Somalis get first-ever debit card

[ccharles000]

A money-transfer company has made a piece of banking history in Somalia - introducing the first-ever debit card in the breakaway region of Somaliland.

The firm, Dahabshiil, hopes eventually to roll the system out to all Somali-speaking areas from Djibouti to Kenya.

They say large shops and hotels in areas with good internet connection and electricity can sign up to the service.

The card was launched in Somaliland's capital Hargeisa because of insecurity elsewhere in the region.

Somaliland declared itself independent from Somalia in 1991, when the country's central government collapsed.

Since then, Somaliland has forged a relatively stable state, despite its lack of international recognition.

Most of the rest of Somalia has been wracked by violence and Islamist insurgencies while

Dahabshiil boss Abdul Rashid Mohamed Said told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme he regretted that people overseas hear only bad news from Somalia.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8330569.stm