Digital transformation needs to be a priority!
We live in a digital age, but much of government service delivery still depends on paper forms, physical files, queues, stamps, signatures and repeated visits to government offices.
This is no longer simply an inconvenience. It is a governance and development issue.
For Somaliland, the question should no longer be “Should government services become digital?” The better question is:
“How quickly can we make government services digital, accessible and citizen-centred?”
Somaliland already has the foundation
Somaliland is not starting from zero. Its National Development Plan III (2023–2027) sets an explicit target of expanding government e-services. The plan aims to increase secure government e-platforms from 2 to 16, expand fibre-optic infrastructure from 1,200 km to 5,000 km, and connect government institutions to the fibre network. FAOLEX
There is also evidence that citizens are ready. A 2026 Hargeisa Multisectoral Survey reported 84.4% household internet access and 71% regular use of mobile money among respondents. Importantly, citizens identified digital National ID, education, health, government services, passports, tax payments, transport, business licensing and land records among their priorities for digitalisation. FlipHTML5
Government has already demonstrated what is possible. In 2023, an e-governance platform was launched allowing residents in five districts to access services and pay taxes and fees online, including services related to National ID, property, land and business permits. UN-Habitat
The real cost of staying manual
A manual government process does not only cost paper.
It costs citizens’ time, government staff time and public money. It can create unnecessary queues, duplicate data entry, lost files, delays and opportunities for informal payments. It also makes it difficult for government leaders to know, in real time, how many services are being delivered, where delays occur and where resources are needed.
Digital government changes this.
Imagine a citizen applying for a business licence, land service, birth certificate or municipal permit from a phone—or from a local one-stop service centre.
The application is submitted once.
The information moves electronically between the relevant government institutions.
The citizen can see the status of the application.
Payment can be made digitally.
The responsible official can be held accountable for delays.
And government obtains real-time data for planning and decision-making.
That is not simply putting a paper form online. That is transforming government.
A message to Somaliland’s political leadership
Digital transformation should now be treated as a national governance reform, not merely an ICT project.
Politicians and senior government leaders should ask every ministry, agency and municipality:
Why does this service still require a citizen to carry paper from one office to another?
Why should a citizen travel to Hargeisa to access a service that could be delivered digitally?
Why are government institutions collecting the same information repeatedly?
Why can’t citizens track their applications?
The next generation of government should be designed around the principle:
“Government should move information—not citizens.”
Somaliland’s current development plans already recognise the direction of travel. The opportunity now is to move from plans and isolated digital platforms to a government-wide digital service ecosystem—with digital identity, interoperable databases, online payments, electronic records, GIS, cybersecurity, shared government platforms and citizen feedback mechanisms.
The choice is increasingly clear:
Manual government delivers paperwork.
Digital government delivers services.
For Somaliland, digital transformation is no longer a luxury. It is the next stage of public-sector reform.
