The Somali National University (SNU) was established in 1954 in the Trust Territory of Somalia. It obtained official university status in 1969. The main university grounds were situated about six kilometers from the city center. Here, during the institution’s first thirty years, the main campus was known as Jaamacada Gaheyr (“Gaheyr University”). In 1973, under the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC), programs and facilities were expanded. The SNU developed over the next twenty years into an institution of higher learning, with 13 departments, 700 staff and over 15,000 students.

Burao is the second largest city in Somaliland. It has an estimated population of between 500,000 to 550,000 people. It is a very important commercial center in the region, containing the largest livestock market that brings together traders from as far as Bossaso in the Northeast of Somalia, Luq bordering Kenya in the South, Ethiopia and Djibouti in the West.

Jazeera University was established on February, 2010 in Mogadishu, Somalia by an elect group of Somali scholars. It is a higher education centre which is geared to create a knowledge based society.