Mogadishu (Halbeeg News) – Somali and US governments agreed cooperate on countering the financing of terrorism, debt relief under the HIPIC program, and the ongoing offensive against al-Shabaab thanks to talks between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Brian Nelson, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Treasury in Mogadishu.
Nelson who arrived today in Mogadishu said his mission was to deepen their areas of cooperation while expanding US-Somalia partnership to better meet the shared challenges and opportunities in front of them.
“Somali authorities have made real progress combatting al-Shabaab and denying this terrorist group the control of territory it relies on to extort the Somali population. However, challenges still remain as al-Shabaab continues to generate revenue and seeks to abuse Somalia’s financial sector to raise, move, and use these funds,” Nelson said.
The US official expressed the U.S. Treasury’s is commitment to deepening its ties and financial connections across the continent.
The president and Nelson discussed progress on building capacity to combat money laundering and terrorist financing as well as progress to advance critical reforms that will allow Somalia to put revenue to use developing its economy rather than servicing debt, and a new strategy from the Treasury Department on addressing financial de-risking.
Nelson also spoke with representatives from Somalia’s banking and mobile money services sectors, emphasizing the crucial role these private sector actors play in fighting money laundering and terrorist financing.
He also addressed the spillover effects of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, stating that it continues to disproportionately hurt countries in Africa, and that the Horn of Africa is facing massive food insecurity and famine. The Treasury has taken unprecedented steps to ensure food and humanitarian-related transactions can flow unimpeded.
Nelson also mentioned that since the very beginning, there have always been exemptions from Russia’s sanctions for food, agriculture, and humanitarian transactions. He stated that this is just an overview of his priorities on this trip, as well as more broadly, to deepen partnerships across Africa to build financial connections, respond to the pressing challenges in the region, and identify opportunities to capitalize on the entrepreneurial dynamism in this region and across the continent.
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