Somalia Economy 7-3-24

Somalia is a heavily subsidized, pirate and terrorist infested failed State. 

Nominal GDP $16B, Per capita GDP $430, Population 18,143,378, Debt to GDP 6.0%, Inflation 17.1%, Unemployment 19%, Labor force 3.9M, Land area 246,200 sq miles, on the eastern coast of Africa on the Arabian Sea. Imports $8.18B, Exports $1.80B, Trade Deficit 6.38B,

HPIC aid $4.5B from World Bank debt relief, US aid $755M.

Overview. Somalia's agricultural sector is the backbone of the economy, contributing to over 70 percent of total GDP, 80 percent of its employment, and about 50 percent of its exports. The country has over 8.9M hectares of arable land. The country also has two major rivers stretching over 2,500KM.

Maize, sorghum, rice, and cowpea are the most important staple foods for Somalis.

Somalia main exports are: livestock, bananas, skins, fish, charcoal and scrap metal. Main export partners are: the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Oman.

Most food imports come from countries such as UAE and Turkey because there are limited agricultural processors locally. Agricultural imports stood at $1.19 billion in 2021 and include: wheat, rice, sugar, tomato, juices, and tobacco. Jan 22, 2024

Curriculum- the primary school curriculum in Somalia emphasizes nine compulsory subjects including Arabic, Islamic studies, Somali, mathematics (including business education), science (health, environmental education, and agriculture), social studies (including history, geography, and civics), English, physical ed. Literacy is 41%.

The Republic of Somalia was formed in 1960 by the federation of a former Italian colony and a British protectorate. Mohamed Siad Barre (Maxamed Siyaad Barre) held dictatorial rule over the country from October 1969 until January 1991, when he was overthrown in a bloody civil war waged by clan-based guerrillas.

By 2012, Somali powerbrokers agreed on a provisional constitution with a loose federal structure and established a central government in Mogadishu termed the Somali Federal Government (SFG). Since then, several interim regional administrations have been established and there have been three presidential elections.

Pirates were active in 2017 and returned in 2023 targeting merchant vessels.

Killings: UNSOM reported 312 civilians were killed by al-Shabaab between February and October. The group committed religiously and politically motivated killings that targeted civilians affiliated with the government and attacked humanitarian NGO employees, UN staff, and diplomatic missions.

Somalia 2023. The conflict between the government and Al-Shabaab continued, and all parties committed serious abuses of international humanitarian and human rights law with impunity. Insecurity, drought, floods and food insecurity caused the displacement of over 2.9 million people and a dire humanitarian crisis.

Al-Shabaab retains control over 20% of the Somalia. Al-Shabaab is self-funded by racketeering and like ISIS is committed to establishing more radical Islamic states.

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabaab#chapter-title-0-6

Comments

This is similar to the ongoing conflict in Yemen. You have a Terrorist group waging a civil war that lasts for decades. It’s a money pit.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Somalia Problems 7-3-24

Somalia’s economic freedom is not graded because of the lack of reliable data. Somalia is a failed state.

Over the past decade, extreme violence and civil war, political instability, and famine have ravaged an already fragile living situation. The result is an utterly devastated economy and a country that lacks a functioning national government with the ability to provide even basic services. 

Decades of lawlessness have destroyed any foundation of economic freedom on which a developing economy might be built. Somalia remains mired in corruption, violence, and political intrigue. The country’s nearly complete economic collapse has resulted in massive human migrations, and a humanitarian catastrophe has been unfolding in the devastated economy. Somalia’s GDP and living standards are among the world’s lowest, and many Somalis depend on remittances from abroad. Livestock, agriculture, and fishing are economic mainstays.

https://www.heritage.org/index/pages/country-pages/somalia#

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

History Repeats Itself 7-2-24

Human Nature remains consistent. We are all mammals doing the best we can. Our instincts are consistent with other mammals. We need food, water and rest. We are driven to procreate and produce offspring. We are autonomous chemical factories with the same internal organs. We are able to heal ourselves and overcome injuries. But we appear to be smarter than other mammals. We are as unique as our DNA. To succeed, we need to discover our skills and interests. We are responsible for providing food and shelter for ourselves.

How we deal with problem people vacillates.  Criminal populations have been managed creatively for centuries to cut costs. This included criminals who have been convicted of violent crimes, but also included prisoners of war, who were sold as slaves.  Banishment may solve the immediate problem, but may result in creating an enemy later.  Abraham banished Hagar and Ishmael whose descendants created Islam as an enemy of Israel.  Some leaders of Empires like Alexander the Great ended up winning over his conquered people by allowing them to keep their religions and cultures. Empires tend to dissolve after their founder’s death. This happened to Alexander, Attila and others.

In 1788, Britain established a penal colony in Australia to off-load the costs of its debtor’s prisons. This allowed these families to pay off their debts by working on farms for 5 years. After that, they learned farming and saved their money to buy farms and become self-sufficient. This was a brilliant move.

History tends to cycle and repeat itself. Some Empires implode when they run out of money. This happened to the Roman Empire in 400AD and it happened to the USSR in 1989. This series of articles concentrates on the economies of nations and our struggle to preserve these economies.

In 1945, Israel became a country and unfriendly Muslim Arab states emptied their prisons and insane asylums, put them on buses and sent them to the UN Refugee Camp in Palestine. These problem people became the citizens of Palestine. Their school curriculum included the hatred of Jews. The rest is history.

The US has meandered into disastrous policies dealing with addiction and homelessness. These policies are ruining our big cities by allowing the homeless to set up camps on the streets. This results in serious problems for businesses located in these areas. 100 years ago, hobos were allowed to camp by the railroad tracks. They had been banished by their families because of alcohol addiction.

