HARGEISA — In a modest office in Hargeisa, a document has begun circulating among district officials, local entrepreneurs and diaspora investors that its authors hope will do something Somaliland’s economy has long lacked: give the small trader and the national investor a shared, honest map of how to reach each other.

The Local Business Development, Municipal Registration & Public–Private Partnership Framework 2026–2030, prepared by Mohamed Abdi Hassan Seed — founder of Action for Innovation and Development (AID) and co-founder and lead of the Israel–Somaliland Economic Development initiative (ISED) and the Israel–Somaliland Business Council (ISBC) — lays out what its drafters call a “two-tier economic development system,” designed to carry Somaliland enterprises from grassroots market stalls to national investment and qualified Public–Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

Its central claim is disarmingly simple, and stated almost as a creed: local business development should begin at the community and municipal level, while larger national, strategic and infrastructure-oriented enterprises should progressively connect to national ministries, investment institutions and appropriate PPP mechanisms — without ever confusing one legal process for another.

“Municipal registration + applicable national registration + sector licensing = formal business compliance. Nothing more, nothing less.” — ISED–ISBC Framework, 2026–2030

That distinction — between what a district council can register, what a ministry must license, and what genuinely qualifies as a Public–Private Partnership — sits at the heart of the framework, and reflects a deliberate caution against the kind of institutional overreach that has undermined similar initiatives elsewhere on the continent.

01Two Institutions, One Ladder

The framework deliberately keeps its two founding institutions separate. ISED, its authors write, “develops the opportunity” — identifying projects, running feasibility studies, assessing technology and preparing investment cases. ISBC, meanwhile, “develops the business relationship” — mapping companies, running B2B matchmaking, and building the commercial pipeline between Somaliland enterprises and Israeli and international partners.

Tap either tab below to see how the two bodies divide the work.

02The Business Growth Ladder

Perhaps the framework’s most striking feature is its refusal to treat grassroots traders as mere beneficiaries. “They should be treated as potential economic partners and future growth companies,” the document insists — and it builds a five-stage ladder to prove it, running from the smallest community retailer to a company capable of joining a national PPP.

Explore each rung below.

03Three Projects, One Principle

The framework does not stay abstract. It walks through three worked examples — a solar-powered water and irrigation scheme, a refrigerated cold-chain logistics company, and a transport operator’s growth from five trucks to a national logistics project — to show the ladder in motion.

In the cold-chain case, a local entrepreneur’s refrigerated logistics business, once formally registered, is connected by ISBC to equipment suppliers, farmers, herders and fisheries operators. ISED then develops a larger Somaliland Cold-Chain Economic Development Project — cold rooms, refrigerated trucks, solar power and digital monitoring — before national authorities assess its regulatory and infrastructure components and a qualified investor considers financing. The promised result, the document states plainly: “Reduced food losses + jobs + improved market access + increased business revenue.”

The logistics example is more granular still: five trucks become thirty; a warehouse and GPS fleet management follow; cold-chain services are added; ISBC connects the company to international logistics partners; and only then — if the resulting Somaliland Integrated Logistics Development Project meets the applicable legal requirements — is it assessed under the relevant PPP or investment framework.

04Who Would Run It

The document names a proposed senior leadership slate for both institutions, built around a deliberate separation of strategic, technical and executive functions.

05A Five-Year Road

The framework sketches a year-by-year build-out through the decade’s back half, deliberately framed as targets to be “adjusted after baseline research” rather than fixed commitments.

06Guardrails Against Overreach

What distinguishes the framework from a simple wish-list, backers argue, is its insistence on limits. ISED and ISBC, the document states repeatedly, are not regulators, and must never present themselves as such.

The Chairperson of either body, the framework specifies, may not independently control institutional funds, approve major investments, or sign major contracts; the Director must operate strictly within approved budgets and Board decisions. “ISED and ISBC are facilitation, development and business-cooperation platforms,” the document states, “and do not replace the legal authority of Somaliland government institutions, municipalities, regulators, procurement authorities or financial institutions.”

“Register locally. Formalize the business. Build capacity. Access technology. Join business networks. Develop commercial partnerships. Attract investment. Participate in strategic projects. Qualify for appropriate government partnership — and create jobs and sustainable local economic value.” — The Core Principle, ISED–ISBC Framework

07What Comes Next

For now, the framework remains a proposal — prepared for ISED, ISBC and AID rather than issued by any Somaliland government body, and explicit that final language on registration and licensing must ultimately read “in accordance with applicable Somaliland laws, regulations and competent authorities,” not as a substitute for them.

But for the market traders, cold-chain entrepreneurs and district officials the document was written for, its ambition is less about legal architecture than about a promise: that the ladder from a single market stall to a seat at the national investment table can be climbed, one verifiable rung at a time.

Contact: Mohamed Abdi Hassan Seed, Founder, Action for Innovation and Development (AID) · isfagabileydistrict193@gmail.com · Tel: +252 4466491