STORY: Hussein Qoje connecting businesses and

customers through Yellow Pages

TRT: 4:37
SOURCE: UNSOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
RESTRICTIONS: This media asset is free for editorial
broadcast, print, online and radio use. It is not to be
sold on and is restricted for other purposes. All
enquiries to thenewsroom@auunist.org
CREDIT REQUIRED: UNSOM PUBLIC
INFORMATION
LANGUAGE: SOMALI NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 16 APRIL 2016, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST

1. Close up tracking shot, Somali Yellow Pages copies being delivered

2. Wide shot, Hussein Mohamed Qoje, Somali Yellow Pages Proprietor
delivering yellow pages copies
3. Close up shot, Hussein Mohamed Qoje
4. Med shot, a front office manager at Jazeera hotel receiving the Somali
Yellow Pages copies
5. Close up shot, a front office manager at Jazeera hotel perusing the
book
6. Wide shot, a guest at the hotel receives a copy from Hussein
Mohamed Qoje
7. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Hussein Mohamed Qoje, Somali Yellow
Pages Proprietor
The Somali Yellow Pages idea came to me when I realized there was an
information gap as people who were looking for hotels and other businesses
could not contact each other. Those in hotels could not reach those in travel
agencies to be served. Therefore, there was an existing need. And it came
from the Somalis. They could not call for services. Thats how I came up with
Somali Yellow Pages.

8. Wide shot, Hussein giving out more copies

9. Close up shot, Somali Yellow Pages book
10. Wide shot, Hussein explaining the content of the Yellow Pages to a
recipient
11. Close up shot, Somali Yellow Pages book
12. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Hussein Mohamed Qoje, Somali Yellow
Pages Proprietor
Yellow Pages creates valuable opportunities for the Somali people because
Somali business is disorganized. Theres a disconnect. Some people are on
the outskirts of Mogadishu yet they have no contacts and nobody knows their
location. If you want to know how many banks there are, who needs what and
whos who in some locations. So people needed the service, they need
specific information be it on construction, banking, air travel and there was a
gap. The Yellow Pages became the hub of the Somali people. It connects
each sector of Somali people.

13. Wide shot, Dharuuro Air Travel and Logistics offices in Mogadishu City
14. Close up shot, Dharuuro Air Travel and Logistics offices
15. Med shot, staff at Dharuuro Air Travel and Logistics
16. Wide shot, Hussein Mohamed Qoje distributing Yellow Pages to
Dharuuro staff members
17. Med shot, Hussein Mohamed Qoje distributing Yellow Pages
18. Wide shot, Hussein Mohamed Qoje distributing Yellow Pages
19. Med shot, Hussein Mohamed Qoje hands a copy of the Somali Yellow
Pages to Mohamed Abdullahi Ali, Public Relations Manager of
Dharuuro Air Travel and Logistics
20. Med shot, Somali Yellow Pages copies
21. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Mohamed Abdullahi Ali, Public Relations
Manager of Dharuuro Travel Agency
I came to know about the Somali Yellow Pages through their agents who
came to collect data about our company. They interviewed me about my
company and I knew what they wanted to do.

22. Med shot, Mohamed Abdullahi Ali going through the Yellow Pages
23. Wide shot, Mohamed Abdullahi Ali typing
24. Wide shot, Al-Kowthar shopping mall in Mogadishu City
25. Med shot, items on sale
26. Wide shot, items on sale
27. Wide shot, Hussein Mohamed Qoje hands a copy to Mohamed
Hassan Ibrahim, Director Al-Kowthar shopping mall
28. Close up shot, Mohamed Hassan Ibrahim looking through the Yellow
Pages book
29. Close up shot, Somali Yellow Pages
30. Close up shot, Hussein Mohamed Qoje
31. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Mohamed Hassan Ibrahim, Director Al-
Kowthar shopping mall
The Somali Yellow Pages has helped us to get new services and to break
ground on new frontiers, get new clients and reach to customers whom we did
not have to know what we stock. This has helped us to increase our sales. It
has facilitated us to be known by new clients. Now we get calls and deliver
goods to new destinations that we did not have.

