20 October 2010

Mobile Banking in Somalia

Something tells me this has more to do with HSM getting their slice of the pie than how un-Islamic it is. Anyone have more particulars on this trend? I know it’s being used in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I’d assume many other Muslim nations. Tip of the hat to Bill Roggio at LWJ for finding this morsel.

3 comments:

  1. Hey Josh, here is the statement from Shabab in English and Arabic: http://jihadology.net/2010/10/19/new-statement-from-%e1%b8%a5arakat-al-shabab-al-mujahidin-regarding-the-closure-of-mobile-money-transfer-mmt-service-in-somalia/

    Also, Christopher Anzalone of Views from the Occident suggested reading Khalid M. Medani’s 2001 Middle East Report journal article “Financing Terrorism or Survival?: Informal Finance and State Collapse in Somalia, and the US War on Terrorism” for context on the situation.

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  2. Thanks for the comment. Statement looks like standard jihadi rhetoric, not unexpected. Looking forward to reading the recommended report this weekend.

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  3. Here's another great (and inter-related) report written by some colleagues related to an effort to bring mobile banking to Afghanistan.

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