Umal Kheyr rejoices when she hears her team have won a $10,000 grant to set up a business @IOM (Photo: C Hibbert)

ZOOM

110 groups from six regions in Somaliland submitted business proposals for their chance to win a $10,000 grant funded by the Transition Initiatives for Stabilization (TIS) programme to open a new business. Umal Kheyr from a winning team in Hargeisa shares her story.

What is the biggest challenge facing young people today?

Unemployment. There are lots of us in school and university, but no opportunities for graduates. A big problem is nepotism in the job market. If your uncle, or father, has a high-profile job or you are from a majority clan, you will succeed. Some of my friends went to try and find work outside Somaliland. They died in the Sahara desert.

Is being a woman in Somaliland challenging?

Yes! In Somaliland, men do not take you seriously in business and many people, including women, still believe it is our job to stay at home and manage the house and children. When I was young, I dreamt of being a businesswoman. Now I have that chance. This entrepreneurship scheme has given me the opportunity to work equally with men.

You are part of a winning team, how did you meet? What was the winning business idea?

I saw an advert at my university calling for groups to enter a competition to set-up a new a business. My classmates and I formed a group and we decided to propose a stationary campus shop targeting university students and teachers. Hargeisa does not have any stationary shops in universities, so it is a new market we can capitalise on.

Were there any disagreements in the group?

Firstly, I do not know what clan my classmates are, so there is no social hierarchy. When we started we all signed a charter on how to deal with any conflict. We agreed that the distribution of profit should be dependant on the level of effort, and if everyone contributes equally, we will all get equal distribution. Because we set out rules at the start, there has been no disagreements.

It has been a long journey to get here. We spent two months being trained by the scheme on how to write proposals, write budgets and manage a business. We worked hard, and today we are being rewarded.