't even included in the list bc it doesn't exist at all. Faankuulo!
Growth is a process of trial, error and experiementation. It was yesterday when almost all Somaliland people were broke and penniless. It was yesterday when Hargeisa was a ghost city. People did a lot for themselves.
We don't need the World Bank to tell us that although Somaliland has come a long way, there is still much to do. Increase govt. revenue, cut down on corruption, strong regulations such as audits etc. to increase taxes, and most of all access to international orgs. But, having said that, you know that there are countries lower than Somaliland in the ranks and one of them is our former partner in the defunct, Somali Republic, Somalia.
So, obviously, getting out of the union made economic as well as judicial and democratic sense.
How can Somaliland economically improve, while the world community purposely treating them inhumanely and refused to recognize the country as an Independent?
It is really a miracle that the GNP is better than some African country. Image the potential of Somaliland if its fully recognize and join the world community?
Luqadan nimankan world bank ku hadlayaan waa luqad maldahan. Macnaheedu wuxuu yahay meeshii nin calooshiisa u shaqayste ah ayaa haysta oo wax walba jeebka ku shubanaya. Lacagtii wadooyinka tii eeriboodhada iyo tii dekedaba kuma fila. Hadaba tanina waa yaabee ma jeebab daloola ayuu wax ku shubayaa Siilaanyo.
I love my somaliland people they are wonderful people very hard working patient generous and courageous . all they need is leadership with creative mind and less gready . I love most the abwaanka and the somaliland soldier . they both give to the country their mind and soul. God bless somaliland .
I think we should do something ourselves not someone else to clean our houses. And please we should not rely on hand out.
mashallah for somali lane, i think its doin well. yes taxin more is a good ideal. i think this is a fairly good analisis .
A concentrate on how to address imbalance in Somali land and guarantee access to administrations for all, will be paramount to secure advancement for all custom paper the bank said, as per the articulation.