5. Drive on the right, steering wheel on the right
Cars in Somaliland drive on the right-hand side of the road but have the steering wheel on the right. This makes for the very weird situations of the passenger seat being next to the oncoming traffic.
This would probably mean that the cars used are imported from left hand driving countries, of which there aren’t many, but some of which are neighbors of Somaliland. The below is an image of the left and right hand driving countries in the world. You can see how a lot of former British colonies in East Africa are still driving on the left.
6. Graphic signs on stores
The storefronts in Somaliland are incredibly colorful and filled with pictures of what is on sale inside. At first I thought it was just a nice way to paint the facade of the stores, as opposed to the usual, ever-pervasive one color paint used across Africa and sponsored by the telecom operators and other large FMCG companies.
But then I realized that it was just a graphical representation of what was being sold in-store. I inquired about this practice to see if there was a reason and realized that one of the most interesting facts about Somaliland is the practice of painting stores with their merchandise. This is not just for fun but also because a lot of people cannot read so the pictures aid in deciding whether the specific store has what the buyer is looking for. Continue to next page
