By Abdirisaq Itaqile
Somalilandsun – Giving back to the community has become a staple for successful businesses in the 21st century. Companies that engage in community distinguish themselves from their competitors, reap various benefits including: increased employee involvement and engagement, stronger relationships with the community and customers, and increased stock value.
It’s fair to say that Dahabshil, Africa’s largest money transfer business, has a culture of social responsibility, which was ingrained by the company’s founders in 1970s. Today, Dahabshil Group remains the leading and the best company that creates the most overall social and environmental impact in the horn of Africa.
Dahabshil has a strong focus in giving back to the community and dedicates a substantial amount of its annual profits to improving schools, renovating and building hospitals, facilitating agriculture and sanitation services, and other projects.
As a Somali-founded business, Dahabshil remains the primary remittance service for the global Somali Diaspora, with thousands of outlets in more than 150 countries. Dahabshiil’s portfolio includes Dahabshil Bank International, a full service bank headquartered in Djibouti with branches across the Somali territories, and a leading telecommunication services provider, Somtel.
Dahabshil Invests 5% Of Its Annual Profits in Community Projects Aimed At Improving Schools, Hospitals, Agriculture And Sanitation Services. It also sponsors a number of social events, including the Somali week festival and the Somali youth sports association in the UK, which help to promote understanding and cooperation through Somali art and culture and sport, respectively. After the tsunami of 2005, the company helped provide immediate relief to the people in the regions of Somalia that were most affected.
Emphatically. Dahabshil Group continues to be the pillar of the Somali community in the horn of Africa region by building social responsibility into its business models.
In 2014, Dahabshil Group donated $25,000 towards the construction of the asphalt road between Allaybaday and Arabsiyo. Dahabshil Group also supports community programs that contribute to the health and happiness of Somali people in the horn of Africa. For instance, in 2009 the firm donated $20,000 toward the establishment of a state-of-the-art mental health facility in Garowe, the administrative capital of the northeastern Puntland region of Somalia.
About Dahabshiil
Dahabshil is Africa’s largest money transfer business, with branches in 126 countries worldwide and over 5,000 employees. It is one of the most important multinational businesses in the Horn of Africa, which provides a vital money transfer lifeline to those living in many countries across Africa and beyond.
In addition to serving individual customers, Dahabshiil offers money transfer and bank services to local businesses and some the world’s leading humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, Oxfam and Save the Children.
Dahabshil is headquartered in London, where it opened its first office in 1989. It is core business is remittance services, although the company has in recent years expanded into banking and mobile banking, and now offers Somalia’s first debit card service.
Abdirisak Itaqile is the founder and the chief editor of Somaliland Monitor
