Somalia: Flood of Foreign Workers Leave Young Somalis Out of Work
19 September 2014
Romans Onyango is the site engineer at one of Mogadishu's luxury apartment
buildings under construction. While there are no official numbers, the
Kenyan national is one of the many foreign workers attracted to the Somali
capital by lucrative contracts.
"There are so many Kenyans coming here - people from all over Africa: Kenya,
Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, everywhere," he says.
In the past two years, African Union troops have pushed out warlords and
al-Shabab militants, allowing for elections and the first real government in
decades.
With some stability returning, Mogadishu, once referred to as the "ghost
city," is getting a facelift with a building boom and even traffic jams.
With development on the upswing, the on-rush of foreign laborers isn't
sitting well with some locals.
"Most of the Mogadishu youths are not happy with the increase of foreign
staff," says Mogadishu resident Abdinur Mohamed. "The government should
create a law that dictates at least 80% of the staff in all sectors of the
economy to be from the local community".
According to Mohamed, it's a sentiment shared by most young Somalis, many of
whom were unable to secure the necessary qualifications or training due to
the country's ongoing conflict. Even recent graduates are facing few job
prospects, and some are demanding limited-duration work permits foreign
experts.
"There is nothing wrong with bringing foreign expertise, but let them stay
for a specific period, like a year," says Mohamed. "Within that year, let
them train Somali staff so that they may be able to take up these roles in
the future."
While government officials have vowed new initiatives designed to create new
opportunities for young Somalis, Mohamed and others like him can only hope
the once-lawless nation's newfound stability will help them build a better
life.