Hormuud Telecom

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Hormuud Telecom Somalia
TypePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications
HeadquartersMogadishu, Somalia
Key people
Ahmed Mohamed yusuf (CEO)[1]
ProductsGSM
fixed line
mobile banking
WAAFI App
Brands
  • EVC Plus
  • ADSL Plus
Number of employees
20,000+ (2021)[2]
Websitewww.hormuud.com

Hormuud Telecom Somalia Inc. is a privately held telecommunications company based in Mogadishu, Somalia. It is the largest private-sector employer in the country and also Somalia’s first private enterprise to be internationally ISO certified.[3]

The company operates numerous services that are used by a large number of Somalis, including its mobile money transfer service, EVC Plus. Hormuud provides the cheapest 4G mobile internet in Africa and in the Arab world.

The corporation is one of the only in Somalia to have a charitable arm, Hormuud Salaam Foundation, which was launched in 2009. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Hormuud made numerous donations to Healthcare system in Somalia.

History[]

Hormuud was established in 2002 in Mogadishu, Somalia by a group of small shareholders, building 16 telecommunication sites.[4] The group included its current CEO, Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf. Yusuf is the son of a camel herder and founded the company with the aim of connecting people in Somalia with what would be life changing services to help build stronger communities and contribute to an expanding economy.[1] In the same year as its launch, Hormuud launched its fixed phone line service and GSM, a second-generation digital mobile network, widely used in Europe and other parts of the world.[4]

In 2011, the company conducted its first mobile money transfer through EVC Plus. It was first money transfer service in Somalia. EVC Plus functions as a digital wallet, allowing users to purchase goods and services and transfer money. Automated payments and SMS reminders were also added as features. Financial reports on EVC Plus can also be viewed without an internet connection.[5] In December 2012, Hormuud launched its Tri-Band 3G service for mobile and internet clients. The first of its kind in the country, this 3G mobile telecommunications technology offers users a faster and more secure connection.[6]

In July 2014, Hormuud Telecom along with NationLink and Somtel signed an interconnection agreement. The cooperative deal established the Somali Telecommunication Company (STC), which allowed their mobile clients to communicate across all three networks.[7] Later that year, Hormuud trialed the first 4G services in Somalia. They began expanding its 4G network capacity in 2015 in partnership with the Somalian Ministry of Telecommunications.[8]

In 2009, Hormuud Telecom established the Hormuud Salaam Foundation, becoming the first corporate foundation in Somalia.[citation needed] In 2019, the company offered NGOs responding to floods in Beledweyne, Baidoa and Jowhar districts and Gedo region of Southern Somalia, commission free bulk cash transfers to vulnerable Somalis. This allowed the Somali Cash Consortium and other NGOs to provide direct donations to Somalis in need.[9]

In 2020, the company became the first private corporation in Somalia to be ISO certified. This international standard accredits that Hormuud’s products and services satisfy the needs of their customers through an effective quality management system and meet all the relevant regulatory requirements.[4]

In 2021, Hormuud announced plans to guarantee nationwide 4G coverage by 2023 in Somalia. It calculated that 30% of its 3.6 million customers still rely on 2G networks, the majority of whom reside in rural areas. The expansion will provide rural communities access to fast internet services, which is essential for both nationwide and rural economic development. Access to 4G is a major goal of Hormuud, in line with the United Nations SDGs.[10] In February 2021, the Central Bank of Somalia issued the first mobile money licence to Hormuud Telecom, assuring that its mobile money platform EVC Plus is now formally regulated and licensed by the Central Bank. The move formalised digital payments as a payment method within the country and will enable further integration of the Somali financial system with the international financial system.[11]

Hormuud also launched Somalia's first indigenous mobile money app early in the same year. WAAFI combines mobile money, communication, entertainment, and payments wherein consumers can access bank accounts, perform online transactions, send international remittances and make international/domestic phone calls all through the app. WAAFI's integrated mobile money experience upgrades from the existing USSD technology that many Somalis use.[12]

Operations[]

Hormuud Telecoms has more than 3.6 million subscribers in Somalia, roughly three million of whom use its mobile money platform EVC Plus.[13] More than 189,000 Somali investors have shares in Hormuud Telecom.[8]

Hormuud employs more than 20,000 full-time and part-time staff with different specialties,[2] including telecommunication engineering, customer service, sales and marketing, and finance specialists.[8][14] Around 45% of the firm's personnel are engineers.[8] More than 17999 Somali investors have shares in Hormuud Telecom.[8] It is the largest private employer in the country, with over 800 customer service centres in both urban and rural Somalia.[4]

