Post-independence Somalia remained economically dependent on British and Italian aid

Evidence

Although the United Nations ‘experiment’ in Somalia, as it has often been called, had certainly succeeded in providing the new state with an effective administrative and political framework, neither the southern nor the northern regions were yet economically viable. In recognition of their outstanding economic requirements both former colonial powers had agreed to continue to supply aid and assistance. Britain had promised £1-1/2 million for the first year after independence, and thereafter an annually negotiable amount. This financial aid was accompanied by a six months’ programme of technical assistance such that Britain would for six months continue to pay the salaries of those former colonial officials who elected, at the request of the Somali government, to stay on after independence. Italy promised a more substantial annual grant of about £3 million, paid partly in the form of salaries to a team of Italian ‘experts’ serving with the Somali government. The commercial link between the two countries, which brought the southern regions into the European Common Market, was to be continued through the banana monopoly and the heavy dependence of Somalia upon Italy for imported goods. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 423

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the chapter’s emerging theme of Somali structural dependence on former colonial metropoles, likely to pay off in the later collapse narrative. — connects to: Italian-ruled Somalia ran persistent budget deficits after thirty years — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 283; Independent Somalia would need foreign aid for up to twenty years — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 385; Somalia became independent despite not being economically viable (+7 more)

Related

• Somalia became independent despite not being economically viable (similarity 0.92)
• Former colonial powers funded 31 percent of Somalia’s initial budget. (similarity 0.91)
• Independent Somalia would need foreign aid for up to twenty years (similarity 0.90)
• Great-power expediency delivered Somalia back to Italy for ten years (similarity 0.89)
• Somalia stayed non-aligned and aid-rich despite the N.F.D. loss (similarity 0.86)
• Post-Ogaden Somalia shifted from Soviet arms to broad Western and Arab food aid dependency (similarity 0.83)
• Italian-ruled Somalia ran persistent budget deficits after thirty years (similarity 0.83)
• Post-colonial African states remain dependent on foreign investment and Western cultural influence. (similarity 0.79)
• Somalia adopted Scientific Socialism partly due to Soviet arms dependence (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Post-Ogaden Somalia shifted from Soviet arms to broad Western and Arab food aid dependency #expands (0.60) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 609