TED Community » Liban Egal

About Me

Liban Egal is the founder of First Somali Bank, which recently opened in Mogadishu and is the first commercial bank in the city since the government collapsed 21 years ago. He emigrated from Somalia in 1988 and spent the next 20 years in America, starting a string of businesses in Baltimore, Maryland. Liban visited his hometown last August and found a world of opportunity, but realized that a lack of proper banking infrastructure was limiting investment and rebuilding.