Close the Somalia mission's funding gap with African money before UN supplies stop
Why this matters
The mission needs about $190 million a year to pay its troops, and only about $120 million has been promised. In 2025 African states added about $4.6 billion to their own military budgets. The gap is therefore a question of how Africa shares the bill.
On 18 September the United States agreed that the for the mission will shrink over 12 months from January 2027 and then close. That office costs about $500 million a year and supplies troops at 49 locations. No African plan yet says who will fuel, feed and evacuate the troops after 2027.
Deaths linked to armed Islamist groups in Somalia rose 93% in 2025, to 8,813. Some districts handed to Somali forces have already fallen back to . An African Union that pays for its main mission can also press the UN harder to share the cost under .
Sources for this section (11)
- Somali Guardian: $190 million needed and $120 million promised (opens in a new tab)
- SIPRI: African military spending rose 8.5% in 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- Dawan: the UN support office winds down from January 2027 and closes (opens in a new tab)
- Somali Guardian: the support office supplies 49 locations; districts lost to al-Shabaab (opens in a new tab)
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies: deaths in Somalia in 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- Institute for Security Studies: Resolution 2719 and the US block on Somalia (opens in a new tab)
- Security Council Report: the mission's mandate under resolution 2809 (opens in a new tab)
- African Union: the Peace Fund board reviews its finances (opens in a new tab)
- Amani Africa: the Kampala summit communiqué of 31 July 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- IGAD: member states (opens in a new tab)
- Global Observatory: arrears of $93.9 million in January 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Four levels of action
-
What Africa asks of the world
members should pay for the mission from the contributions all UN members must pay, as Resolution 2719 allows. They should also keep UN supplies running until an African replacement is ready. The United States blocked the first use of Resolution 2719 for Somalia, so the ask is aimed above all at Washington.
- Who
- Security Council members, above all the United States; the and the United Kingdom as co-funders
- When
- The Council's decision before the mission's mandate ends on 31 December 2026
-
What the African Union does
The commits money from the to cover the gap for a fixed period. The Fund held about $400 million in February 2026, against a new target of $1 billion.
- Who
- The AU Peace and Security Council, the and the AU Peace Fund
- When
- By 15 December 2026
-
What regional groups do
IGAD hosts the timetable for handing districts to Somali forces. Its members include Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Burundi, Kenya and Uganda also sit with Somalia in the . Egypt takes part through the summit of troop-sending countries.
- Who
- IGAD, with the East African Community
- When
- By the end of January 2027
-
Which country goes first, and why
Somalia and the six troop-sending countries go first: Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Egypt, Djibouti and Ethiopia. At their summit in Kampala on 31 July 2026 they agreed an orderly exit in stages over 18 to 24 months, and a joint task force on money. The UN wind-down starts in January 2027, so the deadline is theirs.
- Who
- Somalia and its six troop-sending countries, through their joint task force
- When
- Donors' conference by March 2027
Before another country can do this
- A mission with an end date, and a handover timetable tied to the number of national troops ready.
- A host government able to recruit, pay and keep its own forces in districts handed over to it.
- Troop-sending countries paid what they are owed, or a Peace Fund loan to cover the arrears.
- A supply plan that ends reliance on the UN by a known date.
What does not carry over from the first country
- The UN support office supplies the mission at 49 locations, a supply network few missions start with.
- Uganda has been in Somalia since 2007, which gives this group of countries a shared history others lack.
Who else is ready
| Country | Why | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mozambique | The southern African mission left in 2024 without a costed handover, and the insurgency in Cabo Delgado came back. | Source (opens in a new tab) |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | The southern African bloc ended its mission there on 13 March 2025 and began to withdraw in stages. | Source (opens in a new tab) |
| Egypt | The newest troop-sending country sits outside IGAD and the East African Community, and tests whether North Africa will share the cost. | Source (opens in a new tab) |
Has this worked before?
In July 2021 the Southern African Development Community () sent a mission to northern Mozambique, paid for mainly by its own members. By August 2023 it had helped more than 570,000 displaced people return home. It left in 2024 without training Mozambican forces to hold the ground, and the insurgency came back. A mission that ends without a handover plan can lose what it gained. Source (opens in a new tab)
ACCORD: lessons from the SADC mission in Mozambique
First steps
- African Unionthe AU Commission and the mission leaders publish a 2027 budget, with and without UN supplies, by 15 November 2026. The Peace and Security Council commits a Peace Fund loan by 15 December 2026.
- Regional groupsIGAD brings Somalia and the troop-sending countries together to agree a district-by-district handover timetable by the end of January 2027.
- Somalia and the troop-sending countries: the joint task force of foreign ministers set up in Kampala holds a donors' conference and closes the gap by March 2027.
Who acts, and with what
- Who leads
- The AU Peace and Security Council with IGAD; Somalia and the six troop-sending countries as first movers
- Instrument
- A decision of the AU Peace and Security Council, a loan from the Peace Fund and a handover timetable hosted by IGAD
- How progress is checked
- The pay gap covered and a costed supply plan agreed before the UN wind-down starts in January 2027
- Signal to change course
- Troop-sending countries announce that they are leaving, each on its own
- What stands in the way
- Troop-sending countries have signalled that they cannot stay for ever. Disputes over Somalia's elections distract its leaders. The mission already owes money to the countries that send troops.
