In Somalia, an application to find a soulmate has met with great success. It was launched in 2022 by the Guryosamo Association and already has 50,000 registered users according to its founders. But in a conservative Somali society, “Guurdoon” is not a typical dating app. It was created to help Somalis marry and start a family and defend its founder.
In the Somali language, “Guurdoon” designates a person who seeks to marry. This is the whole idea behind the application explains Ahmed Abshir Geedi, director of the Guryosamo association, at the origin of the project.
According to Ahmed Abshir Geedi, it is a question of facilitating connections around the world, to help Somalis in the diaspora or people who have difficulty meeting people, for example, to find a partner to start a family.
The Guryosamo association, which is the origin of the “Guurdoon” application, was founded in 2012, to help young people who do not have the financial capacity to marry, in this poor country, stricken by severe drought and plagued by the insurrection of Islamist Shebabs.
Doubts and Prejudices
On “Guurdoon”, there is no swipe, that is to say, an endless scrolling of profiles, like on other applications. Each user enters their data, their family situation, and their level of education in particular. Then you have to answer a series of questions to define your search criteria. “Are you looking for someone who works?” For example. The application then takes care of selecting the profiles that match.
In traditional and deeply Muslim Somali society, however, the idea of using an app to get married is not unanimous. The concept raises some doubts and prejudices.