ARRIN Social Inc. and the Central Bank of Somaliland jointly implemented a high-impact public awareness campaign following the collapse of the AGA investment scam, in which around 500 people reportedly lost nearly US$2 million after being persuaded to invest their money with promises of high returns.
The campaign took a different approach from conventional awareness messaging by bringing the real voices and experiences of victims to the public. Victims shared how they were persuaded to invest, how they lost their money, and the difficulties they and their families faced afterwards. The campaign also documented the court proceedings and resulting judgment, featured perspectives from the judge and affected parties, and included messages from religious scholars, who explained the Islamic prohibition of such schemes and warned the public against treating them as legitimate investments.
Importantly, the campaign also featured official messages from Central Bank leadership, representing one of the first prominent occasions on which relevant government authorities publicly and officially warned citizens that investment schemes of this nature were scams and urged them not to trust them.
The campaign generated significant public engagement and had a direct preventive effect. Following its widespread dissemination, several newly emerging schemes of a similar nature failed to attract the level of public trust they had previously relied upon, as communities had become more alert to the warning signs. People could now see, hear, and understand the consequences through the testimonies of actual victims, the official position of financial authorities, the court proceedings and judgment, and the guidance of religious scholars.
This was particularly significant in a context where more than ten similar schemes had reportedly affected hundreds of thousands of people over recent years, causing substantial financial losses, negatively affecting the wider economy, and leaving many families in severe financial hardship. Despite these repeated incidents, many people continued to trust new schemes because they had rarely seen a unified public message from victims, government authorities, courts, and religious scholars explaining the risks from different but complementary perspectives.
By bringing these voices together and distributing the content through influential media platforms, ARRIN and the Central Bank helped transform awareness from a general warning into a powerful, evidence-based public conversation about financial fraud, accountability, and community protection.
For decades, political leadership in Somaliland has largely remained in the hands of older generations, including political figures whose experience dates back to the pre-1991 period. Despite young people and women making up a significant majority of the population, relatively few young people have been able to access meaningful political leadership and decision-making spaces.
The panel created an important platform for young political voices to openly discuss the barriers behind this imbalance. Participants highlighted several interconnected challenges, including limited access to financial resources, the continued influence of traditional elders in political decision-making, established political networks dominated by older generations, and social attitudes that can discourage young people from believing that they can compete for leadership positions.
Rather than focusing only on the challenges, the discussion also explored practical pathways for change. Speakers emphasized the importance of youth solidarity, stronger networks, collective action, leadership development, and creating platforms through which young people and women can organize, support one another, and meaningfully participate in political processes.
The discussion gained strong public attention and generated significant debate across the community, particularly among young people and women. It opened space for conversations that had rarely been examined so directly: not only whether youth and women are represented in politics, but what keeps them out, who benefits from the status quo, and what can be done to change it.
For ARRIN Social Inc., the initiative demonstrated the power of evidence-informed dialogue, inclusive storytelling, and media engagement in bringing important civic issues into the public conversation and creating opportunities for communities to reflect, question existing systems, and explore solutions.
Selected campaign contents and media coverage are available here below.
Read more: AGA Scam: Exposing the Truth, Protecting Communities