Protecting Somalia's Financial System When Cash Runs Short

When the Somali state collapsed in 1991, the formal banking system collapsed with it. For the next two decades, money moved through hawala networks, informal transfer businesses that carried diaspora remittances to households, financed imports and kept domestic trade running while conventional banks and public institutions were largely absent. Many of those businesses have since become licensed money-transfer operators, commercial banks and digital-payment providers, and the Central Bank of Somalia has been substantially rebuilt.

Protecting Somalia's Financial System When Cash Runs Short
When the Somali state collapsed in 1991, the formal banking system collapsed with it. For the next two decades, money moved through hawala networks, informal transfer businesses that carried diaspora remittances to households, financed imports and kept domestic trade running while conventional banks and public institutions were largely absent. Many of those businesses have since become licensed money-transfer operators, commercial banks and digital-payment providers, and the Central Bank of Somalia has been substantially rebuilt.