Somalia's Bankable Projects 2026–2030, explained

The opportunities by sector

The booklet is the most detailed public list of the federal government's investment priorities under the National Transformation Plan (NTP). It shows where ministries want private or partner money to go, and how they describe each need. Every sheet names SOMINVEST as promoter, together with the ministry or company shown below.

Costs as printed. Numbered markers refer to the notes on figures below.

Fur cabbirka buuxa

Stated costs by sector, counting only figures printed clearly. Four figures are excluded until confirmed (notes 1 and 2), so the Logistics & Infrastructure bar covers only 3 of its 6 proposals and understates that sector.

The 33 costs printed clearly add up to about US$3.49 billion. Energy (US$845M across seven proposals), logistics and infrastructure (US$684M, counting 3 of its 6 proposals) and aviation (US$673M, almost all of it a new Mogadishu airport) are the largest. The costs for roads, trade corridors and deep seaports¹ and for Mogadishu Stadium² are left out until confirmed. Because the three logistics figures belong to that sector's largest proposals, the chart understates Logistics & Infrastructure.

All 37 proposals

Costs and titles exactly as printed. Numbered markers refer to the notes on figures below.

Proposals without their own report

The oil-company and gas-processing sheets are covered in Why electricity costs so much in Somalia. Four sheets have no report of their own yet:

Aviation (pp.24–27).

• New Mogadishu airport (AV-02, pp.26–27). "Construction of a new international airport in Mogadishu to meet growing passenger and cargo demand", with a new runway, terminals, maintenance facilities and a cargo hub. US$656M; 5 years; ticked Greenfield and PPP. The sheet's first key driver is "Current Aden Adde Airport cannot expand further". It also states a "Potential for USD 50 million additional annual revenue", with no source. No site is named.
• Four regional airports (AV-01, pp.24–25). Rehabilitation of the Kismayo, Baidoa, Beledweyne and Dhuusamareeb airports: longer runways, larger terminals and better control towers. US$16.5M; 5 years. The sheet aims to "Increase cargo handling to 120,000 tonnes per airport" and "Create 400 new jobs". Xidig could not check the cargo figure, which looks high for airports of this size.

Sports (pp.69–72).

• Mogadishu Stadium (SP-01, pp.69–70). An upgrade with seating, lighting, community spaces and equipment, to serve "as a hub for national and community sports, fostering youth engagement, social cohesion, and economic activity". Cost printed as "$9.787.217 M"²; 2 years.
• Five new stadiums (SP-02, pp.71–72). "one modern stadium in each Federal Member State capital", with "training facilities for youth development". US$15M; 5 years. Its key drivers include "Promote peacebuilding through sports". The sheet does not say which five capitals.

Where Xidig members fit

These are plausible needs, not confirmed jobs, tenders or investments. Any paid role depends on a real, current procurement or partnership notice, and the booklet confirms none.

Roles. Professionals in energy, logistics, fisheries, health, education and ICT can see what the government has put forward in their field. Engineers, economists and planners can set out what a real feasibility study for a given proposal would need to answer; doing that in public, as open research, is itself useful. Students, early-career members and diaspora members following the NTP can use the sheets to learn how public investment planning works in Somalia.

Suppliers and services. Local businesses and operators can see which ministries lead on which sectors (table above). Plausible service needs include feasibility-study inputs (surveys, demand estimates, environmental and social baselines), translation and data work.

Research. Many claims carry no source, such as job figures and import dependence. Researchers, statisticians and journalists can check them against official data and write independent evidence notes, for example on road-network data, medicine imports and electricity tariffs. Member groups can organise around a sector report, sharing sources and local observations.

Local knowledge. Members living in the named towns can describe what is already there, such as existing ports, power networks and markets. The booklet rarely does. Local detail and corrections can be shared through Xidig's correction path, so later updates are better sourced.

Fur cabbirka buuxa

Places named in the booklet's fact sheets and how many proposals mention each. Many proposals are national or unsited.

Twelve places are named across the 37 sheets. Mogadishu appears in 12 proposals, Kismayo in 6, and Bosaso and Garacad in 3 each. The other 22 proposals name no specific place. They describe themselves as national, give "second-tier towns" or "each Federal Member State capital" without naming them, or say nothing. Place guides cover Mogadishu, Kismayo, Bosaso, Garacad and Hobyo (see Related reports).

Doing business

Rules for investors. The booklet describes SOMINVEST as the national investment promotion office "established under the 2015 Foreign Investment Law" (p.7). Its rules table (p.9) gives business registration through the Ministry of Commerce, personal income tax as "progressive- 18%", corporate income tax of 15%, VAT of 5%, land by "Long Lease", visas as "eVisa with invitation/approval; valid for business travelers" and work permits in "2 to 8 weeks".

Incentives on every sheet. The fiscal incentive is "Partial import tax exemption"; a few sheets add a tax exemption for a set number of years. The same five non-fiscal incentives appear throughout: investment entry facilitation, after-care support, resident permits for the board, CEO and chairperson, and a work-permit waiver for five senior managers.

Member states. The same page lists the Federal Member States, including Somaliland and a "Northeastern State". Their status is politically contested, and Xidig reports the list as printed without taking a position.

Contacts. For any proposal, start with the ministry named on its sheet (see the sector table). The booklet also lists these institutions:

Contacts as printed on PDF p.10. Phone numbers are in the booklet.

What to check before acting

Stage. All 37 sheets are at pre-feasibility stage. The tick box shows "Feasibility Started" on the HFO sheet (EN-03) and "Feasibility Completed" on the PET sheet (MF-02, p.95). No other sheet indicates that feasibility work has begun.

Costs. Four printed costs are unclear: the roads, trade-corridor and deep-seaport figures¹ and the Mogadishu Stadium figure². They are reproduced as printed and left out of all totals.

Partners and institutions. No funders or partners are named, apart from one private sponsor (poultry, p.21) and two co-promoters: BECO (solar farm, p.37) and a private panel maker (p.39). Several proposals depend on institutions the booklet describes as future, such as the national oil company (SONOC) and the national electricity company (SONEC). Ports, roads and fisheries sites sit in member states whose own administrations and existing operators are not mentioned.

Questions to ask:

1. Which proposals have a feasibility study, and has any advanced since publication? Ask SOMINVEST (info@sominvest.gov.so).
2. What figures are intended for the four unclear costs (notes 1 and 2)?
3. How do the 37 sheets relate to the "around 100 projects prepared to international standards" that officials spoke of at SOMINVEST's two-day investment forum in April 2026 (Dawan Africa, 18 Apr 2026)? Is there a fuller list?
4. For any proposal you care about, is there a current procurement notice, a funding agreement or a named partner? Write to the ministry named on its sheet.
5. Which legal framework would govern a public–private partnership (PPP) in that sector today? PPP is ticked on 27 sheets, but the booklet does not describe a PPP law, a PPP unit or a procurement route.
6. What are the security and access conditions at the site? No sheet discusses them.

Risks

• Cost notation. Four costs cannot be used as printed (notes 1 and 2).
• Copy errors. The meat-processing sheet carries the fodder title (p.17). The referral-hospital description repeats the pharmaceutical one (pp.76, 78). A hospital sheet mentions "three commercial farming zones" (p.75). The edible-oil sheet lists the Ministry of Education's email (p.92).
• Unsourced figures. Job numbers, import shares and returns on investment are stated without sources. Three sheets state an ROI (40%, 25%, 33%); Xidig does not repeat these as expectations.
• Dated statistics. Several economic snapshot figures have since been revised (see More about the source).