Who we are

Fawsia was born in Mogadishu but lived in the UK for over 20 years and  holds dual British/Somali Citizenship. She has always retained a passion for Somalia and in 2012 was involved in the “Roadmap for Ending Transition”, which allowed her to make use of her knowledge and skills and enhanced her personal credibility amongst political leaders and clan elders, religious leaders (ASWJ), professional bodies, women’s representatives and Somali Diaspora.

Whilst in the UK, she worked for the local council to provide outreach services and support to newly arrived Somali immigrants and in particular to women, to help them develop their skills, overcome barriers to employment and become role models in their communities.

In 2013 she returned to Mogadishu to work for the UN to promote gender equality and women’s rights. She was instrumental in getting the  Ministry of Women/Human Rights to develop a National Gender Policy, which was successfully developed and implemented.

Recognising that both the public and business sectors required skills and services to enable them to develop, Fawsia established HGS to service these requirements. By combining her knowledge of and contacts in, Somali society and in particular her understanding of issues that relate to gender and youth, with Robert’s commercial experience and contacts, HGS offers the benefits of a local company with a truly international perspective.

Robert’s career started as an officer in the British Army, where he reached the rank of Lt/Col and continued in the telecommunications industry, initially in sales and marketing and latterly as a senior manager in British Telecom. From the Army he learnt the art of strategic analysis and planning and whilst in business gained experience of a wide range of commercial and public-sector organisations, implemented a number of development and organisational change projects, acquired a keen awareness of the role of technology and built an extensive network of contacts.

For the last 10 years has drawn on this combined experience to provide leadership and advice to businesses and the public-sector. His key strength lies in assisting organisations to work out how they need to develop strategically and in understanding, developing and implementing systems and structures to ensure that a business and its people, can successfully operate and reach their full potential.

During the last 6 years has been developing business interests in East Africa and in particular in Somalia, where he has supported the development of public-sector institutions and is committed to the creation of new businesses that are crucial to the economic and social well-being of the Country.