Somalia digitises historic Radio Mogadishu archives

A modestly sized team of archivists and engineers has begun a systematic effort to digitise more than fifty years of broadcast material stored at Somalia’s principal public radio outlet, Radio Mogadishu. The project, launched in early 2024 under the auspices of the Ministry of Information in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, aims to convert analog tapes, reels and phonograph records into high‑resolution digital files. Using specialized playback equipment and lossless encoding software, the team is prioritising news bulletins, cultural programmes, and political speeches that document the nation’s post‑independence era, the civil war, and subsequent reconciliation processes. Funding for the initiative, amounting to $1.2 million, covers equipment procurement, staff training and the creation of a secure, cloud‑based repository accessible to researchers, educators and the Somali diaspora.

The digitisation drive is expected to safeguard a vulnerable segment of the country’s audiovisual heritage that has suffered from neglect, climate exposure and intermittent conflict. By preserving these recordings, the project will provide a reliable primary source for historians, journalists and policymakers seeking to understand Somalia’s social and political evolution. Completion of the first phase, slated for late 2025, will make roughly 10,000 hours of content searchable online, enhancing public access and supporting educational curricula. Officials anticipate that the digital archive will serve as a foundation for future cultural initiatives and contribute to a broader regional effort to protect and share East African media histories.