Somali tycoon Abdirashid Duale’s Dahabshiil wins UK Global Good Governance award

Dahabshiil, an international money transfer corporation led by Somali multimillionaire Abdirashid Duale, received two Global Good Governance awards from Cambridge IFA, a London-based financial consultancy firm, for its services to the diaspora through money transfers.

Duale, the company’s CEO, said the awards highlight the company’s role in socioeconomic development work in the regions where it operates.

He stressed that the company has met its goal of facilitating financial transactions to vulnerable communities and those who support them in even the most remote areas.

“This is a great honor not only to Dahabshiil but to indigenous African companies that are playing a role in the economic development of the continent but also supporting the less fortunate, the awards confirm our status as among the global remittance firms worldwide, providing easy, swift, secure transactions worldwide,” he said.

Dahabshiil, an indigenous African company, was founded in 1970. It was established at the time as a new remittance venture to enable migrants to send money to family and friends at home in East Africa.

Since its inception more than five decades ago, Dahabshiil has grown into the largest African money transfer business, operating in 126 countries worldwide, 40 of which are in Africa.

In addition to serving individual customers, Dahabshiil offers money transfer and banking services to businesses and international organizations, including the UN, World Bank, Oxfam, and Save the Children, as clients rely on Dahabshiil to provide payment services to their staff, contractors, government institutions, and partner NGOs.

Apart from its primary business of international money transfers, Dahabshiil owns a 95-percent stake in Somtel, a well-known telecom and technology service provider with the most extensive network coverage in Somaliland.

Somtel offers a wide range of mobile phone and Internet services to regional customers. Earlier this year, the telecom company partnered with Telesom to improve telecommunications and connectivity in the region. Telesom is a telecommunications firm that operates in Somaliland.