Sahimiye Foundation has asked De La Rue, the world’s largest banknotes printer, to cancel a contended $9.6 million contract to print SL 380 billion shillings for the Somaliland government.
In an open letter to De La Rue, Sahamiye argues that the decision to increase money supply in Somaliland will worsen the country’s economic status to the peril of the already suffering.
Sahamiye, which is run by WorldRemit founder Ismail Ahmed, warns that the new bank notes will double money in circulation hence devalue the local currency against the dollar.
“The highly unusual decision to print money, especially at a time when the country is preparing for presidential elections, is predicted to cause the value of the SL shilling to drop from 8,750 to over 20,000 per dollar,” said Ahmed, who is also the foundation director.
He intimated there was neither competitive bidding nor approval by Somaliland parliament before De La Rue got the contract hence posing some serious legal and ethical questions.
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“I urge you to cancel the contract and return the $9.6 million that the Central Bank of Somaliland sent you to fund the transaction,” he urged De La Rue CEO Clive Vacher.
Ahmed challenged Vacher to cancel the contract on principle to save De La Rue from past claims of involvement in graft that have attracted probed by UK’s Serious Fraud Office.
Ismail Ahmed, the UK-based tech entrepreneur and founder of the popular global money transfer service WorldRemit, was born and raised in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland.
He serves as the Chairman of WorldRemit and founded Sahamiye Foundation in 2021 to push for the growth of education and literacy in Somaliland and the Horn of Africa.
During its establishment in 2021, Ahmed announced that he would commit more than $500 million of his personal wealth to the Foundation over a period of 10 years.
