WorldRemit founder launches $500m to tackle Somaliland’s Development Challenges

Ismail Ahmed, the worldRemit founder has launched a new foundation fund to boost Somaliland’s development sectors. The project is intended to help the country move past “traditional models of donor funding and towards a more entrepreneurial, scale-up approach”.

Over the next 10 years, the founder’s ambition is to be able to commit $500 million of his own wealth and investments to Somaliland-focused development programs.

Sahamiye foundation will initially focus on education, healthcare, and infrastructure projects across Somaliland. The Foundation seeks to help over 1 million adults and young people acquire literacy skills in the Somali language and double Somaliland’s literacy rate from 45% to 90% by 2023.

The Foundation will support over 100,000 people to develop technical and vocational skills for employment and entrepreneurship; invest in start-up accelerators, and increase levels of health and financial literacy across the country’s population.