Somalia and Tanzania

How do Somalia and Tanzania relate today?

Relations have grown fast since Somalia joined the East African Community (EAC), whose headquarters are in Tanzania, on 4 March 2024 (The Citizen, March 2024). President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made a state visit to Dar es Salaam in April 2024 (The Citizen, 27 April 2024).

Somalia reopened its embassy in Dar es Salaam, and by July 2025 the two countries had signed nine agreements (Hiiraan Online, 16 July 2025). They cover education, security, civil aviation, trade, joint surveillance, scholarships, prisoner repatriation and Kiswahili teaching (same source).

From January 2026 Tanzanian universities were to take Somali students in engineering and medicine (Hiiraan Online, 2025). On 1 July 2025 the two sides agreed that Air Tanzania would fly directly between Dar es Salaam and Mogadishu (SONNA, July 2025).

When did contact begin?

Ancestral ties

Many Somali Bantu trace their roots to peoples of present-day Tanzania, such as the Zigua and Zaramo of the north-east (Van Lehman and Eno, The Somali Bantu, CAL, 2003). Their ancestors were taken to Somalia in the 19th century through the slave trade of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, some by sea from Bagamoyo (same source). See Minority communities.

The 1970s

In October 1972 Somalia's president, Siad Barre, mediated between Tanzania and Uganda after exiles backed by Tanzania invaded Uganda (Daily Monitor). The talks produced the Mogadishu Agreement (same source). Somalia and Tanzania signed a bilateral air services agreement in 1975 (SONNA, July 2025).

After 1991

Somali refugees reached Tanzania after the state collapsed. UNHCR counted 4,829 in 1996, the highest number (UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API). Tanzania settled Somali Bantu refugees of Zigua ancestry at Chogo and later granted them citizenship (UNHCR).

Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Tanzania's envoys to Somalia

• Dr John Stephen Simbachawene: gave a copy of his credentials to Permanent Secretary Mohamed Ali-Nor in Mogadishu (The Diplomatic Insight, September 2021).
• Bernard Yohana Kibesse: gave a copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi (Somali Foreign Ministry).

Somalia's envoys to Tanzania

• Ilyas Ali Hassan: appointed in December 2024; presented credentials to President Samia Suluhu Hassan on 26 November 2024 (Somali Foreign Ministry, 26 November 2024; Hiiraan Online, 2025). He is also non-resident ambassador to Rwanda, the DR Congo, Malawi, Mauritius and the Comoros (Hiiraan, same article).

The two sources give different months for his appointment and credentials. He gave a copy of his credentials to Tanzania's protocol chief, Yusuph Mndolwa, on 21 November 2024 (SONNA, 21 November 2024).

Who built the tie?

• Siad Barre: Somali president who brokered the 1972 Mogadishu Agreement between Tanzania and Uganda (Daily Monitor).
• Samia Suluhu Hassan: Tanzanian president who hosted Hassan Sheikh in April 2024 and offered defence and security training (The Citizen, 27 April 2024).
• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud: Somali president who made the April 2024 state visit, the first by a Somali leader since Somalia joined the EAC (Daily News, April 2024).
• Mahmoud Thabit Kombo: Tanzanian foreign minister who led the first cabinet-level delegation to Mogadishu in over three decades, on 19 December 2024 (Hiiraan Online, 2025).
• Said Shaib Mussa: Tanzanian deputy permanent secretary who travelled with Kombo (Somali Foreign Ministry, 18 December 2024).
• Ahmed Moallim Fiqi: Somali foreign minister who received Kombo in Mogadishu and made a return visit to Dar es Salaam six weeks later (Hiiraan Online, 2025).
• Abdisalam Abdi Ali: Somali foreign minister present at the signing of the aviation resolutions in Dar es Salaam in July 2025 (SONNA).
• Ilyas Ali Hassan: Somali ambassador who drew up a roadmap with deadlines for each agreement (Hiiraan Online, 2025).

What agreements have they signed?

• 1975: bilateral air services agreement (SONNA).
• 19 December 2024: five memoranda of understanding signed in Mogadishu (Hiiraan Online). The Somali foreign ministry listed defence, tourism, health, aviation and general cooperation (Somali Foreign Ministry, 18 December 2024).
• Early to mid-2025: further agreements on joint surveillance, scholarships, prisoner repatriation and Kiswahili, bringing the total to nine (Hiiraan Online).
• 1 July 2025: resolutions on civil aviation, opening the way for Air Tanzania flights and renewing the 1975 agreement (SONNA).

Which leaders have visited?

• April 2024: Hassan Sheikh's state visit to Dar es Salaam, timed with the 60th anniversary of the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar (The Citizen). He visited the Medical Stores Department and Muhimbili hospital (Villa Somalia).
• 19 December 2024: Foreign Minister Kombo in Mogadishu (Somali Foreign Ministry).
• Early 2025: Foreign Minister Fiqi in Dar es Salaam (Hiiraan Online).
• 2025: Hassan Sheikh in Dar es Salaam for an extraordinary summit on the conflict in the DR Congo (Garowe Online).
• 1 July 2025: Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Dar es Salaam (SONNA).

How much do they trade?

Trade is small. Tanzania reported exports to Somalia of $3.24 million in 2024, up from $1.07 million in 2022 (UN Comtrade, Tanzania–Somalia, 2024; 2022). Imports from Somalia were $17,700 in 2024 (same source).

Main Tanzanian exports to Somalia in 2024 (UN Comtrade, by chapter):

• food preparations, $2.09 million
• essential oils and cosmetics, $0.50 million
• beverages, $0.41 million

Before the Air Tanzania deal, travellers between the two countries had to change planes in Nairobi or Addis Ababa (Hiiraan Online, July 2025).

How much aid and money has gone in?

Tanzania gave $233,082 in humanitarian funding for Somalia in 2012, according to UN OCHA (OCHA FTS, Somalia, 2012). Its main offer since 2024 has been training and education. The University of Dar es Salaam is preparing Kiswahili pilot programmes for schools in Kismayo and Beledweyne (Hiiraan Online, 2025).

What about security?

Tanzania is not among the troop contributors to the AU mission; those at the July 2026 summit were Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Burundi and Egypt (Dawan Africa, 1 August 2026). In April 2024 President Samia said: "We have assured them of our support in building their capacity as a country to defend themselves" (The Citizen, 27 April 2024). Defence was among the memoranda listed in December 2024 (Somali Foreign Ministry). See Foreign forces in Somalia.

How does Tanzania deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Hassan Sheikh thanked Tanzania in 2024 for its "unwavering support of Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity" (Villa Somalia). No official Tanzanian contact with Somaliland was found in the sources checked. Planned Kiswahili pilots are in Kismayo in Jubaland and Beledweyne in Hirshabelle (Hiiraan Online, 2025).

How many Somalis live in Tanzania?

Tanzania's 2022 census counted 657 Somali citizens (NBS Tanzania, Migration and Urbanization report). UNHCR counted 151 Somali refugees at the end of 2025, and 2,736 Somali refugees were naturalised from 2007 to 2014 (UNHCR API; UNHCR solutions API). See Somalis in Tanzania.

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

Samia said Tanzania, as a member of the AU Peace and Security Council, would keep supporting peace efforts in Somalia (Daily News, April 2024). The two leaders agreed to work together on EAC integration (same source). Tanzania hosts the EAC headquarters, and Somalia's ambassador in Dar es Salaam also covers the EAC (Somali Foreign Ministry, 26 November 2024).

Related pages

• Somalis in Tanzania
• Somali Bantu resettlement
• Migration routes
• Somalia and the EAC
• Somalia and Uganda
• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
• Siad Barre