By Abdullahi Salad - Reporter
MOGADISHU, 1 October 2026 – In 2013, Hadiid Industries Group started with four workers and a single workshop near Dabka in Mogadishu. More than a decade later, it has four branches and more than 100 employees and has introduced a type of construction new to the city: houses whose columns, beams and floors are all made of steel.
"At that time, there was a very large reconstruction underway in the country," said Abdihakin Mohamed Ismail, the company's founder and director, in an interview with Irmaan Podcast. "The city was being rebuilt, and many young people were returning."
Hadiid, which has become one of the best-known names in the city's manufacturing sector, began as Rasmi Workshop, a small business that built steel frames for advertising billboards. In 2012, Abdihakin decided to move the business to Mogadishu.
The company started operating in April 2013, and three months later moved to Bakara Market, the city's largest commercial hub. It was there that it built the name it is known by today.
Abdihakin said the company's biggest advantage was not just its products, but the way it was run. At a time when most of the city's metal workshops operated informally, Hadiid opened an office, issued official invoices and offered customers free delivery.
"We changed the way metalwork was done," he said. "We made it an organised place with customer care. All of those things together helped us grow quickly."
The company opened a new branch in Hodan district, near Banadir, in 2015, and another at Kilometre 4 the following year.
Although Hadiid still produces building materials such as doors, windows and railings, as well as household furniture, over the past five to six years the company has focused on steel structure construction, which it introduced in Mogadishu in 2016.
It now builds structures of up to four storeys made entirely of steel. Abdihakin said the service has particularly benefited tenants who want fast, affordable construction.
"It is a service that has changed a lot in the city, especially for tenants who don't own homes and want to build in a short time and at low cost," he said. He added that the structures can be dismantled, allowing owners to take them along if they leave the land.
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That success has not come without challenges. Like most industries in Somalia, Hadiid depends entirely on imported steel, as none is produced in the country.
"There is no steel that we make ourselves," Abdihakin admitted. "But I hope that one day our country will produce much more."
The company's next step focuses on its workforce. Hadiid is now building the Hadiid Innovation Center, a training facility near Lafoole that will replace the on-the-job training it previously relied on.
Abdihakin noted that most of the technicians who worked with the company had no formal education. The new programme, which will run from six months to one year, aims to combine classroom knowledge with hands-on skills.
School leavers will be taught technical trades, while university graduates will be trained in supervision and management. The curriculum also includes sales, accounting and design.
"A person will become someone who can write, read and also build things with their hands," he said.
Abdihakin said the company has exceeded the goals he set when he started.
"We started with four people, one workshop and a few customers," he said. "Today, thanks be to God, it is beyond where we wanted to reach."
Asked about the secret behind that growth, he said: "Apart from God, the biggest secret to reaching this level was focus."
Hadiid's story reflects a wider shift in Somalia's economy, where small local businesses are growing into companies that create jobs, pass on skills and change the way cities are built.