Somalia’s Smartphone Financing Brings Internet to Every Home
Somalia’s 4G network already covers 70% of the population. However, for millions of Somalis, the network has been out of reach because they cannot afford a smartphone. That gap is now being closed.
The Somalia Smartphone Financing Hormuud Get-Phone Model
Hormuud Telecom, Somalia’s largest telecommunications company, unveiled a partnership with Get-Phone to introduce the country’s first structured smartphone financing plan. The initiative aims to provide millions of low-income Somalis with access to internet-enabled phones for the first time.
In addition, the Somali smartphone financing model, Hormuud Get-Phone, is deliberately affordable. Under the new model, customers can acquire a smartphone with an upfront deposit of $19 and daily repayments starting at $0.60. The daily fee includes the device installation plus a bundled package of 1GB of data and 40 minutes of voice calls.
The financing structure is designed for the local context. Get-Phone CEO Omar Abdi noted that the financing is Sharia-compliant and interest-free, with repayment terms spanning six to 12 months.
What the Pilot Showed About Demand and Default Risk
The programme is not launching blind. The financing model was tested through a pilot in Mogadishu from February to March 2026. The pilot focused on low-income users. Default rates were below 4%, with strong uptake across target segments.
Meanwhile, community dynamics shaped the results positively. “In many cases, customers acted as guarantors for devices on behalf of relatives, including family members in rural and nomadic areas. This family support helped extend access while reducing risk,” Hormuud explained.
As a result, the low default rate provides strong commercial justification for scaling. The first phase aims to distribute 10,000 devices by June 2026, with a target of 100,000 devices by the end of the year as the programme expands into Puntland and Somaliland.
The economic case for digital inclusion is well-established. Data from the World Bank and GSMA indicate that a 10% increase in broadband penetration can boost GDP by up to 1.4% in developing economies. Access to mobile broadband can increase household consumption by up to 8% and reduce extreme poverty by as much as 7 percentage points.
In addition, nearly half of Hormuud’s 4 million subscribers still rely on 2G feature phones, and the partnership could accelerate private investment in Somalia’s expanding digital infrastructure.
Therefore, Hormuud’s Get-Phone smartphone financing programme is more than a telco product launch. It is an infrastructure play for economic inclusion, backed by data and tested against real-world default risk.
