Somalia Traders Shut Businesses to Protest Sales Tax
- The government is trying to rebuild its war-torn economy
- Country is implementing reforms under an IMF program
The protests have led to the shutdown of major stores in Bakara, the largest market in the capital, Mogadishu.
Photographer: Guy Peterson/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Commerce in Somalia was interrupted for a second day on Monday as traders protested the collection of a 5% sales tax in the government’s efforts to become self sufficient by increasing domestic revenue.
On Aug. 18 Somalia started collecting the levy on goods and services through mobile money transactions, which form the bulk trade in Somalia. The move comes as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration tries to rebuild an economy decimated by more than three decades of civil war and opposition from al-Shabaab, a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda.