# Somalia's charcoal trade: the export ban, the stockpiles and the money

> Somalia's charcoal trade in numbers: the 2010 and 2012 bans, revenue estimates, the Kismayo stockpiles, the trees cut, where the charcoal went, and household use at home.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/economy/charcoal-trade/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## The bans

- **December 2010:** Somalia's own ban on charcoal took effect, under President [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) ([Geeska, Mahbub M. Abdillahi, 30 May 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)).
- **February 2012:** the UN Security Council banned exports of Somali charcoal to cut al-Shabaab's income ([VOA, Mohammed Yusuf, 6 December 2012](https://www.voanews.com/a/millions-of-charcoal-sacks-clutter-somali-town/1559772.html)). The measure is resolution 2036. The Somali government had asked for it, saying charcoal production "destroys the environment and contributes to food insecurity" ([Security Council Report, September 2023](https://securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2023/09/somalia-vote-on-draft-resolution.php)).
- **October 2014:** resolution 2182 let navies stop ships carrying Somali charcoal at sea (same source).
- **2018:** resolution 2444 confirmed the ban. The EU has its own ban, and the United States has sanctioned people in the trade ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)).

## Where it went

More than 80 percent of Somali charcoal went to Gulf countries, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, as reported by Geeska ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)). In 2019 an Australian researcher, drawing on UN Monitoring Group reports, described charcoal sold through agents in Dubai, re-bagged in Iran to hide where it came from, and shipped with papers naming Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana or Iran as the origin ([The Strategist, Elizabeth White, 29 April 2019](https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-unintended-consequences-of-charcoal/)).

## The money

| Estimate | Who made it | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $25 million a year to al-Shabaab, in the year it controlled Kismayo | UN Monitoring Group | [VOA, 6 December 2012](https://www.voanews.com/a/millions-of-charcoal-sacks-clutter-somali-town/1559772.html) |
| About $7.5 million to al-Shabaab in 2018, from some 60,000 tonnes | UN Monitoring Group | [The Strategist, 2019](https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-unintended-consequences-of-charcoal/) |
| $15 million for the trade | Correctiv, a German investigative newsroom | [Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal) |
| $40 million to $70 million from Kismayo alone | Ken Menkhaus, political scientist | [Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal) |

In November 2019 the UN Panel of Experts reported that al-Shabaab had stepped away from the charcoal trade but could still tax lorries carrying it, and that the group was "not financially dependent on the charcoal trade" ([Garowe Online, 13 November 2019](https://garoweonline.com/index.php/en/news/somalia/somalia-al-shabaab-abandons-charcoal-trade-resorts-to-mafia-style-taxation)). A later UN panel recorded no illicit charcoal exports from January 2022 ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)).

## The Kismayo stockpiles

- **December 2012:** more than four million sacks lay at Kismayo's southern entrance alone, with a stockpile worth an estimated $40 million. Local authorities said more than 5,000 people worked in the trade, and dozens of empty ships waited at the port ([VOA, 6 December 2012](https://www.voanews.com/a/millions-of-charcoal-sacks-clutter-somali-town/1559772.html)).
- **September 2022:** UN experts counted 12,900 tonnes in five places in and around Kismayo, worth about $12 million on world markets ([Security Council Report, 2023](https://securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2023/09/somalia-vote-on-draft-resolution.php)).
- **7 September 2023:** the Council voted unanimously for resolution 2696, a one-off exemption so the stockpile could be cleared. Under the government's plan, the Kismayo firm Waamo Trading and Logistics Company would handle it with [Jubaland](/en/states/jubaland/), and the money would pay for the clearance, new trees, Kismayo's recovery, livestock work and water wells (same source).

## The trees

UN experts estimated that between 2011 and 2017 a tree was cut down on average every 30 seconds ([The Strategist, 2019](https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-unintended-consequences-of-charcoal/)). Geeska, citing VOA, gives the UN figure as 8.2 million trees in that period. Most of the wood is acacia ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)).

## Charcoal at home

Many low-income households cook with charcoal because they have no electricity or gas. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change hands out cooking gas (LPG), and in 2022 the jump in fuel prices after Russia invaded Ukraine made charcoal the cheaper choice for many families ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)). [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) have their own bans (same source).

## Sources disagree

- **How much the trade was worth.** Correctiv put the trade at $15 million, while Ken Menkhaus put the money from Kismayo alone at $40 million to $70 million ([Geeska, 2024](https://www.geeska.com/en/behind-somalias-faltering-campaign-against-charcoal)). The UN Monitoring Group's figures are for al-Shabaab's share only ([The Strategist, 2019](https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-unintended-consequences-of-charcoal/)).

For the rest of Somalia's trade, see [Trade: exports and imports](/en/economy/trade-exports-and-imports/).

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