Hormuud provides a range of services for commercial, consumer and residential use. They include fixed line services, GSM mobile services, 2G, 3G and 4G services, Hormuud Mifi, Enterprise Internet and Hormuud Hotspot.[4] Hormud has no transport services. The company may rent bajajs to drivers who pay a third of their earnings. As of 2021, the company operates predominantly in south and central Somalia and has 600 masts across the country.[4]

As of 2021, it is estimated over 11.25 million Somalis, or 70 percent of Somalia’s population, have access to 4G internet.[8] Hormuud also provides the cheapest 4G mobile internet in Africa and in the Arab world.[15] Hormuud Telecom has pledged to ensure full 4G coverage across Somalia by 2023.[16]

Technology & products[]

Mobile Services[]

In 2002, Hormuud launched GSM Mobile Services. A prepaid service that offers options for contract or pay-as-you-go mobile services, the customers tops-up their account with Hormuud recharge vouchers/scratch cards.[4]

In 2016, the telecoms company launched its Ilwadaag service, which allows for reverse calling and has become an important service for Somalians on low-incomes. A whitelist was later added so families and friends can connect more easily using the service.[4]

Mobile Internet & Broadband[]

In 2013, Hormuud launched Hormuud Hotspot. A high speed, secure and reliable Wi-Fi broadband internet accessible at public places, hotels, and at educational institutions.[4] A year later, it launched Hormuud Mifi, offering on-the-go web surfing. It is a portable 4G wireless router that can connect to multiple smartphones, tablets or laptops and offers 4G internet. During the same year, Hormuud launched ADSL Plus. A combination of data and call that uses a customers telephone line to send and receive internet data and make calls. At this time, internet capacity in the country was insufficient, yet capacity upgrades have meant Hormuud have been able to deliver high speed fixed/home broadband services to households in Somalia.[4]

Enterprise internet was launched in 2014, a broadband service that offers wireless internet services. It enabled multiple and simultaneous broadband connectivity sessions for multiple devices. The service is predominantly aimed at providing fixed broadband services for businesses and aid agencies working in Somalia.[4] During the same year Hormuud also launched My SMS, a bulk messaging service for communication to a large workforce or students.[4]

EVC Plus[]

EVC Plus was first introduced in 2012, it is a unique option to transfer and receive mobile money; it operates like SMS. Over 67% of Somalis, especially the most vulnerable communities, use mobile money technology as a sole payment system.[17] EVC Plus differs from many other mobile money platforms in Africa by being totally free at the point of use. The mobile money platform has several key functionalities such as person-to-person money transfer, person-to-merchant/business money transfer, airtime/data top up, account management, among others.[18]

Mobile Money is widely used in Somalia, data from the World Bank shows that mobile money transfer is crucial in Somali’s economic and infrastructure growth with 155 million transactions worth 2.7 billion dollars reported every month. The majority of this transaction are made through EVC Plus.[5] Research shows that mobile money plays a crucial role for minimising the loss of the currency and fake money.

NGOs and welfare organisations sending cash to Somalis in remote areas are exempted from the EVC wallet limit of $300. Hormuud Telecom has in the past allowed Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) responding to crisis like floods with free bulk cash transfer.[19]

In Somalia. 70.2% of mobile money users pay education fees on the platform. 56.4% disburse donations and charity, 28.3% shop online from the platform as 18.0% receive cash transfers from NGOs and another 16.7% paying government taxes from the platforms.[5]

Research from SIMAD university in Mogadishu has found that the adoption of mobile money throughout Somalia is responsible for the growth of small and medium sized enterprises.

Nasiye[]

Nasiye was first launched in 2013, and became more prominent during the Covid-19 pandemic. The services allows for a user to setup music or reading options as their dial tone. During the pandemic, Hormuud replaced some of the Nasiye dial tones with covid public health announcements to educate vulnerable populations and communities. Hormuud removed the subscription fees to help support the country from 2019 onwards.[4]

WAAFI[]

In 2021, Hormuud launched Somalia's first indigenous mobile money application, which gives Somalis access to a range of digital services across a singular platform for the first time. On the WAAFI app, consumers can access bank accounts, perform online transactions, send international remittances and make international/domestic phone calls all from inside the app.[20]

