Shared Somali cultural values plus enlightened leaders enabled building a democratic republic.

Evidence

What made the establishment of such a republic possible was a combination of enlightened leaders and a population that shared many values, such as a tradition of freedom. The fundamental task facing the Somali elite was how to deploy those values and build national institutions that functioned as effective instruments of national development, a source of national identity, and a bulwark against an exploitative global order. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 692