# Somalia and Algeria

> Somalia and Algeria: relations since 1974, the 2025 agreements and state visit, scholarships, debt forgiveness, the UN Security Council and Somaliland.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/relations/algeria/
Last checked: 2026-11-13
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## How do Somalia and Algeria relate today?

Somalia has an embassy in Algiers, which moved into a new building on 10 August 2025 ([Radio Algérie, 11 August 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69165)). Algeria has no embassy in Mogadishu yet; Somalia's interior minister welcomed its planned opening in May 2026 ([Horizons, 13 May 2026](https://www.horizons.dz/2026/05/le-president-tebboune-recoit-une-lettre-de-son-homologue-somalien/)).

President [Hassan Sheikh Mohamud](/en/people/hassan-sheikh-mohamud/) made an official visit to Algeria from 10 November 2025 and held talks with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on 11 November. They signed agreements and set up a joint ministerial committee ([Radio Algérie, 11 November 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/ar/node/73969)).

On 8 February 2026 Algeria wrote to confirm full forgiveness of Somalia's debt, listed at US$1.56 million at the end of 2025 ([Ministry of Finance, FY2025 debt report](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)).

## When did contact begin?

Abdel-Hamid Ali Yousef was appointed Somalia's ambassador to Algeria on 17 March 1974, according to the Arab Report and Record, as cited in [Wikipedia's table of Somalia's relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia).

In the 1970s Somalia backed Arab states that opposed US policy in the Middle East, including Algeria, Iraq and Libya ([Library of Congress, Somalia country study](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm)). Algeria pledged food aid during Somalia's 1974–1975 drought ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/59.htm)). It also lent small sums to Somalia by the late 1970s ([Library of Congress](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/60.htm)).

On 15 November 1988 Algeria and Somalia were the first two states to recognise the State of Palestine ([UNESCO, 1989, cited in Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine%E2%80%93Somalia_relations)).

## Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Somalia's ambassadors to Algeria:

- **Abdel-Hamid Ali Yousef**, appointed 17 March 1974 ([Wikipedia table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Somalia)).
- **[Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/yusuf-ahmed-footballer/) Hassan**, credentials presented to President Tebboune on 28 April 2025 ([Radio Algérie, 29 April 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/63813)). He is also non-resident ambassador to Tunisia ([SONNA, 6 May 2026](https://sonna.so/en/somali-ambassador-to-algeria-presents-non-resident-credentials-to-tunisia-advancing-bilateral-cooperation/)).

Algerian envoys:

- **[Mohamed Sahnoun](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/)**, Algerian diplomat, UN Special Representative for Somalia from 28 April 1992 until he resigned later that year ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).
- **Selma Malika Haddadi**, Algeria's ambassador to Ethiopia and the AU, was received by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at [Villa Somalia](/en/institutions/president-and-council-of-ministers/) ([Algerian Embassy in Nairobi](https://embnairobi.mfa.gov.dz/fr/news-and-press-releases/president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud-of-somalia-receives-algerian-ambassador-to-ethiopia-he-selma-malika-haddadi)).

## Who built the tie?

- **Abdelmadjid Tebboune**, Algeria's president, met Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the Algiers Arab summit in November 2022 and hosted his 2025 state visit ([Radio Algérie, 10 November 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/73911)).
- **Hassan Sheikh Mohamud**, Somalia's president, thanked Algeria for standing with Somalia "during its most difficult periods" ([Radio Algérie, 11 November 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/ar/node/73969)).
- **Ahmed Attaf**, Algeria's foreign minister, hosted Abdisalam Abdi Ali from 9 to 11 August 2025 and signed three MoUs ([Radio Algérie, August 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)).
- **Abdisalam Abdi Ali**, Somalia's foreign minister, opened the new embassy and handed a message to Prime Minister Nadir Larbaoui (same source).
- **Dahir Mohamud Gelle**, presidential envoy, carried a letter from Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to Tebboune on 21 November 2024. **Kamel Baddari**, Algeria's higher education minister, carried Tebboune's reply in December 2024 ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/73911)).
- **Ali Yusuf Hosh**, Somalia's interior minister, gave Tebboune another letter on 13 May 2026 and praised the scholarships ([Horizons](https://www.horizons.dz/2026/05/le-president-tebboune-recoit-une-lettre-de-son-homologue-somalien/)).
- **Ali [Mohamed Omar](/en/people/mohamed-omar-1999/)**, Somalia's state minister for foreign affairs, received the first group of 27 Somali scholarship students in Algiers ([Goobjoog, 2 December 2025](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-sends-first-scholarship-students-to-algeria-as-bilateral-ties-deepen)).
- **Selma Bakhta Mansouri**, Algeria's secretary of state for African affairs, opened the new Somali embassy with Abdisalam ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69165)).