WAAFI is a fully integrated mobile money platform, upgrading existing USSD technology that many Somalis use. Currently, USSD-enabled mobile money technology has a penetration rate as high as 80% in urban areas and 55% in rural areas. WAAFI allows users to access their bank account through deposits and withdrawals via their EVC Plus wallet. Through this, businesses can generate QR codes that allow customers to directly credit businesses bank accounts.[20]

Sponsorship[]

In April 2019, the Hormuud Scholarship was launched, giving well-qualified Somali students full rides to d Somali universities at no cost to them.[21] Hormuud sponsors the Banaadir Regional football league, since 2005.[22] From 2013, it also sponsors the annual Somalia Super Cup, the domestic football league final.[23] Since 2015, Hormuud has also sponsored a number of regional and national book fairs across the country.[22]

Hormuud Salam Foundation[]

Hormuud Salam Foundation (HSF) is a non-profit that is fully funded by Hormuud Telecom and Salaam Somali Bank, created for the sole purpose of providing charitable contributions to improving the every day lives of Somalis.

In 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, HSF and partners donated over US$5 million towards Somalia’s coronavirus healthcare and pandemic relief efforts. In 2021 HSF supported the effort to help raise US$4 million for the Somalia Action Network Covid-19 relief fund, in partnership with the Somali Chamber of Commerce.[12]

In the same year, the HSF donated Somalia’s first public oxygen plant. The plant,purchased from Turkey, was donated to help Somalia cope with severe shortages of medical oxygen. The plant was installed at the Banadir Maternity and Children Hospital, where the foundation has also funded the repair of its COVID-19 ward and the oxygen plant’s storeroom.[24]

HSF funds a range of philanthropic relief projects, directly responding to humanitarian crisis across Somalia.[24]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Maritz, Jaco (March 2, 2020). "Meet the Boss: Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf, CEO, Hormuud Telecom". How we Made it in Africa.
  2. ^ a b "Hormuud Telecom 'Creating jobs and improving lives'". Hiiraan Online. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  3. ^ Odero, Carol (August 21, 2021). "The Somali Phoenix That Is Hormuud Telecom". CIO.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "20 years of driving connectivity in Somalia". Total Telecom. November 5, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Owuor, Victor Odundo (2018-10-12). "Somalia mobile money beats Kenya MPsea". Quartz Africa. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  6. ^ "Somalia gets 3G mobile service". Shabelle Media Network. 30 December 2012. Archived from the original on 8 January 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Hormuud, Somtel, Nationlink sign interconnection deal". TeleGeography. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Nyambura-Mwaura, Helen (2013-11-13). "Somalia's Hormuud rings up telecom profits despite anarchy". U.S. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  9. ^ "Hormuud Telecom offers commission free transfers to NGOs responding to floods in Southern Somalia". ReliefWeb. November 6, 2019.
  10. ^ Tredger, Christopher (July 9, 2021). "Hormuud Telecom announces plan to expand 4G network". ITWeb Africa.
  11. ^ "Hormuud Telecom's mobile money first for Somalia". Capacity Media. March 1, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Somalia's first advanced mobile money app". Garowe Online. September 2, 2021.
  13. ^ O'Grady, Vaughan (March 1, 2021). "Could Somalia become the world's first cashless economy?". Developing Telecoms.
  14. ^ "Hormuud Telecom Extends Microwave Backbone Through Addition of Harris Stratex Networks Technology". PR Newswire. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  15. ^ https://technddigital.com/what-does-1gb-of-mobile-data-cost-in-every-country/
  16. ^ Mingas, Melanie. "Hormuud Telecom sets out plan for nation-wide 4G coverage". Capacity.
  17. ^ "Meet the Boss: Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf, CEO, Hormuud Telecom (Somalia)". How We Made It In Africa. 2020-03-02. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  18. ^ Mohamed, Hamza (2013-08-31). "Electronic transfers improve Somalia economy". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  19. ^ "Hormuud Telecom offers commission free transfers to NGOs responding to floods in Southern Somalia - Somalia". ReliefWeb. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  20. ^ a b "MOBILE FINANCE Hormuud Telecom launches Somalia's first mobile money app". Developing Telecoms. April 22, 2021.
  21. ^ "Realizing the Dreams of Brilliant Students Through Hormuud's Scholarship". Garowe Online.
  22. ^ a b "Hormuud supporting Literature and Learning, as 6th annual Mogadishu Book Fair Concludes". Garowe Online.
  23. ^ "Somalia launches regional league as national plan takes shape". Hiiraan Online.
  24. ^ a b "Hormuud Salaam Foundation donates $200,000 for Las Anod evictees". Hiiraan.
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