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Welcome To Somalia
Country number
71
Selected MR Agencies
  • Elephants Can't Jump

    Ensuring brand initiatives work in practice as well as in theory. To have marketplace impact, we believe every research assignment should consist of three elements consumer exploration or validation, within a competitive context, generating commercial outputs.
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  • Firefish Ltd

    29 full time staff, operating in all corners of the globe, on all manner of projects. No methodology is squashed to fit. We approach each brief with fresh eyes and minds, to make sure you get the most out of your research, helping your brand move forward.
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  • Grass Roots

    Grass Roots is one of Europe's largest performance improvement companies. Established in 1980, Grass Roots UK is the founding company of a group with offices and partners operating in 15 countries around the world.
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  • DIGITAL-MR

    In addition to Social Media Research (Web Listening) DigitalMRs solutions also include community panels, access panels, Web usability and a distinct focus on qualitativeresearch online.
    View full entry

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An Introduction to Somalia

The Republic of Somalia in the Horn of Africa was formerly known (under communist rule) as the Somali Democratic Republic. Civil War broke out in 1991, and ever since there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory - there is an internationally recognised Transitional Federal Government, but this covers only a small part of the country and not all of the capital city. Characterised as a failed state, Somalia is one of the poorest, and most violent, states in the world. See full country profile.

Latest Research News from Africa

Feb 6
Ipsos has appointed Ziad Issa as the new Media CEO in the MENA region, succeeding Elie Aoun who has decided to step down after 32 years at the company. Feb 6 2024
Jan 16
Insight and communities firm Verve has announced eighteen promotions across its locations in London, Manchester, Sydney, Iasi (Romania) and Johannesburg, including the appointment of Kim Howard as Semiotics Research Director. Jan 16 2024


1 current African job:

Survey Research Manager, Remote Working - Worldwide, $ Competitive salary - (posted Feb 27 2024)
Know of an MR agency based in Somalia? We don't - please get in touch


Fast Facts
Map of Somalia
CAPITAL: Mogadishu
GOVERNMENT: No permanent national government; transitional, parliamentary federal government
AREA: 637,657 sq. km
POPULATION: 10,112,453 - note: this is an estimate. Population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large number of nomads and by refugee movements.
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Somali, Arabic
Somalia, Somalia
Somalia, Somalia


Ships of the desert: The people of ancient Somalia or the Kingdom of Punt first domesticated camels well before 2000 BC. An estimated quarter of the world's camel population is still found in Somalia and in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, where the camel is an important part of nomadic Somali life. They are the perfect pet/farm animal in that they provide the Somali people with milk, food and transportation.

A little More Knowledge?
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Somalia in Profile

The Republic of Somalia in the Horn of Africa was formerly known (under communist rule) as the Somali Democratic Republic. Civil War broke out in 1991, and ever since there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory - there is an internationally recognised Transitional Federal Government, but this covers only a small part of the country and not all of the capital city. Characterised as a failed state, Somalia is one of the poorest, and most violent, states in the world.

In antiquity, Somalia was an important trade centre for commerce in the ancient world. It is also believed by some scholars to be the home of the legendary Land of Punt. After a colonial period, Somalia united in 1960 under a civilian government and became the Somali Democratic Republic in 1969. The Transitional Federal Government is working towards national elections in 2011. On the plus side: alongside a lack of communications and financial infrastructure, Somalia now offers some of the most technologically advanced and competitively priced telecommunications, money transfer and Internet services in the world.

Some Business and General Info

GDP: $5.896 billion (2010 est.) - $600 per capita

Religions Sunni Muslim

Currency: Somali Shilling (SOS) - GBP 1 = SOS 2536

Telephone Code: +252

Research Industry

Somalia has no MR association and no locally-based research providers as far as we know. If you know better, please do get in touch.

Overview of Trade and Industry

The last data we have for Somalia dates back to 2006, when $300m of produce was exported from the country. Various agricultural and mineral products make up the bulk of exports which were mainly sent to countries in the Middle East. Imports for the same year were much higher at $798m, comprising food, petrol, construction material and manufactures, and coming mainly from African, Asian and Middle Eastern territories.

Despite the long-term civil unrest, Somalia appears to have maintained a fairly healthy informal economy based mainly on livestock, money transfer companies and telecommunications. However, it is difficult to gauge the size or growth of the economy due to a lack of formal government statistics caused by the ongoing civil war. Estimates from 2010 suggest a GDP of around $5.8bn. Some reports also suggest the private sector is growing thanks to substantial (albeit unmeasured) investment in commercial activities.

There are untapped reserves of uranium, iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt and natural gas in Somalia and, with its proximity to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, it is believed to have substantial unexploited oil reserves. The UN ranks Somalia second in the list of 'Prospective Producers' of energy in North East Africa.

My view
from...
Somalia
Researchers Talk!
Have your say!
If you are a researcher based in Somalia, in whatever capacity, then we would love to hear from you!

Email me:
laurence@mrweb.com

Views from...

If you are a researcher in Somalia, in whatever capacity, then we would love to hear from you!