Somalia Traders Shut Businesses to Protest Sales Tax (Correct)

Commerce in Somalia was interrupted for a second day on Monday as traders protested the collection of a 5% sales tax in the government’s efforts to become self sufficient by increasing domestic revenue.

On Aug. 18 Somalia started collecting the levy on goods and services through mobile money transactions, which form the bulk trade in Somalia. The move comes as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration tries to rebuild an economy decimated by more than three decades of civil war and opposition from al-Shabaab, a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda.

The protests led to the shutdown of some stores in ...