nues, in part because much activity is local and relatively
easily protected. Agriculture is the most important sector, with
livestock normally accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of
export earnings, but Saudi Arabia's recent ban on Somali livestock,
because of Rift Valley Fever concerns, has severely hampered the
sector. Nomads and semi-nomads, who are dependent upon livestock for
their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population.
Livestock, hides, fish, charcoal, and bananas are Somalia's
principal exports, while sugar, sorghum, corn, qat, and machined
goods are the principal imports. Somalia's small industrial sector,
based on the processing of agricultural products, has largely been
looted and sold as scrap metal. Despite the seeming anarchy,
Somalia's service sector has managed to survive and grow.
Telecommunication firms provide wireless services in most major
cities and offer the lowest international call rates on the
continent. In the absence of a formal banking sector, money exchange
services have sprouted throughout the country, handling between $500
million and $1 billion in remittances annually. Mogadishu's main
market offers a variety of goods from food to the newest electronic
gadgets. Hotels continue to operate, and militias provide security.
The ongoing civil disturbances and clan rivalries, however, have
interfered with any broad-based economic development and
international aid arrangements. In 2004 Somalia's overdue financial
obligations to the IMF continued to grow. Statistics on Somalia's
GDP, growth, per capita income, and inflation should be viewed
skeptically. In late December 2004, a major tsunami took an
estimated 150 lives and caused destruction of properity in coastal
areas.

South Africa
South Africa is a middle-income, emerging market with
an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial,
legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; a stock
exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world; and a modern
infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to
major urban centers throughout the region. However, growth has not
been strong enough to lower South Africa's high unemployment rate;
and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era,
especially poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the
disadvantaged groups. South African economic poli