(Ecofin Agency) - In Somalia, the new law on telecommunication, approved last August by the council of ministers, the national assembly and the senate, is finally effective. It was signed into effect on October 2, 2017, by the president of the Federal Republic, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo (picture).

According to the minister of posts, telecommunications and technologies, Abdi Ashur Hassan, this law took time to be approved by the parliament. He explained that its elaboration started in 2005.

The new regulation concerns the whole telecom market of Somalia. According to the President, it tackles some of challenges that the sector actually faces. These are security, investment and the protection of consumers’ rights.

For the Somaliland which claims its independence, the new legislation does not cover its telecommunication sector. During a press conference held last August 15, Mustafe Farah Abrar, Somaliland’s minister of telecommunications, qualified the law as a provocation from the government of Mogadishu.