Somalia has suffered a marked decline since independence in 1960 as a result of three decades of civil war. Neglect of maintenance and lack of rehabilitation has resulted in the almost total destruction and loss of its historic infrastructure base. Roads networks, electricity supply and infrastructure for irrigation have all been decimated over recent decades.
Although some gains have been made, conflict and instability still dominate the country and the remit of central and state governments extends only to a few main cities, their immediate surrounding areas and some road corridors. This case study covers transport, energy and water for productive purposes in Somalia and draws learning for donors in Somalia and other highly fragile contexts.
This Somalia case study forms part of an ICED research project for DFID’s Growth and Resilience Department to investigate infrastructure programming in Fragile and Conflict Affected States, comprising case studies examining lessons learned from donor experiences in these contexts.
