Hargeisa, (HargeisaPress) — Dahabshiil Group, comprising of Dahabshiil Money Transfer & eDahab, Dahabshiil Bank International and Somtel Telecommunications, was a Gold Sponsor of Ardaa, the Somali Women’s Economic Summit, which concluded at the Hiddo-Dhawr conference hall, Hargeisa, Saturday.
Abdirashid Duale, Dahabshiil Group CEO, said ‘Dahabshiil is proud to support and to be associated with Ardaa’s Somali Women’s Economic Summit. We truly recognise the pivotal role women play in the household economies and overall growth of GDP. We are therefore committed to ensure women’s economic and social development is put at the forefront of our business strategy’.
Mr. Duale further noted ‘Through Dahabshil Bank International (DBI), we aim to provide tailor-made services for women entrepreneurs and personal banking needs. We currently offer different products for women including investment and Micro-finance. The investments department of DBI shows an increase in women participation. The majority of our MicroDahab clients, our microfinance division, and recipients of remittances are women running micro and small enterprises, which have been known to sustain families. We are ready to listen and consult further in order to offer even better services and employment opportunities for women’.
The keynote speaker at the event – and the guest of honor -Dr. Amina Hersi Moghe , a prominent business person in Uganda, expressed her utmost appreciation to the participants and the organisers of the event. Dr. Amina noted that there was need for women to take risks in businesses which have for a long time been assumed to be predominantly male activities. She challenged the women present to pursue all available opportunities and to expect challenges and failures.
Mrs Amina Hersi Moghe, ‘launched several multimillion-dollar projects in Kampala, Uganda. Her investments include Oasis Shopping Mall in Kampala’s central business district and the Laburnam Courts Apartments, on Nakasero Hill.
She is also one of Uganda’s largest distributors of cement and other hardware materials.
In 2013, Amina looked further afield to diversify her business, seriously looking into industrial manufacture.
Amina Hersi, via he investment company, Horyal Investment Holding Company Limited, began construction of Atiak Sugar Factory, in Atiak, Amuru District, Northern Uganda. The US$50 million project is expected to be ready in 2016, with commercial production expected in 2017.
Dr. Edna Adan of Edna Adan Hospital and University urged women to support emerging entrepreneurs not only with tools of work but also with mentorship.
Abdirizak Ibrahim Mohamed, CEO of Hass Petroleum, Somaliland, said ‘women’s role in nation-building is evident wherever one looks at. Theirs is a role that cannot be paralleled by none,” he said.
“A Somali proverb sums up a woman’s indispensable support to society by stating that “one never overtakes a man with a better wife’”, he added.
The meeting organized by ASAL, a Somali consulting firm, in Hargeisa saw prominent business figures, women leaders and entrepreneurs from all regions of Somaliland converge at Hiddo-Dhawr in Hargeisa at a high level conversation between Somali women focusing on women’s economic participation. The goal of the event was to redefine and rally renewed commitments for Somali women’s contribution to economic growth.
The summit will also be held in Garowe, Mogadishu and possibly Nairobi according to the organisers.
Not only at the symposium was Amina Moghe and the organizers, Asal Consulting were greatly honored but the government of Somaliland, business giants such as Dahabshiil, Hass Petroleum, and reverred Somalilanders such as Dr. Edna, diplomats, political parties leaders Abdirahman Irro and Faisal Ali, among others, all gave the Somaliland-born tycoon a heoine’s reception at Egal International Airport upon arrival on Friday.