- Cost and money
- The pay gap is about $70 million a year. Money owed to troop-sending countries stood at $93.9 million in January 2026. Nobody has yet costed a replacement for UN supplies. The office it would replace costs about $500 million a year.
Who else contributes
| Who | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Egypt, Djibouti and Ethiopia | Agree troop numbers, pay rates and the stages of exit |
| AU Peace Fund | Lends money to bridge the gap |
| IGAD | Hosts the handover timetable |
| The Somali federal government | Sets the timetable for Somali forces to take over |
| The European Union and the United Kingdom | Share the cost on terms Africa sets; together about $90 million in 2025 |
What each audience can do
AU and regional bodies
What you can doPublish the costed plan and host the handover timetable
What you gainA mission Africa controls
Governments
What you can doPay Peace Fund shares on time and promise money for the pay gap
What you gainSecurity on Africa's own terms
NGOs and civil society
What you can doWatch how civilians are protected in districts handed to Somali forces
What you gainAnswers for the people most affected
Researchers and media
What you can doPublish the mission's costs and debts
What you gainInformed public debate on security spending
Business and investors
What you can doBid for supply contracts that replace UN supply lines
What you gainRegional contracts for fuel, food and transport
Philanthropy
What you can doFund independent recording of harm to civilians
What you gainEvidence that protects civilians
The briefings behind this
African Union (AU)
The organisation of 55 African states, based in Addis Ababa. Its heads of state meet each February. It can suspend members after a coup.
IGAD
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a bloc of eight states in the Horn of Africa and East Africa.
UN support office in Somalia
A UN office that supplies food, fuel, transport and medical care to the African Union mission in Somalia. The United States agreed in September 2026 to a 12-month drawdown from January 2027, followed by closure.
Security and conflict briefingGlossarySource: unsos.unmissions.org (opens in a new tab)
Al-Shabaab
An armed Islamist group in Somalia that fights the Somali government. It controls large parts of rural southern and central Somalia.
Security and conflict briefingGlossarySource: crisisgroup.org (opens in a new tab)
Resolution 2719
A Security Council decision of December 2023. It allows UN member states' regular contributions to help pay for peace missions led by the African Union, decided case by case. It lets the UN pay up to three-quarters of such a mission's budget. It has never been used: the United States blocked its first use, for Somalia.
Our recommendation on thisSecurity and conflict briefingGlossarySource: issafrica.org (opens in a new tab)
UN Security Council
The 15-member UN body that decides on war and peace. It can impose sanctions and send peacekeepers, and its decisions bind all UN members. Five permanent members can each block any decision.
The UN and diplomacy briefingGlossarySource: un.org (opens in a new tab)
European Union (EU)
A union of 27 European countries with shared laws, a single market and a large aid budget.
AU Peace and Security Council
The African Union's 15-member body for conflicts. It can authorise African peace missions and suspend governments that take power by force.
AU Peace Fund
A fund paid for by African Union members to finance African peace work and missions.
Security and conflict briefingGlossarySource: au.int (opens in a new tab)
African Union Commission
The African Union's secretariat. It prepares decisions for heads of state and carries them out.
East African Community
A bloc of eastern and central African states, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
SADC
The Southern African Development Community, 16 states from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to South Africa.
Words used on this page
- African Union (AU)
- The organisation of 55 African states, based in Addis Ababa. Its heads of state meet each February. It can suspend members after a coup. Glossary · Source: au.int
- IGAD
- The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a bloc of eight states in the Horn of Africa and East Africa. Glossary · Source: igad.int
- UN support office in Somalia
- A UN office that supplies food, fuel, transport and medical care to the African Union mission in Somalia. The United States agreed in September 2026 to a 12-month drawdown from January 2027, followed by closure. Security and conflict briefing · Glossary · Source: unsos.unmissions.org
- Al-Shabaab
- An armed Islamist group in Somalia that fights the Somali government. It controls large parts of rural southern and central Somalia. Security and conflict briefing · Glossary · Source: crisisgroup.org
- Resolution 2719
- A Security Council decision of December 2023. It allows UN member states' regular contributions to help pay for peace missions led by the African Union, decided case by case. It lets the UN pay up to three-quarters of such a mission's budget. It has never been used: the United States blocked its first use, for Somalia. Our recommendation on this · Security and conflict briefing · Glossary · Source: issafrica.org
- UN Security Council
- The 15-member UN body that decides on war and peace. It can impose sanctions and send peacekeepers, and its decisions bind all UN members. Five permanent members can each block any decision. The UN and diplomacy briefing · Glossary · Source: un.org
- European Union (EU)
- A union of 27 European countries with shared laws, a single market and a large aid budget. Glossary
- AU Peace and Security Council
- The African Union's 15-member body for conflicts. It can authorise African peace missions and suspend governments that take power by force. Security and conflict briefing · Glossary
- AU Peace Fund
- A fund paid for by African Union members to finance African peace work and missions. Security and conflict briefing · Glossary · Source: au.int
- African Union Commission
- The African Union's secretariat. It prepares decisions for heads of state and carries them out. Glossary
- East African Community
- A bloc of eastern and central African states, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Glossary
- SADC
- The Southern African Development Community, 16 states from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to South Africa. Glossary · Source: sadc.int