Dahabshiil pledges $150,000 as drought deepens in northern Somalia

Dahabshiil, the Somali-owned money transfer and financial services group led by founder Abdirashid Duale, has pledged $150,000 in emergency support for drought hit communities in northern Somalia, stepping into a widening humanitarian gap after consecutive rainy seasons failed.

The company said $100,000 will go to Puntland State and $50,000 will support communities in North East State, where local authorities have warned that relief supplies have been exhausted. The pledge positions Dahabshiil as one of the first major corporate actors to publicly commit fresh funds as the crisis intensifies across the north.

Warnings from Puntland’s Drought Relief Committee have grown sharper in recent days, with officials saying more than one million people are facing acute shortages of food and water. In parts of Mudug and Bari regions, local leaders have reported rising displacement as pastoralist families leave rural areas in search of water points, assistance and basic services in towns. Livestock losses have mounted, and water prices have surged, compounding the pressure on households that already depend heavily on seasonal rains.

Duale has built Dahabshiil’s brand around the idea that remittances are not simply transactions but a lifeline. In a region where many families rely on money sent by relatives abroad, the company sits at the nerve center of an informal safety net that often moves faster than official aid. Dahabshiil said its latest pledge reflects a commitment to rapid intervention during environmental and humanitarian emergencies.

The donation also carries the fingerprints of Duale’s own story. Born in 1977 in Burao, he grew up inside a family business founded by his father, Mohamed Said Duale, who started Dahabshiil decades earlier as a small trading operation before it evolved into a remittance powerhouse. Abdirashid Duale later took over the company and expanded it into a global network serving diaspora communities, businesses and aid agencies.

Today the firm operates across more than 130 countries, according to the company’s public profile, and has become one of the most recognizable Somali brands outside the Horn of Africa. Its scale, built on thousands of outlets and a large agent network, has made it central to everyday survival for families receiving small transfers that cover food, school fees and medical bills.

Dahabshiil says it has supported relief efforts before, including measures such as waiving remittance fees during periods of hardship and funding local infrastructure projects linked to drought and flooding. That track record matters now because humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned that funding gaps are widening as international donor contributions decline, leaving regional authorities scrambling to keep basic relief operations running.

The drought is exposing old vulnerabilities that never fully went away. Somalia’s climate shocks hit pastoralists first, then ripple through markets as livestock prices fall, transport costs rise and water becomes a traded commodity. When families move toward towns, the strain shifts to urban services, with crowded shelters, overstretched clinics and higher risks for children and the elderly.

Duale’s pledge is small against the scale of the emergency, but it signals a broader reality in the Horn of Africa: private actors tied to the diaspora economy are increasingly being called on to plug holes left by shrinking aid budgets. The next test will be speed and targeting, with local officials watching whether money arrives quickly enough to stabilize water access and prevent deeper displacement.