By: Mary Harper
Somalilandsun – On Tuesday May 7 2013, delegates from more than fifty countries and international institutions gathered at Lancaster House in London for a big conference on Somalia.
It was hosted by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the new Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
The conference ended with donors promising support for efforts to transform Somalia from conflict-ridden ruin into a functioning nation state.
But Mary Harper felt that it was another Somali event, also held in London, that deserved the attention:
The day after the Somalia Conference. The heads of state had made their speeches. Hundreds of millions of dollars/ pounds of extra money had been pledged. The journalists had packed up their cameras and tape recorders. The cleaners were vacuuming the corridors of Lancaster House.
But in another equally glamorous location, another Somalia Conference was taking place. And this was the one that, in many ways, really mattered. Because this was about business and investment.
Read full article “The other Somalia Conference’
