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Gold/Mining/Energy : Lundin Oil (LOILY, LOILB Sweden) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tomas who wrote (1445)	12/10/1999 11:21:00 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2742

What is Somaliland? Africa Policy Information Center (Washington, DC) Published by Africa News Service on Sept.12 Somalia is a country of stark contrast - between the troubled central and southern regions and the stable and peaceful north. Almost a decade after the collapse of the centralized Somali state, northern Somalia has become a haven of peace in a conflict-ridden Horn of Africa. But this reality has yet to be recognized by the international community, hindered by an international media that focuses entirely on the inter-clan militia violence in central and southern areas. There are generally favourable conditions for development in Somaliland and Puntand, which would be the envy of many developing countries. And yet many donor countries are dragging their feet on development assistance, pointing to obstacles such as the fact that Somalia does not have a central government, that there are security risks and that Somaliland has declared its independence. The international community is failing to see that the future of Somalia is being created now through the decentralized, regional administrations. The UN has called on donor countries to come to terms with this reality and help the emerging regional states develop their administrations and economies. Developmental Opportunities in Northern Somalia: Following the collapse of economic activity in the early 1990s, Somaliland and Puntland are leading the economic reconstruction of Somalia. There seems to be no shortage of consumer goods throughout the regions. The absence of a central government, together with much of the infrastructure taken for granted in other countries (such as an official banking, telephone and postal systems), has led to innovation. An example of this is the deregulated satellite-based telecommunications sector. In Somaliland, there are now five telecommunications companies operating out of Hargeysa and this competition has led to the lowest international telephone charges in Africa -- US80 cents a minute, some four to five times lower than neighbouring countries. Internet links are expected to be established during 1999. Cheap and reliable international communications have strengthened the links with the Somali diaspora and greatly facilitated the crucially important system of remittances from abroad.