By Abdullahi Salad - Reporter
MOGADISHU, Oct. 7, 2026 – Somali women hold an estimated 20 tonnes of gold worth nearly $3 billion, more than the $2.3 billion combined assets of all banks in the country, according to MyBank.
The figure was shared by MyBank Managing Director Abdirizak Mohamed Ahmed on the Irmaan Podcast while discussing the bank's new Isku-filan service, which allows women to pledge their gold as collateral to obtain financing without a guarantor or land.
Abdirizak said women make up nearly half of Somalia's population but receive only about 10% of bank financing, with the remaining 90% going to men.
He said this is not because women lack businesses, noting many women are traders. Bank data, he said, shows women are the most reliable borrowers when it comes to repayment.
"The people with the best repayment record on the financing they take are women," he said.
MyBank carried out a study to understand why women receive a tenth of financing despite strong repayment records. It found two conditions banks impose:
For small financing, a guarantor is required. For large financing, land or a house must be pledged as collateral.
Most land and houses in Somalia are owned by men, and most young women entering business own neither, Abdirizak said.
"Women want financing, they need it, and they are good at it," he said, adding that what is missing is an asset to pledge.
MyBank asked whether women own other assets and concluded they do: gold. Its study estimated that one million women each hold an average of 20 grams of gold, totaling 20,000 kilograms with an estimated value of about $3 billion, compared to $2.3 billion in total assets of all banks in 2025, according to the Central Bank.
"Women's gold is worth more than all the banks' assets combined," Abdirizak said. He said bank money is pooled in one place, while gold is scattered in boxes in homes and plays no part in the economy.
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To accept gold as collateral, the bank purchased testing equipment to verify weight, purity and carat, whether 18k, 21k, 22k or 24k, and whether any other metal is mixed in. Abdirizak said traditional methods such as scratching the gold or touching it with the tongue were not viable for a bank.
Storage is also secured, with each piece placed in a package with a unique serial number. Once sealed, it cannot be opened until returned to its owner, and any opening would be detected. A woman gets back her own gold, not a similar piece, he told Dawan.
The service is named Isku-filan, meaning a woman who is self-sufficient. Abdirizak said some staff had suggested Arawelo, the legendary queen of Somali folklore, but the name was dropped to avoid controversy because it conveys women's power and men do not like it.
"She comes to the bank and says: today I want $10,000. I don't need a guarantor, I don't need land as collateral. I'm pledging my gold," he said.
Abdirizak said gold is not just savings and quoted a Somali proverb: "Your gold is sometimes your beauty, sometimes your safety net."
He said in the past, when women were in need, they would take their gold to the market and sell it. The need was usually temporary, but the gold was never recovered and some lost the memories tied to it. Every piece can have a story, such as a dowry, a gift from a father when his daughter completed the Quran, or something bought when the first child was born.
"We don't want that history to be lost," he said. The idea is to pledge the gold, take financing, and take the gold back upon repayment, rather than selling it.
On how much financing a borrower receives, Abdirizak said the general rule is the value of the gold pledged, but each situation is considered. A woman with a stable, income-generating business could pledge gold worth $10,000 and receive $20,000. At minimum, she receives the value of what she pledges.
If a borrower cannot repay, the gold is not seized immediately, he said. The bank first speaks with the borrower, and if she explains she has fallen behind, repayment can be postponed by two or three months.
"The people you are dealing with are a Somali bank. Not foreigners who don't understand the culture and the circumstances of the people," he said.