Somalia and Burundi

How do Somalia and Burundi relate today?

Burundi is one of the oldest troop contributors to the AU mission in Somalia. It sent troops in 2007, second only to Uganda (AUSSOM, 1 July 2026). On 1 July 2026 the Burundian contingent marked Burundi's independence day at its headquarters in Jowhar, in Hirshabelle (same source).

That presence survived a dispute. In December 2024 Somalia limited Burundi to 1,041 soldiers in the new AUSSOM force, and Burundi said it would leave (Garowe Online, 31 December 2024). In July 2025 the AU extended the Burundian presence by six months, citing gaps left by delayed deployments (Garowe Online, 5 July 2025).

Burundi took part in the AUSSOM troop contributors' summit in Kampala on 31 July 2026 (Dawan Africa, 1 August 2026). The two presidents agreed in October 2024 to set up a Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation (Villa Somalia, 20 October 2024).

When did contact begin?

Burundi became independent from Belgium on 1 July 1962, two years after Somalia (AUSSOM, 2026). Close contact began with the AU mission, AMISOM. The AU Peace and Security Council set it up on 19 January 2007, and the UN Security Council authorised it on 21 February 2007 in resolution 1744 (Alain Aimé Nyamitwe, Geeska, 31 December 2024).

Burundian soldiers landed in Mogadishu in December 2007 under heavy shelling (Nyamitwe, Geeska, 2024). They took the defence ministry headquarters, the milk and cigarette factories and Bakara Market from al-Shabaab (same source).

Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

No resident embassy in either capital was found in the sources checked. Contact has run through the presidents, foreign ministers and military commanders:

• Brig. Gen. Michel Ndenzako: commander of the Burundian AUSSOM contingent in July 2026 (AUSSOM, 1 July 2026).
• Albert Shingiro: Burundi's foreign minister, who held talks with Hassan Sheikh in Bujumbura in November 2023 (Garowe Online, 16 November 2023).

Who built the tie?

• Évariste Ndayishimiye: Burundian president who hosted Hassan Sheikh in 2023 and 2024 (Hiiraan Online, 20 October 2024).
• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud: Somali president who made his first visit to Burundi on 15 November 2023 and returned in October 2024 (Hiiraan Online, 15 November 2023).
• Pierre Nkurunziza: Burundian president during the 2016–2017 allowances dispute, when the EU sought to stop AMISOM money passing through his government (Africanews, 29 March 2016).
• Smaïl Chergui: AU peace and security commissioner who signed the January 2017 payment deal that kept Burundi in AMISOM (Africanews, 20 January 2017).
• Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur: Somali defence minister whose letter of 26 December 2024 set Burundi's AUSSOM share (Garowe Online, 31 December 2024).
• Ahmed Moallim Fiqi: Somali foreign minister, who said Burundi's legacy was "ingrained in Somalia's history" (same source).
• Alain Aimé Nyamitwe: Burundian writer of a December 2024 account of the deployment (Geeska).

What agreements have they signed?

• 19 January 2017: memorandum between Burundi and the AU on a new channel for paying Burundian AMISOM troops (Africanews, 20 January 2017).
• 15 November 2023: the two presidents decided to convene a future session of a Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation (Garowe Online, 16 November 2023).
• 20 October 2024: joint communiqué committing both sides to set up that commission (Villa Somalia; communiqué PDF).

Which leaders have visited?

• 15 November 2023: Hassan Sheikh's one-day working visit to Bujumbura. He discussed Somalia's bid to join the EAC with Ndayishimiye, then EAC chair (Hiiraan Online).
• 20 October 2024: Hassan Sheikh in Bujumbura, after Kampala and before Djibouti (Hiiraan Online). Ndayishimiye welcomed the lifting of the UN arms embargo on Somalia as a "critical step" (same source).

How much do they trade?

Trade is very small. Burundi reported exports to Somalia of $382,846 in 2022 and $268,429 in 2023 (UN Comtrade, Burundi–Somalia, 2022; 2023). No imports from Somalia were recorded for those years (same source).

How much aid and money has gone in?

Money has flowed the other way, through the AU mission. In 2016 the government received $1,000 per soldier a month from an EU-funded pool and kept $200, about $13 million a year (Africanews, 29 March 2016). The Institute for Security Studies writes that after 2015 Burundi's defence budget was largely financed through AMISOM (Bram Verelst, ISS Today, 14 January 2025). UN OCHA lists no Burundian humanitarian grants to Somalia for 2006 to 2025 (OCHA FTS, 2011).

What about security?

Burundi had about 1,700 troops in AMISOM by the end of 2008 and about 5,500 at its peak, more than a fifth of its army (ISS Today, 2025). With Ugandan and Somali forces, its troops pushed al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in 2011 (CFR). Hundreds of Burundian soldiers died in Somalia, and their names are on the wall of the AU's Nyerere House in Addis Ababa (Nyamitwe, Geeska, 2024). Full detail: Burundi's military in Somalia and Foreign forces in Somalia.

How does Burundi deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Burundian troops have worked mostly with Hirshabelle State. Hirshabelle officials attended the contingent's July 2026 event in Jowhar, where its commander thanked "the leaders of the Federal Government of Somalia and Hirshabelle State" (AUSSOM, 1 July 2026). No Burundian statement or contact on Somaliland was found in the sources checked.

Have there been disputes?

• AUSSOM troop numbers, December 2024: Burundi wanted to send 2,000 soldiers; Somalia accepted 1,041 (Garowe Online, 31 December 2024). A senior Burundian official called it "a clear case of betrayal and ingratitude" (same source).
• Somalia's position: Somali officials described the move to AUSSOM as a step to self-reliance, and Somalia had bilateral deals for more troops (same source). The defence minister cited a lack of consensus on numbers (ISS Today, 2025).
• Sources differ on the request: ISS reports that Burundi offered 3,000 and Somalia would accept about 1,000 (same source).

How many Somalis live in Burundi?

Very few. UNHCR counted 5 Somali refugees in Burundi at the end of 2025 (UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API).

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

Burundi has served in AMISOM, ATMIS and AUSSOM (AUSSOM, 2026). As EAC chair in November 2023, Ndayishimiye discussed Somalia's bid to join the bloc (Hiiraan Online). The 2024 communiqué also covered security in the Horn of Africa, eastern DR Congo and Sudan (Villa Somalia).

Related pages

• Burundi's military in Somalia
• AMISOM, ATMIS, AUSSOM
• Foreign forces in Somalia
• Somalia and Uganda
• Somalia and the EAC
• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud