Tuesday February 14, 2023
Ahmed Abdullahi's merchandise being sold in Mogadishu /Rijal Abdi/Ergo
(ERGO) – Ahmed Abdullahi Ali, 25, an IDP living in Ba’ad camp in Mogadishu’s Deynile district, is earning a decent income for his family selling flags and wristbands – a business idea he heard about from listening to the radio.
He was working as a porter until hearing a programme on Radio Ergo last July about some young people elsewhere in the city making money selling Somali flags and decorations for national occasions and celebrations.
He started his own business with just the 200,000 Somali shillings ($10) he had saved a over about a year, planning to buy a hand cart instead of hiring one.
“I am not worried any longer. We spend $90 a month at home at home now compared to just $20 the whole month before. Our lives have improved,” Ahmed said.
“As well as food, I have also bought clothing and bedding for my children who used to sleep on the ground.”
He buys various flags at half a dollar each and sells them at a dollar. His sales rose in August and December on the anniversaries of Galmudug and South West regional states, though he usually counts on making eight dollars a day hawking in the streets of Mogadishu.
“The first time I bought eight Galmudug flags for five dollars, and I returned home having sold them all for eight dollars. I soon realised this was a good business, I was very happy that night!” he said.
Ahmed spent more than a month learning how to make wristbands. He makes them at night and sells about 100 wristbands a week, pocketing four to five dollars each day.
“I look at the market every time and try to meet the market demand, targeting the anniversaries or celebrations. I am also urging other IDPs to try earning a living from this business,” he said.
Ahmed says he has been a regular listener of Radio Ergo since 2020, when he and his wife and two children were displaced from Burhakaba when Al-Shabab imposed a blockade that destroyed his small shop.
“I have been listening to all the advice given to the IDPs, and I would say Ergo has had a positive impact on many people’s lives,” he said.
“I was listening to the radio at 5pm [local Radio Risaala’s daily rebroadcast of Radio Ergo programme] and every time I would hear about displaced people who have managed to improve their lives and I thought I want to be like them.”