Somalia and Egypt

How do Somalia and Egypt relate today?

Relations are at their closest in decades. On 14 August 2024 the two presidents, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, witnessed the signing of a military cooperation protocol in Cairo (Ahram Online, 14 August 2024). On 23 January 2025 they signed a joint political declaration that raised ties to a strategic partnership (Egyptian Presidency, 23 January 2025).

The partnership sets annual presidential consultations and foreign minister meetings twice a year (Zawya, January 2025). Egypt opened a newly built embassy in Mogadishu in August 2024 (Hiiraan Online, August 2024). Its old embassy had closed in the early 1990s after the central government collapsed (Garowe Online, July 2025).

Trade reached $127.7 million in 2024, up from $58.2 million in 2023 (Amwal Al Ghad, citing CAPMAS). EgyptAir began flights from Cairo to Mogadishu, via Djibouti, in July 2024 (Hiiraan Online, July 2024).

When did contact begin?

Punt and the ancient world

Egyptian records describe trading voyages to a land called Punt. The best known is Queen Hatshepsut's expedition of about 1470 BCE, shown in reliefs at her temple at Deir el-Bahari (World History Encyclopedia, "Punt"). Scholars place Punt in the Horn of Africa, and some point to the Somali coast, but there is no agreed location (World History Encyclopedia). See Punt and the Somali coast.

Al-Azhar and the road to independence

Somali students went to Cairo for religious study long before independence. Haji Mohamed Hussein, a founder of the Somali Youth League (SYL), left Mogadishu for al-Azhar on 2 November 1952 (Antonio M. Morone, Geeska, 28 November 2024).

After 1950, Egypt sat on the UN Advisory Council for the Italian-run Trust Territory of Somaliland, with Colombia and the Philippines (UN Repertory of Practice, Article 81). The General Assembly approved the trusteeship agreement on 2 December 1950 by resolution 442 (V) (UN Trusteeship Council record). See UN trusteeship 1950–1960.

On 2 November 1956, during the Suez crisis, the Somali Legislative Assembly passed a resolution of solidarity with Egypt (Morone, Geeska, 2024).

The killing of Kamal al-Din Salah, 1957

Kamal al-Din Salah, an Egyptian jurist, arrived in Mogadishu in November 1954 to fill Egypt's seat on the Advisory Council (Alex White, Geeska, 31 August 2024). He gave scholarships to Cairo universities, spoke at mosques and worked closely with the SYL (White, Geeska, 2024).

He was stabbed to death in central Mogadishu on 16 April 1957 (White, Geeska, 2024). The Italian administration named the killer as Mohamed Sheikh Abdurahman, a former Cairo student (White, Geeska, 2024). He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and two Hizbia Digil Mirifle deputies tried with him were acquitted (White, Geeska, 2024).

The official account gave a refused scholarship as the motive, which Egypt rejected as a political cover (Morone, Geeska, 2024). Muhammad Hassan al-Zayyat replaced him on the council (White, Geeska, 2024).

Nasser's Egypt and the Somali Republic

In July 1957 the SYL re-elected Haji Mohamed Hussein as president while he still lived in Cairo (Morone, Geeska, 2024). He was expelled from the party in May 1958 and founded the Greater Somali League on 24 July 1958 (Morone, Geeska, 2024).

Egypt backed the Pan-Somali National Movement, which held its founding conference in Mogadishu on 30 August 1959 (Morone, Geeska, 2024). When fighting broke out with Ethiopia in 1963–1964, Gamal Abdel Nasser urged both sides to stop (Morone, Geeska, 2024).

Arab League and the Ogaden war

Somalia joined the Arab League on 14 February 1974 (Somali Archive, Siad Barre's accession speech). After the Ogaden war, Siad Barre's government moved closer to Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Library of Congress Country Study, "Relations with Arab Countries").

During the 1977–1978 war, Anwar Sadat's Egypt supplied Somalia with about $30 million in arms, according to a 1978 study (Heritage Foundation, "War in the Horn of Africa", 1978). See Ogaden war 1977.

War years and the Cairo talks

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egypt's minister of state for foreign affairs from 1977 to 1991, became UN Secretary-General on 1 January 1992 (UN Press, 1996; UN Photo, "Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt) Term of Office: 1992-1996"). He led the UN through its operations in Somalia. See UN intervention 1992–1995.

Egypt hosted Somali faction talks in Cairo from 12 November to 22 December 1997 (Letter from Egypt to the UN Security Council, S/1998/43). They produced the Cairo Declaration on Somalia, signed on 22 December 1997 (PA-X Peace Agreements Database). It was signed by Ali Mahdi's National Salvation Council and Hussein Aidid's Somali National Alliance, among others (Refworld, IRB Canada, 1998).

Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Egypt's envoys to Somalia

• Kamal al-Din Salah: Egyptian member of the UN Advisory Council, November 1954 to April 1957 (White, Geeska, 2024).
• Muhammad Hassan al-Zayyat: his successor on the Advisory Council from 1957 (Morone, Geeska, 2024).
• Ahmad Fu'ad Abu Sabba: Egyptian vice-consul in Mogadishu in 1958 (Morone, Geeska, 2024).
• Mohamed El-Said Ahmed Al-Baz: presented credentials to President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo in December 2021 (SONNA, December 2021).
• Mohamed Salah Hassan Keshtah (Khashta): presented credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in December 2025 (Hiiraan Online, December 2025; Somali Foreign Ministry).

Somalia's envoys to Egypt

Somalia's ambassador in Cairo is also its permanent representative to the Arab League.

• Ilyas Sheikh Omar Abubakar: presented credentials to President el-Sisi in February 2021 (Hiiraan Online, February 2021).
• Ali Abdi Aware: presented credentials to el-Sisi in July 2024 (Hiiraan Online, July 2024). In June 2026 he chaired a meeting of African ambassadors in Cairo (Dawan Africa, 29 June 2026).

Who built the tie?

• Haji Mohamed Hussein: SYL leader who studied at al-Azhar from 1952 and led the party from Cairo in 1957–1958 (Morone, Geeska, 2024).
• Kamal al-Din Salah: Egyptian UN Advisory Council member who handed out Cairo scholarships and backed the SYL, 1954–1957 (White, Geeska, 2024).
• Gamal Abdel Nasser: Egyptian president who backed the Pan-Somali National Movement in 1959 and urged a ceasefire with Ethiopia in 1964 (Morone, Geeska, 2024).
• Anwar Sadat: Egyptian president who sent arms during the Ogaden war (Heritage Foundation, 1978).
• Abdel Fattah el-Sisi: Egyptian president who signed the 2024 protocol and the 2025 strategic partnership (Egyptian Presidency, 23 January 2025).
• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud: Somali president who made the August 2024, January 2025, July 2025 and February 2026 visits to Egypt (Anadolu, February 2026).
• Badr Abdelatty: Egyptian foreign minister who flew in on the first EgyptAir flight to Mogadishu in July 2024 (Hiiraan Online, July 2024).
• Ahmed Moallim Fiqi: Somali foreign minister who met Abdelatty in Mogadishu in July 2024 and signed the January 2025 agreements (Garowe Online, January 2025).
• Abdisalam Abdi Ali: Somali foreign minister who received the new Egyptian ambassador's credentials copy in late 2025 (Somali Foreign Ministry).
• Hamdi Loza: Egyptian deputy foreign minister for African affairs who visited Hargeisa in 2019 (Garowe Online, 2019).

What agreements have they signed?

• 22 December 1997: Cairo Declaration on Somalia, signed by Somali factions at talks hosted by Egypt (PA-X).
• 14 August 2024: military cooperation protocol, signed in Cairo before both presidents (Ahram Online, 14 August 2024). The Somali parliament had approved the pact in July 2024 (Africanews, 15 August 2024).
• 10 October 2024: joint statement of the Egypt–Eritrea–Somalia summit in Asmara, setting up a committee of the three foreign ministers (Villa Somalia, 10 October 2024).
• 23 January 2025: joint political declaration on a strategic partnership, with agreements signed by the foreign ministers (Egyptian Presidency; Garowe Online).

Which leaders have visited?

• July 2024: Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Mogadishu, on EgyptAir's first flight (Hiiraan Online, July 2024).
• 13–14 August 2024: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Cairo; defence protocol signed (The National, 14 August 2024).
• 10 October 2024: el-Sisi and Hassan Sheikh met President Isaias Afwerki in Asmara (Egyptian Presidency, 10 October 2024).
• 23 January 2025: Hassan Sheikh in Cairo; strategic partnership signed (Egyptian Presidency).
• 7 July 2025: Hassan Sheikh met el-Sisi at El Alamein; el-Sisi announced the embassy would return to Mogadishu (SONNA, July 2025; Garowe Online).
• 8 February 2026: Hassan Sheikh in Cairo for a two-day visit and joint press conference (Egyptian Presidency, 8 February 2026).
• April 2026: Abdelatty met Hassan Sheikh at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye (Ahram Online).

How much do they trade?

Egypt's statistics agency CAPMAS puts 2024 trade at $127.7 million (Amwal Al Ghad, citing CAPMAS). Egyptian exports to Somalia were $122.9 million, up from $55.8 million in 2023 (Amwal Al Ghad). Imports from Somalia were $4.8 million, up from $2.4 million (Amwal Al Ghad).

Trade was $56.3 million in 2022 (Business Today Egypt, citing CAPMAS). In the first half of 2024 it rose by 88% on a year earlier (Egypt Today).

Main Egyptian exports in 2024 (Amwal Al Ghad, citing CAPMAS):

• milling products (flour), $60 million
• sugar and confectionery, $29 million
• tobacco, $6 million, and medicines, $6 million
• prepared vegetables and fruit, $3 million

Somalia's main exports to Egypt were live animals, $4 million, and gums and plant extracts, $800,000 (Amwal Al Ghad).

EgyptAir's route was the first scheduled Egyptian flight to Somalia in about 30 years (Radio Dalsan). It began with flights twice a week via Djibouti (Eastleigh Voice).

How much aid and money has gone in?

Egypt's support has been mainly training, scholarships and security help rather than large cash grants. Under the January 2025 partnership, the two sides listed political, military, cultural and economic cooperation (Egyptian Presidency, 23 January 2025). Egyptian scholarships for Somalis date back to the 1950s, when Kamal al-Din Salah handed them out (White, Geeska, 2024). No reliable yearly total of Egyptian aid to Somalia was found.

What about security?

Egypt and Somalia signed a military cooperation protocol on 14 August 2024 (Ahram Online). Egypt sent arms and military equipment to Somalia from late August 2024 (Library of Congress, Global Legal Monitor, 25 September 2024). It was allocated about 1,091 troops in the AU mission AUSSOM, and on 11 February 2026 Hassan Sheikh attended a parade of Egyptian troops for the mission in Cairo (AllAfrica, October 2026; Ahram Online, February 2026). In September 2026 Somalia said funding problems were delaying the deployment (Dawan Africa). For the full military picture, see Foreign forces in Somalia.

How does Egypt deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Egypt had working contacts with Somaliland before 2024. Somaliland's deputy foreign minister, Liban Yusuf Osman, visited Cairo in March 2019 (Garowe Online, 2019). Egypt's deputy foreign minister Hamdi Loza then visited Hargeisa (Garowe Online, 2019).

In July 2020 an Egyptian government delegation met President Muse Bihi Abdi in Hargeisa (Somaliland Chronicle, 14 July 2020). Ethiopia lodged a protest with Somaliland and sent its finance minister, Ahmed Shide, to Hargeisa (Garowe Online, 2020).

Since the Ethiopia–Somaliland memorandum of January 2024, Egypt has backed Somalia's position. When Israel recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025, Egypt, Somalia, Türkiye and Djibouti issued a joint condemnation (Ahram Online, December 2025). In January 2026 Egypt joined 21 other states condemning Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar's visit to Hargeisa (Ahram Online, January 2026).

Have there been disputes?

The 1957 killing of Kamal al-Din Salah caused a political crisis. Egypt rejected the Italian administration's account that a refused scholarship was the motive (Morone, Geeska, 2024). Italian forces patrolled Mogadishu with armoured cars in July 1957 (White, Geeska, 2024).

There is no recorded dispute between the Egyptian and Somali governments in recent years. The main friction runs through Ethiopia. Ethiopia objected to Egypt's arms deliveries and troop plans in Somalia (Library of Congress, 2024). Egypt and Ethiopia are in a long dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile (Eastleigh Voice, 2025). Hassan Sheikh said in January 2025 that the agreements with Egypt were not aimed at harming other countries (Eastleigh Voice).

How many Somalis live in Egypt?

At the end of 2025, UNHCR counted 3,960 Somali refugees and 8,837 Somali asylum seekers in Egypt (UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API). See Somalis in Egypt.

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

Egypt sat on the UN Advisory Council for Somalia from 1950 to independence in 1960 (UN Repertory, Article 81). It reported its 1997 Cairo talks to the Security Council (S/1998/43).

In August 2024 el-Sisi said Somalia, as an Arab League member, had a right to collective defence under the League's charter (The New Arab, 14 August 2024). Egypt raised Israel's Somaliland recognition at the OIC foreign ministers' meeting in Jeddah on 10 January 2026 (Ahram Online).

Related pages

• Somalis in Egypt
• Punt and the Somali coast
• UN trusteeship 1950–1960
• Somali Youth League
• Ogaden war 1977
• Foreign forces in Somalia
• AUSSOM
• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud