SOMALIA: Supporting ICT Sector and Broadband Connectivity in Somalia using PPP (Phase 2)

For the citizens of Somalia emerging from a 25-year conflict, effectively regulated telecommunications are essential for fostering employment and entrepreneurship, post-conflict reconstruction of telecommunications infrastructure, and wider use of digital technologies in other sectors, including education, agriculture and financial services.  

Working alongside the World Bank’s ICT Sector Support Program in Somalia—a recipient executed grant from the Somalia Multi-Partner Fund worth $16 million over two phases (2014–June 2020)—PPIAF helped create the enabling environment to increase the penetration of affordable, high-performance digital development in Somalia by supporting the development and passage of the Communications Act. PPIAF also established the National Communications Authority that set out the regulatory framework for the digital development market and expanded access to areas not previously reached by operators.  

Additionally, PPIAF developed a medium-term strategy for digital development, a comprehensive PPP options study for supporting the sector, and supported the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications & Technology in establishing a sector regulator. Efforts also contributed to framing Somalia’s National Development Plan—the backbone of the country’s infrastructure investment and planning and where the ICT sector is highlighted as a priority sector.  

These efforts led to expanding the connectivity of Somali citizens to regional and international gateways and information. In particular, the domain (dot.SO) and the +252 international country code have been returned to the federal government that were previously under the personal control of a former minister. Restoring the stewardship of the domain and the country code to Somalia through more transparent governance arrangements has also enhanced Somalia’s sovereign identity building. PPIAF’s grant supported the government during a critical phase of its transition from a completely unregulated telecom market to one that is regulated with a light touch, and in which private sector companies contribute to the national treasury through license fees, spectrum fees and spectrum. At the start of the grant in 2014, telecoms companies made no formal contribution to the national budget. It is forecast the sector will contribute about $5.9 million in sales tax and $12.6 million in spectrum taxes to the FY20 budget, the largest of any sector of the economy.  

PPIAF also contributed to the preparation of the 2019-approved Somalia Capacity Advancement, Livelihoods and Entrepreneurship, through Digital Uplift Project—a $31 million follow-on project co-financed by IDA and the Somalia Multi-Partner Fund. Helping Somalia achieve universal broadband penetration by 2030 falls within the World Bank’s Digital Economy for Africa Initiative (DE4A), which recognizes that the digital economy can help accelerating achieving the SDGs and reducing poverty.