Somalia lacked even basic infrastructure to host an international conference

Evidence

The first obstacle was finding a venue large enough and sufficiently well equipped to hold the general assembly of the conference. The only space that could be used was one of Mogadishu’s private cinema houses. Cinema Nationale, located in the commercial heart of the capital and built by the fascist regime, had been off limits to Somalis before liberation. A leading Somali businessman bought the building after independence, and the government decided to rent this cinema hall to conduct the main conference proceedings. The seating was rearranged to suit the occasion and evening receptions and dinners were held in the two main hotels in Mogadishu, Juba and Shabelle. The Organization of the Islamic Conference brought its own secretariat, which relieved the government of providing one. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 857