Trade and ports
Somalia's charcoal trade: the export ban, the stockpiles and the money
Charcoal from Somali acacia trees was shipped to Gulf markets for years. The UN Security Council banned Somali charcoal exports in 2012, after the government asked it to, because the trade was paying al-Shabaab. UN experts later estimated that a tree was cut every 30 seconds between 2011 and 2017. In 2023 the Council allowed a one-off sale of the old stockpiles at Kismayo.
The bans
- December 2010: Somalia's own ban on charcoal took effect, under President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (Geeska, Mahbub M. Abdillahi, 30 May 2024).
- February 2012: the UN Security Council banned exports of Somali charcoal to cut al-Shabaab's income (VOA, Mohammed Yusuf, 6 December 2012). 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).
- 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).
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). 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).
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 |
| About $7.5 million to al-Shabaab in 2018, from some 60,000 tonnes | UN Monitoring Group | The Strategist, 2019 |
| $15 million for the trade | Correctiv, a German investigative newsroom | Geeska, 2024 |
| $40 million to $70 million from Kismayo alone | Ken Menkhaus, political scientist | Geeska, 2024 |
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). A later UN panel recorded no illicit charcoal exports from January 2022 (Geeska, 2024).
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).
- 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).
- 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, 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). Geeska, citing VOA, gives the UN figure as 8.2 million trees in that period. Most of the wood is acacia (Geeska, 2024).
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). Puntland and Somaliland 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). The UN Monitoring Group's figures are for al-Shabaab's share only (The Strategist, 2019).
For the rest of Somalia's trade, see Trade: exports and imports.
Sources
- Geeska, Mahbub M. Abdillahi, 30 May 2024 · geeska.com
- VOA, Mohammed Yusuf, 6 December 2012 · voanews.com
- Security Council Report, September 2023 · securitycouncilreport.org
- The Strategist, Elizabeth White, 29 April 2019 · aspistrategist.org.au
- Garowe Online, 13 November 2019 · garoweonline.com
Toosoo!
Calankii is made by Toosoo, which works for one united, prosperous Somalia.
Can you help with Somalia's charcoal trade: the export ban, the stockpiles and the money? Tell us what you can give.
I want to help with this
Where this matters
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
Keep reading
- Foreign companies in Somalia: who runs the port, the airport and other concessionsForeign companies working in Somalia: Albayrak at Mogadishu port, Favori at the airport, DP World and P&O Ports, Simatech, Ziraat Katilim, with contract terms and audited revenue.
- Galkayo and the Bosaso trade corridor: goods, companies and road taxesHow goods move from Bosaso port through Galkayo to central Somalia: what is traded, which companies import it, what each state charges per lorry and how much revenue the checkpoints raise.
- Trade across the Ethiopia–Somaliland border: Tog Wajaale, Jigjiga and the Gaashamo routesHow goods and livestock cross between Ethiopia's Somali Region and Somaliland: what moves, the Tog Wajaale crossing, customs posts since 2010, the Gaashamo micro-routes and what each checkpoint charges.
- Somalia's trade: exports and importsWhat Somalia exports and imports, in numbers: livestock, crops, fish, food and fuel imports, the trade gap, and trade blocs Somalia has joined.
- Livestock exports: Somalia's biggest earnerSomalia's livestock exports in numbers: value and head counts by year, the animals, the buyers, Berbera and Bosaso, the Hajj season, the Rift Valley fever bans, and meat and skins.
- Somalia's seaports: Mogadishu, Berbera, Bosaso and KismayoSomalia's main seaports: who runs Mogadishu, Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo, the operator deals, the undersea cables that land there, and the 2026 dispute over UAE agreements.