At the press point held with H.E. Amb. Gamal Mohamed Hassan, Minister of Commerce and Industry, on 17 August 2026, the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat made a statement and then took questions from Somali and international media. His answers are set out below, under the subject each addressed.
The Secretary-General spoke in English. Consecutive interpretation into Somali was provided in the room. The questions put by journalists were not recorded by the Secretariat and are not reproduced here..
On small and medium enterprises and the private sector
The Secretary-General said the Secretariat’s work with the private sector runs from the largest corporations on the continent to a small enterprise run by a young person, and includes smallholder farmers. He announced a dedicated engagement with Somali enterprises for the following day, to identify opportunities jointly, for export and for import, and confirmed that discussions with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Commerce and Industry had covered ways of stimulating private-sector participation, including through special economic zones and centres of production excellence.
“Tomorrow we meet the private sector, to identify together the opportunities for export and for import.”
On the sectors where Somalia already has standing
Livestock was named as the sector in which Somalia holds an established position, and as the place to begin value addition and industrial production within the country rather than exporting raw. The Secretary-General linked this to the wider objective of industrial development through special economic zones fostering production and value addition in country, in agriculture and in mineral processing.
On Somalia’s geography
The Secretary-General described a coastline of more than three thousand kilometres and a position on the Gulf of Aden as connecting the Middle East and the African continent on both sides, and presented that geography as lending itself to a role as a trade and transit hub for the region, served by transport and logistics.
On the markets Somali businesses could reach
Nigeria, Egypt and Malawi were named as markets Somali enterprises could trade with under the Agreement. The Secretary-General set the ambition of an export profile extending, within a few years, beyond the East African Community, with imports drawn from the rest of the continent.
On who should finance Africa’s industrial development
The Secretary-General said that Africa’s industrial development must be financed primarily, though not exclusively, by African institutions, and called for a common approach to development finance partners so that African institutions finance an African country for Africa’s own development. The qualification is part of the statement and is not to be separated from it.
“Africa’s industrial development must be financed primarily, though not exclusively, by African institutions.”
On what follows this visit
The visit was presented as a first engagement with Somalia and explicitly not a last. The Secretary-General said he expected the implementation process to begin from this visit, and congratulated the Government for completing ratification with Parliament and domestic stakeholders. Somalia will be the fiftieth State Party to the Agreement; the deposit of the instrument of ratification with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission is the act that confers that status.
“This is the first time that we are here, and this first engagement will not be the last.”
Conditions of use
The passages in quotation marks are cleared for citation with the attribution: H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, press point, Mogadishu, 17 August 2026. The passages in plain text are the Secretariat’s rendering of the positions stated and should be reported as such rather than quoted verbatim. Figures cited during the press point that are not reproduced on this page are being confirmed against validated sources and will be published separately.
Verification
Communications Division, AfCFTA Secretariat, Accra. Alexandre.Siewe@au-afcfta.org, +233 302 986 252.
