Hormuud Telecom has offered Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) responding to the recent floods in Beledweyne, Baidoa and Jowhar districts and Gedo region of Southern Somalia, commission free bulk cash transfers to vulnerable Somalis. This will allow the Somali Cash Consortium and other NGOs to provide Cash Assistance to more Somalis within the limited funding that is available. The Somali Cash Consortium and Hormuud Telecom have been partners since January 2018.
On 25th October 2019, the Shabelle River overflowed its bank in Beledweyne town. 85% of the town is inundated with flood waters, displacing 273,000 people from their homes. Flood water has also engulfed most of Bardera town and flash floods have destroyed people’s homes in Baidoa.
Since its inception in 2002, Hormuud Telecom through its Corporate Social Responsibility wing – Hormuud Telecom Foundation has been providing aid to the Somali people.
After discussions with the Somali Cash Consortium, Hormuud Telecom offered commission free transfers to NGOs on bulk cash distributions to beneficiaries affected by floods in Beledweyne, Baidao and Jowhar districts and Gedo region. This offer covers transfers made from 25th October 2019 to 31st December 2019.
Consortium Director, Alessandro Bini said: “This is a great example of the private sector and NGOs working together to provide relief to the people of Somalia. Partnerships like this are key in delivering the right sort of aid quickly and efficiently to vulnerable communities. We will be leveraging Hormuud Telecom’s widely used mobile money system at no cost, to ensure that aid provided by the international community reaches more vulnerable Somalis.”
Hormuud Telecom CEO, Ahmed M. Yuusuf said: “After we saw the floods inundate the cities of Beledweyne and parts of Bay and Gedo regions, we decided to work very closely with all the humanitarian NGOs and eliminate all commission fees for their emergency cash transfers to flood-affected communities. In addition to that we donated an initial $200,000 to the people affected by the floods. We will also monitor the situation very closely.”
Hormuud Telecom also hosted an emergency meeting of the Mogadishu business community where a total of $1 million was pledged.
