‘It’s like we went bankrupt overnight’: poorest Somalis suffer as piles of worthless shillings mount up

‘It’s like we went bankrupt overnight’: poorest Somalis suffer as piles of worthless shillings mount up - short news


Banknotes are now so tattered that even buses refuse to accept them, as a dollarised economy and mobile phone payments push up the cost of essentials

As US troops withdrew from Somalia in the spring of 1994, a teenaged Muse Omar Jama began working as an exchange trader in Mogadishu’s Bakara market. More than three decades later, he still does the same job, but wonders for how much longer.

Jama, 49, sits in a plastic chair in the one-room office he shares with other traders...


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source: The Guardian - 11.05.2026

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