Gulf and Middle East
Somalia and Kuwait
Kuwait and Somalia have had relations since 1964. Kuwait's tie is mostly money: the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development was owed US$123.9 million at the end of 2025, and 19% of Somalia's foreign debt is in Kuwaiti dinars. Somalia backed the coalition that reversed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
How do Somalia and Kuwait relate today?
Kuwait is one of Somalia's main remaining creditors. At the end of 2025 Somalia owed the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) US$123.88 million, and 19% of all its foreign debt was in Kuwaiti dinars (Somali Ministry of Finance, Annual Debt Management Report 2025).
Somalia paid the Kuwait Fund US$2.66 million in interest in 2025. The ministry pays only lenders that have already given debt relief (Ministry of Finance, 2025).
Goods trade is small. Kuwait bought US$4.8 million of Somali goods in 2023 (WITS, World Bank).
When did contact begin?
Diplomatic relations date from 29 July 1964, according to a CIA broadcast digest of that year cited by Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org, Foreign relations of Somalia).
In the 1970s Kuwait lent to Somalia. By the end of that decade Somalia owed Kuwait US$27.1 million, part of the third of its debt owed to oil-exporting states (Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study).
In the 1980s Somalia depended more and more on aid from Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This was a key reason the Siad Barre government sided with the US-led coalition after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 (Library of Congress, Relations with Arab Countries).
Who are the ambassadors and envoys?
No list of ambassadors in either direction was found for this page.
Who built the tie?
No named individuals behind Kuwait–Somalia agreements were found in the sources checked. The main institution is the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (Ministry of Finance, 2025).
What agreements have they signed?
- Loan agreements with the Kuwait Fund: the stock of US$123.88 million at the end of 2025 is the remainder of these loans (Ministry of Finance, 2025).
- April 2025, in Kuwait City: Somalia signed a US$306.5 million debt relief deal with the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund (Reuters, 10 April 2025, via Wikipedia). The ministry describes it as a 20-year rescheduling with zero interest, concluded on 9 April 2025 (Ministry of Finance, 2025).
Which leaders have visited?
No dated state visits were found for this page.
How much do they trade?
From World Bank WITS data:
- Kuwait's imports from Somalia: US$13.3 million in 2010, US$0.4 million in 2015, US$5.7 million in 2021 and US$4.8 million in 2023 (WITS, 2010; WITS, 2023).
- Kuwait's exports to Somalia: under US$0.5 million a year from 2019 to 2023; US$0.27 million in 2023 (WITS, 2023).
How much aid and money has gone in?
Humanitarian funding reported to the UN Financial Tracking Service:
- 2011: Kuwait government US$11.9 million, during the famine (FTS, 2011).
- 2017: Kuwait government US$2.5 million (FTS, 2017).
- 2022: Kuwait government US$2.1 million (FTS, 2022).
- 2023: Kuwait government US$1.8 million; Kuwaiti Horizons Charity Society US$0.4 million; Kuwait Red Crescent US$0.2 million (FTS, 2023).
- 2025: Kuwait Fund US$2.5 million; Kuwait government US$1.25 million (FTS, 2025).
See Debt and debt relief for Somalia's wider debt deal.
What about security?
No sourced Kuwaiti military role in Somalia was found. See Foreign forces in Somalia.
How does Kuwait deal with Somaliland and the member states?
No sourced Kuwaiti agreements with Somaliland or the member states were found.
Have there been disputes?
None were found in the sources checked.
How many Somalis live in Kuwait?
No reliable count was found for this page.
Where does Kuwait stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?
Both are members of the Arab League, which Somalia joined in 1974 (Library of Congress). In the 1990–1991 Gulf crisis Somalia sided with the coalition that opposed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (Library of Congress).
Related pages
Sources
- Somali Ministry of Finance, Annual Debt Management Report 2025 · archive.mof.gov.so
- WITS, World Bank · wits.worldbank.org
- en.wikipedia.org, Foreign relations of Somalia · en.wikipedia.org
- Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study · countrystudies.us
- Library of Congress, Relations with Arab Countries · countrystudies.us
- Reuters, 10 April 2025, via Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- WITS, 2010 · wits.worldbank.org
- WITS, 2023 · wits.worldbank.org
- FTS, 2011 · api.hpc.tools
- FTS, 2017 · api.hpc.tools
- FTS, 2022 · api.hpc.tools
- FTS, 2023 · api.hpc.tools
- FTS, 2025 · api.hpc.tools
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