Islamic militias bring security but imams rail against Coke, calling it an un-Islamic drink
New York Times
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA – When a Coca-Cola bottling plant opened here two years ago, the 400-plus investors invited to finance the project were carefully chosen by clan.
There were Abgal investors and Habar Gedir investors and representatives of other clans around Somalia as well. All kicked in a minimum of $300 to help start the United Bottling Co., Somalia’s only Coca-Cola maker. It was a deliberate effort to create a feeling of communal ownership for the factory in a place where clan-based conflict has long been the rule.
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A mosque minaret towers over cases of Coca-Cola in June at the bottling plant in Mogadishu, Somalia. With the U.S.-backed warlords gone, local Muslim leaders are having their say about the beverage. KAREL PRINSLOO: AP |
It was a bold business venture, building a sparkling, $8.3 million facility in such a tumultuous capital.
The thinking was that Somalia had huge business potential and that the anarchy that erupted after Somalia’s last government collapsed in 1991 would eventually give way to economic recovery.
But Somalia is a difficult place to read, and now, two years after the plant went up, the Coke brand faces a much-changed business environment, one with opportunity and peril.
Islamic militias took over the capital in June and brought stability to the city, so much so that the Coke bottler here predicts its sky-high security costs will soon plummet.
Benefits of peace
“Before we had gunmen accompanying our distributors,” Mohammed Hassan Awale, the sales manager and acting general manager of the plant, said in an interview. “Now, no guns are needed.”
There is another benefit to peace, he said. “If there is peace, there is opportunity for work, for business, and people will have money to buy Coke,” he said.
But the new political reality in Mogadishu has also taken a bite out of business, as some imams have begun railing against Coke, calling it an un-Islamic beverage that should not go down a proper Muslim’s throat.
Cost of warlord support
The anti-Coke campaign was picked up by members of the Islamic courts who took over Mogadishu.
They defeated the secular warlords who long controlled the country, and who received American financial support in recent years for their efforts to root out terrorists.
Using Washington’s support for the warlords as a rallying cry, the Islamic militias also have railed against Coke, spreading a message in mosques that has already prompted many to abstain.
“I was selling Coca-Cola before the U.S. government formed the devil’s alliance with the warlords,” said Hilowle Yarow Hassan, a restaurant owner. He has since stopped selling Coke.
Source: New York Times, July 23, 2003