32. Wide shot, Mohamed Hassan Ibrahim looking through

33. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Hussein Mohamed Qoje, Somali Yellow
Pages Proprietor
My long-term plan is to recruit more people, as I have already hired 50
people, when I expand to the regions with new offices. Now we have 23
sectors including banking, construction, airlines, insurance, industries, hotels
and foodstuff. Its 23 sectors but I have to break it down further.

34. Wide shot, Hussein Mohamed Qoje holding a copy of the Somali
Yellow Pages
Hussein Qoje connecting businesses and customers through Yellow
Pages

Mogadishu, 16 April 2017 Hussein Mohamed Qoje, the man behind a new
publication causing a major buzz in Mogadishu, says he was driven by the
need to bring the business community together.

Qoje, the proprietor of Somali Yellow Pages, says it was the realization that
people in Somalia were craving for a one-stop publication that contained
contacts of businesses and companies in Mogadishu that he decided to put
together the 136-page glossy book.

According to Qoje the numerous calls received from people trying to get
contacts of businesses in Mogadishu inspired him to find a solution to the
information gap that existed in the capital city. It is the reason why he
negotiated for a franchise, with the parent company based in the United
States, to run the Yellow Pages in Somalia.

The Somali Yellow Pages idea came to me when I realized there was an
information gap as people who were looking for hotels and other businesses
could not contact each other. Those in hotels could not reach those in travel
agencies to be served. Therefore, there was an existing need. And the need
came from the Somalis, Qoje adds.

He observes that prior to coming up with the publication, business in

Mogadishu, and by extension Somalia, was disorganized and contacting
traders was difficult.
The proprietor of the Somali Yellow Pages, however, says he has now created
a valuable opportunity for businesses as there was a disconnect in the sector.

Some people are on the outskirts of Mogadishu yet they have no contacts
and nobody knows their location. If you want to know how many banks there
are, who needs what and whos who in some locations, it was difficult, Qoje
says, noting that his publication had become the hub of the Somali people as
it connects each sector.

The publication has contacts for at least 23 sectors ranging from banking,
communication, hotels, hospitals, travel agencies, construction and even
foodstuff among others.

The Public Relations Manager of Dharuuro Travel Agency, Mohamed

Abdullahi Ali, says he decided to advertise in the publication after he realized
the benefits that would come with it.
I came to know about the Somali Yellow Pages through their agents who
came to collect data about our company. They interviewed me about my
company and I knew what they wanted to do and how it would benefit me,
adds Ali.

And a director in one of the leading shopping malls in Mogadishu, Mohamed

Hassan Ibrahim of Al-Kowthar, talked of the benefits of advertising in the
publication.

The Somali Yellow Pages has helped us get new services and break ground
on new frontiers, get new clients and reach to customers who did not know
what we stock. This has helped us to increase our sales. It has facilitated us
to be known by new clients. Now we get calls and deliver goods to new
destinations that we did not have, Ibrahim observes.

Encouraged by the success of his publication, Qoje says he has his eyes set
on having a publication that covers companies and businesses in the whole of
Somalia.

My long-term plan is to recruit more people as I have already hired 50 people

to expand to the regions with new offices, the Somali Yellow Pages proprietor
says.

He also plans to further break down the 23 sectors in the current publication
so that he can be more specific to the needs of his clients.

Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses organized by

category rather than alphabetically by business name, and in which
advertising is sold. The name and concept of Yellow Pages came about in
1883, but the first official Yellow Pages directory was created by Reuben
Donnelley in 1886.

Qoje charges a minimal fee for advertising in the publication but says he will
come up with appropriate figures to guide those who are interested in buying
space in the subsequent editions.