Cafés become hubs of hope for a jobless youth in Somalia

At a small café in Mogadishu’s Hodan District, the morning sun streams across wooden tables as young people sit with laptops and phones, typing, scrolling and talking quietly. Some send job applications; others polish résumés or help friends write cover letters. They keep a “work routine” in a tough job market, showing ambition and focus.

They might not have formal offices, but in many ways, they are already office workers. For Safiya, 27, a business graduate, the café is her daily routine. “Even if I don’t get replies to my applications, I keep learning something new, like digital marketing or freelancing. It keeps me moving,” she says.

This is not idleness. Cafés in Mogadishu have become microsystems of ambition and peer support, where young people cultivate skills and exchange knowledge. Around 75 % of Somalis are under 30, and tens of thousands of young people enter the labour market each year. Yet only very few find formal employment. Youth unemployment is at about 34 %, nearly double the national average. While Somalia’s GDP grew by four percent in 2024, over half the population still lives below the poverty line.  Informal work makes up more than 80 % of employment.

Therefore, similar to China’s “pretend to work” offices, Somalia’s cafés have become their version of hope: spaces to rebuild confidence, community and purpose. In a country where jobs are scarce, young people keep up a structure, build skills and nurture shared dreams to give life a sense of purpose and to form networks that could become the backbone of a future job. Every résumé updated, every coding lesson shared and every business idea discussed over coffee is a small act of hope and determination, creating new paths where the traditional system fails.

In one corner, Ahmed, 24, works on a delivery-app idea with a friend. He left college when tuition became unaffordable but now takes short courses in logistics and digital payments. “We’re not waiting for the government to hire us; we’re creating the system through startups,” he says. “The hardest part isn’t learning, it’s getting seed money and connections. We share online notes, help each other write business plans and sometimes borrow phones for interviews. This café is our office, classroom and safety net.”

Abdifatah Mohamed, Director of Employment Policy at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), says: “Most formal jobs are clustered in government, NGOs and big companies. Investment in mid-level enterprises is needed. Without it, graduates either wait endlessly or drift into informal work.”

Economist Abdirahman Warsame of the Heritage Institute adds: “Young Somalis are creative and resilient. They build networks where the system fails. If linked to structured programmes like UNDP’s Shaqo Abuur, which trains youth in digital skills and entrepreneurship, this energy could transform the economy.”

As afternoon light softens the café, Safiya closes her laptop. “We don’t have many choices, but we still show up. We still believe tomorrow can be better,” she says.

Bahja Ahmed is a freelance writer, educator and humanitarian aid worker from Mogadishu, Somalia.
bahmedmuse@gmail.com