Biden opened the US Border in 2021 and allowed 12 million illegal migrants into the US. This needs to end and these illegals need to be deported. We should also end our “Amnesty” programs and restrict immigration to merit using tighter controls.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Chad Economy 7-2-24

Nominal GDP $12.596B, Per capita GDP $702.85, Population 18,278,568, Debt to GDP 43.2%, Inflation 11.18%, Unemployment 0.99%, Labor force participation 60.34%, Land area 495,800 sq miles, Exports $4.39B, Imports $215,168, Trade Surplus $4.18B,

Export goods in 2022, included crude petroleum (USD 3.33B), gold (USD 876M), other oily seeds (USD 106M), insect resins (USD 30.6M), and raw cotton (USD 29.6M).

Import goods included vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins, and cultures (USD 71.2M), jewelry (USD 63.6M) and Electric Generating Sets ($61.4M).

Chad’s problems include: Widespread extreme poverty (38.7% of the population in 2022) Widespread food insecurity (12.1% by the end of 2022) linked to low-productivity subsistence farming. Budgetary dependence on oil revenues.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Chad Problems 7-2-24

Poverty and vulnerability are pervasive in Chad, with 42.3% of the population living below the national poverty line. Extreme poverty ($2.15/day per capita [PPP 2017]) also remains high in the country and has risen significantly, from 31.2% in 2018 to 34.9% in 2021 and 35.4% in 2023. 

Chad has long been in the grip of political tensions arising from shifting allegiances and familial and tribal relations within the political elite. Uncertainty following the death of longtime ruler Idriss Deby in 2021 and the installation of his son Mahamat as leader have escalated the problems. Feb 29, 2024

live in poverty. For decades, the country has underinvested in irrigation while drought conditions have negatively impacted agriculture. Chad has one of the highest levels of hunger in the world affecting 42% of the population.

Since 1965, Chad has been involved in civil wars and incursions by neighbors.

A largely semi-desert country, Chad is rich in gold and uranium and stands to benefit from its recently-acquired status as an oil-exporting state. May 20, 2024

Per capita GDP is $702.85, Trade Surplus is $4.18B.

Chad is a landlocked country touching North, West, and Central Africa. All six of Chad's neighbors have faced a refugee crisis or conflict in the past. This includes Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Libya, and Sudan. Feb 14, 2024

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Poll says Fire Biden 7-1-24

Poll Updated Jun 29, 2024 -Politics & Policy

60% of voters want Biden replaced as candidate after debate, poll says. 

A majority of voters — 60% — say President Biden should "definitely" or "probably" be replaced as the Democratic candidate following his performance in Thursday's debate, per a Morning Consult poll released to Axios Friday.

Why it matters: Findings from the poll of 2,068 respondents echoed whispers from Democrats about the prospect of replacing Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate. Of Democratic voters, 21% say Biden should "definitely not" be replaced, and 20% say "probably not."

When the survey asked respondents to choose between Biden and former President Trump, 45% chose the president and 44% chose the former commander-in-chief.

https://www.axios.com/2024/06/29/biden-democrat-candidate-replacement-poll

Comments

Marxists invented pressure campaigns when they formed the labor unions. If you broke ranks, your union supporting co-workers would hate you. Democrats invented American Marxists. The front lines for the US “pro-marxist movement” includes the college professors, government employees, Marxist indoctrinated students and Big “virtue-signaling” Companies who don’t want to be protested. The mushy middle includes the “feed the poor Christians”, cowering corporate captives and the be kind to everybody crowd.

This small poll reports that 45% would vote for Biden and 44% would vote for Trump. The bottom line is that the election is likely to be close. The Democrat Party is a cult.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Namibia Economy 7-1-24

Nominal GDP $12.647B, Per capita GDP $4,785.68, Population 2,604,172, Debt to GDP 68.5%, Inflation 16.8%, Unemployment 19.63%, Labor force participation rate men 63.7% women 55.8%, Land area  318,261 sq miles, Arable land 1%, Agricultural land 47%, Urban 53% Rural 47%, Exports $6.18B Imports $7.97B Trade Deficit 1.79B.

The top exports of Namibia are Diamonds ($1.09B), Gold ($860M), Radioactive Chemicals ($571M), Special Purpose Ships ($356M), and Refined Petroleum ($341M), exporting mostly to South Africa ($1.75B), Botswana ($672M), China ($628M), Zambia ($279M), and France ($272M).

The top imports of Namibia are Refined Petroleum ($1.22B), Special Purpose Ships ($445M), Copper Ore ($283M), Delivery Trucks ($252M), and Electricity ($235M), importing mostly from South Africa ($3.3B), China ($575M), Nigeria ($433M), India ($355M), and United Arab Emirates ($296M).

https://oec.world/en/profile/country/nam

After years of growth, Namibia's economy has been in ongoing recession since 2016. Factors include the sinking price of diamonds and other mineral exports and a decline in industrial and agricultural production due to a lack of competitiveness and a series of droughts.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Namibia Problems 7-1-24

Namibia, a large and sparsely populated country on Africa's south-west coast, has enjoyed stability since gaining independence in 1990 after a long struggle against rule by South Africa. Germany took control of the area which it called South West Africa in the late 1800s. Feb 13, 2024 

In a 2021 report by the governmental Namibia Statistics Agency, multidimensional poverty was determined to affect 43% of the population, 59% in rural and 25% in urban areas.

Namibia exports diamonds and gold. Their Trade Deficit is $1.79B. Population is 2.6M. Poverty is 43%.

Comments

Like most African countries, the customers Namibia exports to are happy, their government leaders are nervous and their people are living in poverty. Their immediate existence depends on their customers continuing to order their commodities. They spend what little money they have on reducing poverty and making debt payments. They are vulnerable to outside interference by terror groups and political factions, but seem to have evaded these problems.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader