TL;DR Somalia has nearly 20 million people, a very young workforce and a payment system that already runs largely on licensed mobile money. Drought shapes almost everything. The ideas that fit lean on those phone payments to sell solar, water and farm services in small instalments, and help herders and fishers lose less to heat and distance.

The market in numbers

  • Population: about 19.7 million in 2025[1].
  • GDP per capita: about US$661 in 2025[2].
  • Internet use: about 28% of people were online in 2024[3].
  • Growth: 3.1% in 2025, down from 4% in 2023–24, which the World Bank links to falling aid, drought and rising living costs[4].
  • Digital payments: the National Payment System processed US$2.4 billion in 2025[4], and the Central Bank of Somalia lists 6 licensed mobile money services and 17 money transfer businesses[5].
  • Jobs: about 500,000 people join the labour force each year, against roughly 80,000 new jobs[4].
  • Currency: the Somali shilling (SOS).

What founders here actually have to work with

Here's the part people outside Somalia miss - paying by phone is normal here, and the central bank licenses those services[5]. If you're used to markets where cash is king then this changes the maths, because instalment plans and pay-per-use pricing become easy to collect.

The hard part is drought. The World Bank names it as a reason growth slowed in 2025[4], and it backs water projects that prepare communities for both drought and floods[4]. Anything that keeps water, animals or crops alive through a dry season has a buyer, whether that's a household, a co-operative or an aid programme.

Then there's the jobs gap. Half a million people a year are looking for work and only about 80,000 jobs appear[4]. That's a huge pool of young people who could run solar kiosks, repair pumps or work as field agents, and an idea that creates those roles will find donor interest too. Money sent home by relatives abroad matters a lot here as well, but I couldn't find a recent official figure [Requires validation].

Ideas that fit Somalia

All of these were researched for India. The rupee costs, UPI rails and Indian licences don't carry over, so treat each one as a brief to rework.

Phone payments and instalments

  • Candlepay: Remote-lock meters with instalment plans for solar batteries map neatly onto mobile money in place of UPI. Partner with one licensed provider and one solar dealer to start.
  • Furrowlight: One loan repaid at harvest that covers a solar pump share and the season's inputs fits farming families. Check how lending rules apply before you lend [Requires validation].
  • Smoothwage: Steady weekly pay drawn from a worker's own good-week savings suits casual and gig workers paid by phone. It only works with a mobile money partner holding the funds.
  • Sheafcare: Turning a parent's scattered paper medical records into one dated file is useful wherever families travel between clinics. Rebuild it for local clinics and languages.

Solar and water

  • Pumpwheel: Solar pumps on trailers booked by the hour reach farmers who can't buy their own. Collect by mobile money per booking.
  • Hamletwatt: Battery dispatch and fault alerts for small mini-grid operators help keep town power steady. Your buyers are the operators themselves.
  • Saltfree: Solar units that make salty groundwater drinkable fit drought-hit villages. Keep spare parts and a trained repair person in each district.
  • Pulpstrip: Paper water-test cards read by phone camera suit water points checked after floods. Agree with health authorities what a failed test triggers.
  • Backupsow: Backup sowing plans and pre-booked seed for when the rains fail match the drought cycle directly. Sell through farmer groups or aid programmes.

Livestock, milk and fishing

  • Heatcollar: Heat-detection collars and a breeding desk were built for Indian dairy farms. Herding is a big part of rural life here [Requires validation], so you'd adapt it for camels, goats and cattle.
  • Milkchill: Temperature tracking for milk coolers between collection and shop cuts spoilage in the heat. Start with one city's milk traders.
  • Coldcart: Shared cold pickups from farm clusters to town markets fit milk, meat and vegetables that spoil fast. Diesel or solar refrigeration, not electric vans, at first.
  • Lostline: Lifting lost fishing nets off the seabed protects fish stocks along a long coastline. Donors are the likely funders.
  • Wakeline: Satellite checks that flag fishing boats missing from tracking suit a government watching a large sea area. Expect slow, government-paced sales.

Health access

  • Skyclinic: Drone routes carrying samples and medicine between hospitals and remote health centres fit long distances and poor roads. Aviation approval comes first [Requires validation].

Rules to check before you start

The Central Bank of Somalia is the monetary authority and licenses mobile money services, money transfer businesses and payment systems, so any idea that touches money starts there[5]. Company registration sits with the federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry [Requires validation], and member states may have their own registration and licensing [Requires validation]. Tax registration sits with the federal Ministry of Finance [Requires validation].

This is a starting list, not legal advice. Check with a local lawyer or the agency itself.

Questions founders ask

Selling or renting small solar and water equipment on mobile money instalments is the cheapest serious start. You can begin as a reseller for an existing dealer before you hold any stock.

Do foreigners need a local partner to start a company in Somalia?

I couldn't confirm a rule from an official source. Check with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and, for anything financial, the Central Bank of Somalia[5].

Can I build a fintech startup in Somalia?

Yes, but you'll need a licence or a licensed partner. The central bank lists the licensed mobile money services and money transfer businesses on its site[5], so start by talking to one of them.

Talk to Yash

Somalia's phone payments make pay-as-you-go ideas far easier than in many markets, and I'm happy to help you work out the pricing. If you need a hand, you know where to find me.

Talk to Yash →

Sources

  1. World Bank, "Population, total: Somalia", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/SOM/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&mrv=1
  2. World Bank, "GDP per capita (current US$): Somalia", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/SOM/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?format=json&mrv=1
  3. World Bank (ITU data), "Individuals using the Internet (% of population): Somalia", 2024. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/SOM/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  4. World Bank, "Somalia overview", 2026. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/somalia/overview
  5. Central Bank of Somalia, home page, 2026. https://centralbank.gov.so/

For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.