Somalia has spent a decade working to join the World Trade Organization. A week of work in Mogadishu, funded by the United Kingdom, has brought most of its accession documents close to completion.
A team with the Head of Accessions Division at the World Trade Organization (WTO) has worked alongside Somali officials in Mogadishu. With ITC experts, and at the Somali Government’s request, they spent 10 to 15 October going through the documents behind Somalia’s bid to join the WTO. By the end of the week, most were close to final, ahead of the second meeting of the WTO working party on Somalia’s accession, expected in 2027.
A bid that is gathering pace
Somalia applied to join the WTO in 2015, and its working party first met in Geneva in February 2025. Somali leaders told members they see joining as a route to growth and investment.
Somalia has about 18 million people and the longest coastline on the African mainland, but its exports rest largely on livestock. Live animal sales earned $576 million in 2025, mostly in the Gulf, according to ITC Trade Map. That’s more than double the export earnings from seven years ago. But import bans have disrupted that trade in the past. Joining the WTO, with its global rules on animal health and food safety, could clear a path for exports to keep growing.
In Mogadishu, teams refined Somalia’s replies to WTO members’ questions on customs, import licensing, animal and plant health, technical standards and intellectual property, and mapped the laws still needed. They also prepared Somalia’s first offers to open its markets for goods and services.
A joint session with the East African Community and the African Continental Free Trade Area examined how Somalia’s regional commitments and WTO bid can support each other. Somalia joined the East African Community in 2024, and the bloc’s common external tariff will shape its offer on goods.
Why ITC is in Mogadishu
A key focus for ITC is to bring the benefits of international trade to least developed and conflict-affected countries. ITC helps governments bring their rules in line with international commitments, so that small businesses can use the openings that follow.
The mission was funded by the British Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office through the Making Trade Happen project at ITC. Axel Addy, Liberia’s former trade minister and chief trade negotiator, advises Somalia’s negotiators for ITC.
’The UK is proud to support Somalia’s ambition to join the World Trade Organization through our partnership with the International Trade Centre. Bringing WTO expertise to Mogadishu for the first time is helping turn that ambition into practical progress,’ said Charles King, British ambassador to Somalia.
’Ultimately, this is about creating opportunities for businesses, attracting investment and creating jobs for Somalis.’
Source: International Trade Centre