## What agreements have they signed?

- **10 August 2025**: three MoUs on a joint ministerial commission, political consultations between the foreign ministries, and training of Somali diplomats by Algeria's diplomatic institute ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)).
- **11 November 2025**: agreements signed during the state visit, with a joint ministerial committee to follow them up ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/ar/node/73969)). One report counts eight agreements ([APA News](https://fr.apanews.net/?p=268025)).
- **8 February 2026**: Algeria's letter forgiving Somalia's debt ([Ministry of Finance](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)).

## Which leaders have visited?

- **November 2022**: Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the 31st Arab League summit in Algiers ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/73911)).
- **9–11 August 2025**: Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Algiers ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)).
- **10–11 November 2025**: state visit by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/73911)).
- **13 May 2026**: Interior Minister Ali Yusuf Hosh received by Tebboune ([Horizons](https://www.horizons.dz/2026/05/le-president-tebboune-recoit-une-lettre-de-son-homologue-somalien/)).

## How much do they trade?

Recorded trade is tiny. Algeria's last reported exports to Somalia were US$43,500 in 2017 and its imports US$4,100 ([WITS, exports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/DZA/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/XPRT-TRD-VL); [WITS, imports](https://wits.worldbank.org/API/V1/SDMX/V21/datasource/tradestats-trade/reporter/DZA/year/all/partner/SOM/product/Total/indicator/MPRT-TRD-VL)).

## How much aid and money has gone in?

Scholarships are Algeria's main contribution. Sources give different figures:

- In August 2025 Algeria raised its quota from 15 to 50 university places a year ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)).
- [Goobjoog](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/) reported that the agreement provides 120 scholarships, with 500 more announced in agriculture, energy and technical sciences. It said 45 Somali students were enrolled in Algeria in December 2025 ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-sends-first-scholarship-students-to-algeria-as-bilateral-ties-deepen)).
- APA News reported 110 Somali students to be hosted from 2026 ([APA News](https://fr.apanews.net/?p=268025)).

Algeria also offered training for Somali experts in hydrocarbons and health ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)). It forgave Somalia's US$1.56 million debt in February 2026 ([Ministry of Finance](https://mof.gov.so/sites/default/files/Publications/FY2025%20Annual%20Debt%20Management%20Report%20(ADMR)%20Report%20No.2_mq%20(1).pdf)).

## What about security?

Ambassador Yusuf Ahmed Hassan said in April 2025 that Somalia wants Algeria's counter-terrorism experience ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/63813)). Defence and security were among the areas reviewed in November 2025 ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/ar/node/73969)). See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/).

## How does Algeria deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Algeria backs "Somalia's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity" and opposes foreign interference ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)). Its foreign minister signed the 28 December 2025 joint statement against Israel's recognition of [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Radio Algérie, 28 December 2025](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/en/node/76724)). Algeria also signed the May 2026 statement against Somaliland's Jerusalem embassy plan ([Al-Quds, 26 May 2026](https://alquds.com/en/posts/241380)). No dealings with Somaliland or the member states appear in the sources found.

## Have there been disputes?

None appear in the sources found. On Western Sahara the two hold different positions: in their August 2025 communiqué they backed the UN envoy's search for a solution "based on the Sahrawi people's will" ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)), while Somalia voted for UN Resolution 2797, which Morocco welcomed ([Morocco World News, 27 November 2025](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/11/269763/morocco-expresses-support-for-all-efforts-aimed-at-promoting-peace-sovereignty-of-somalia/)).

## How many Somalis live in Algeria?

UNHCR counted six Somali asylum seekers in Algeria in 2025 ([UNHCR, 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=300&yearFrom=2025&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). Students are counted separately; 45 were enrolled in December 2025 ([Goobjoog](https://en.goobjoog.com/somalia-sends-first-scholarship-students-to-algeria-as-bilateral-ties-deepen)).

## Where does Algeria stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

Algeria (2024–2025) and Somalia (2025–2026) sat together on the UN Security Council and agreed to coordinate there ([Radio Algérie](https://news.radioalgerie.dz/fr/node/69164)). Algeria sits on the AU Peace and Security Council for 2025–2028 (same source). Algerian diplomat Mohamed Sahnoun led the first UN operation in Somalia in 1992 ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1backgr2.html)).

## Related pages

- [Somalia and Morocco](/en/relations/morocco/)
- [Somalia and Tunisia](/en/relations/tunisia/)
- [Somalia and the UN](/en/relations/un/)
- [Debt and debt relief](/en/economy/debt-and-debt-relief/)
- [Scholarships](/en/society/scholarships/)

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