Somalia has completed its national ratification of the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area and is preparing to deposit its instrument. This note sets out where the country stands, what is already in place, what is still being done and by whom, so that the file can be reported accurately.
In one paragraph
Somalia’s Parliament has approved and the President has ratified the Agreement. What remains is the formal deposit of the instrument of ratification with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, which the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has indicated will take place in September 2026. Upon deposit, Somalia will be the fiftieth State Party. As a Partner State of the East African Community, the country is already covered by the Community’s consolidated schedule of tariff concessions for the ninety per cent category; the remaining ten per cent and the commitments on trade in services are being finalised within the Community. A national implementation strategy was validated in Mogadishu in November 2023 and a national implementation committee is in place.
Where Somalia stands
Ratification is a two-stage matter and the distinction governs how the country should be described. The national stage is complete: parliamentary approval and presidential ratification. The international stage is not: the deposit of the instrument with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission is the act that confers State Party status under the Agreement. Until that deposit, Somalia is a signatory that has ratified nationally, and the correct formulation is that it will become the fiftieth State Party upon deposit.
What is already in place
Somalia became a Partner State of the East African Community in March 2024. The Community has submitted a consolidated provisional schedule of tariff concessions covering the ninety per cent category, which means Somalia does not have to construct a tariff offer from nothing.
At national level, a strategy for implementing the Agreement was validated in Mogadishu in November 2023, and a national implementation committee is in place, with the trade union organisations represented among its members.
What is being done, and where
Two steps sit at national level. The AfCFTA electronic tariff book is brought into the national system, and the customs administration then configures the applicable preferential tariffs, so that a preference claimed at the border is a preference actually granted.
Two steps sit within the East African Community. The remaining ten per cent of tariff concessions, the sensitive and excluded categories, requires consensus among the Partner States before submission. So do the commitments on trade in services. This work is conducted inside the Community; it is not a matter pending between Somalia and the AfCFTA Secretariat.
What Somalia trades, and what it is positioned to trade
Somalia’s established exports are live animals, principally camels, sheep and goats, sold largely to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, together with sesame and oilseeds. Fish and crustaceans are an emerging category, and gums, resins, hides and skins are premium niches. The sectors identified as positioned for growth under the Agreement are livestock, fisheries, agriculture, logistics, telecommunications and financial services.
The recurring recommendation made to Somali enterprises during the visit was consistent: add value before export, meet the sanitary and abattoir standards that animal products attract, and look west and north as well as east, since the continental market extends well beyond the country’s own region.
The instruments available to enterprises
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, for settling cross-border payments in African currencies. The AfCFTA electronic tariff book, which tells an exporter what duty applies to a given product in a given market and provides a basis for challenge where it is not applied. The AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, which supports economies through the transition. The Africa Trade Gateway, built with Afreximbank, for business verification and buyer connection. And the AfCFTA Business Club and the Intra-African Trade Fair as platforms for market access.
Key dates
| DATE | EVENT |
| 30 May 2019 | The Agreement establishing the AfCFTA enters into force |
| 1 January 2021 | Trading under the Agreement begins |
| November 2023 | Somalia’s national AfCFTA implementation strategy validated in Mogadishu |
| March 2024 | Somalia becomes a Partner State of the East African Community |
| 16 to 18 August 2026 | Official visit of the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat to Somalia |
| September 2026 | Deposit of the instrument of ratification, as indicated by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry |
| 5 to 11 November 2027 | Intra-African Trade Fair, Lagos, Nigeria |
What to watch
Three developments, in sequence. The deposit of the instrument of ratification with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission. The transposition of the electronic tariff book into the Somali system and its configuration by customs. And the country’s first consignment traded under the Agreement, which the Secretariat has undertaken to accompany and to demonstrate from end to end.
The Agreement in figures
The AfCFTA brings together the 55 member states of the African Union around a single market of over 1.4 billion people, with a combined gross domestic product of approximately 3.4 trillion United States dollars. It has the potential to increase intra-African trade by 52.3 per cent through tariff liberalisation and trade facilitation. Its eight Protocols have been adopted, covering trade in goods, trade in services, investment, competition, intellectual property, digital trade, women and youth in trade, and dispute settlement. More than 10,000 certificates of origin have been issued across the continent, each corresponding to a real shipment under the Agreement.
Sources and method
Facts concerning Somalia are drawn from the press release of the AfCFTA Secretariat of 19 August 2026 and from the record of the official visit of 16 to 18 August 2026. Continental figures are the Secretariat Communications Division’s current validated set as at August 2026. Figures cited during the visit that have not yet been confirmed against a validated source are deliberately not reproduced here; they will be published when confirmed. Any query on a figure is answered by the Division within one working day.
Verification
Communications Division, AfCFTA Secretariat, Accra. Alexandre.Siewe@au-afcfta.org, +233 302 986 252.
