Abdi Esmael

Dahabshiil is a UK-headquartered African money transfer company. Dahabshiil is the largest remittance firm in Africa and Somalia’s largest private sector employer. Dahabshiil uses its extensive network on the ground to offer a complete pan-African service, with a particular emphasis on serving more remote and generally harder-to-reach regions of Africa. Dahabshiil is the ‘rags to riches’ story of an African entrepreneur whose business was interrupted after the Somali civil war. With limited resources and a strong network of contacts he set about rebuilding the company, which two decades later is now the largest international money transfer business in Africa. In 2010, Dahabshiil celebrated 40 years in the business. With Abdirashid Duale as Group CEO, and founder Mr Mohamed Duale as Group Chairman, Dahabshiil remains a family business. Today, Dahabshiil employs 5,000 people across 126 countries with offices in London, Hargeisa (Somaliland) and Dubai. It provides services to some of the world’s leading humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, Oxfam, Save the Children and Care International. Dahabshiil is arguably one of the most important multinational businesses in Africa – providing a vital money transfer lifeline to those living in many countries across Africa and beyond.