Two international banks cleared to operate in Somalia

Somalia has issued licenses to two foreign banks for the first time in decades in a bid to open doors to foreign investors. In a statement, Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) said its board of directors approved licenses of the two banks based in Turkey and Egypt.

The applications of two banks, Banque Misr and Ziraat Katilim, underwent months of extensive process, according to the CBS statement. The governor of the central bank of Somalia Abdirahman Mohamed said the two banks are solid banks that will add value to the development of Somalia’s financial sector and contribute to the growth of the economy.

The country of 15 million people has at least a half a dozen commercial banks, with some offering services via the hawala system, an informal network of money transfers conducted through face-to-face guarantees.

The announcement on Sunday comes barely six weeks after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office following a long-overdue election and a political crisis that lasted well over a year.