Invest in Somalian pirates

their team of buccaneers strike it rich in their next venture.

Once just a village, Harardhere is now a town filled with luxury cars rolling down its streets. The local government receives a share of every dollar collected by the pirates. It is then reportedly used to fund schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure.

Clearly, piracy-related business became the most profitable economic activity in the area, and the locals depend on its output. The formal administration of the country as a whole has no influence in Haradhere.

Mohammed Hassan Abdi founded the exchange with his son, and according to a recent United Nations report they are among the most celebrated brigands in the area. The pair have hijacked a variety of Western ships, including a German freighter that the German special forces spent four unsuccessful months trying to liberate.

Happily now, as merchant vessels have become better protected, buccaneering has become a declining industry in Somalia.

London also once had a prolific connection with piracy but the introduction of the Execution Dock in the 17th century changed everything. After sentencing, guilty pirates were led by the admiralty to the dock, just offshore below the low tide line.

They were then hung and held in place until three tides had washed over them, a sight that rather dented the enthusiasm of other young men looking to join the piracy trade.

Among their heroes was Henry Morgan, who grew wealthy during the golden age of piracy, raiding numerous Spanish boats carrying gold and jewels. He captured the city of Panama as his base.

As his targets were Spaniards, despite having been sentenced in his absence to execution, this judgment was overturned and he was made Governor of Jamaica instead.

Edward Teach, more generally known as Blackbeard, was probably the most notorious of the British pirates. His famous ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, named in response to the end of Queen Anne’s War, was a dreaded sight for merchant seamen and naval captains.

Not unlike the horror that crews today must feel, when a group of armed-to-the-teeth Somalians clamber aboard their boat.

Charles Saatchi’s latest book is We are Bananas, published by Palazzo