A decade on, Somalia’s federal pact benefits elites and al-Shabaab – but it fails the people

The federal government of Somalia was established in 2013 after years of peace and reconciliation talks , held in the context of a famine in 2011 and the rise of militant Islam in the form of al-Shabaab.

It was the first permanent central government in Somalia since the start of the civil war in 1991.

Peace agreements and political settlements do not necessarily transform a country’s development prospects.

In Somalia and the region, conflict and political instability continue.

The federal government still has limited reach and authority , and al-Shabaab is still entrenched .

Political elites at federal and state levels are seen to be corrupt and at odds with each other.

I have studied Somalia’s political economy for over 20 years .

In 2016 I co-authored the book Famine in Somalia , and since 2018 I have led two research programmes examining Somalia’s persistent conflict and political instability.

Read more: South Sudan at 15: how the political elite have found a way to profit from peace as well as war Over the past three years, my work with the PeaceRep Somalia programme at the London School of Economics has sought to deepen understanding of this situation in order to better inform policy responses.

The work brings together researchers based inside and outside the country.

We have conducted several hundred interviews across the country and in the Somali diaspora, and analysed our data according to themes.

Two themes stand out: checkpoint governance, or the control of movement – goods and people – by different political authorities the control, mismanagement and manipulation of international aid.

We found that political elites and their business allies at both federal and member state levels benefit from corruption associated with international assistance.

They also benefit from the rents generated at the various “chokepoints” (seaports and road-based checkpoints) along Somalia’s transport corridors.