A palpable air of anticipation fills the U.S. capital as key figures from Somali and American business sectors prepare for the ground-breaking Somali American Business Conference, set to occur later this week. This event, held during the annual Somali Week festival, seeks to create a platform for dynamic economic collaboration between the two nations.
Somali Week, organized by the nonprofit Rising Impact, is the Minnesota Somali community’s largest celebration. Featuring the Somali Independence Day Festival, town hall meetings, documentary screenings, and a soccer tournament, the week-long event attracts a diverse crowd of nearly 50,000 participants from the Twin Cities and beyond.
The Somali American Business Conference anticipates to emerge as a dynamic platform for Somali and American businesses, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders from the private and public sectors. As it stands, the bilateral trade between the United States and Somalia amounted to $106 million before the COVID pandemic. The conference aims to pave the way for a 100% increase in this figure by 2032, symbolizing a new era of economic partnerships.
“We believe this conference marks a turning point,” remarked Rising Impact’s co-founder Daud Mohamed. “The economic potential between our two countries is vast, and this platform will help unlock it.”
A high-profile list of attendees, including the former Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and keynote speakers, such as Omar Sheikh Mohamed and Abdirahman Ahmed Ali from SafariPay Corp., will bring invaluable insights and perspectives to the discussions.
Concurrently, efforts are being made to secure Somalia’s place in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). If successful, this would significantly boost the Somali economy, reducing trade barriers and opening the U.S. market to Somali goods.
“Meeting the requirements for these trade reforms is undoubtedly a challenge,” Mohamed Farah, the CEO of Rising Impact, stated, “but we’re committed to driving forward with the necessary steps to ensure this becomes a reality for Somalia.”
Scheduled for Monday, June 29th, 2023, from 08:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m at the esteemed National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the Somali American Business Conference promises to be a powerful forum for dialogue, networking, and fostering sustainable growth in U.S.-Somalia trade relations.
“As we come together during this inaugural conference,” added Daud Mohamed, “we do so with a vision of creating a prosperous future driven by unity, inclusion, and mutual economic growth.”
