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Shabelle Media Network reported that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud invited Qatari businessmen to invest across several sectors as he met a delegation led by Qatar Chamber chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani in Doha. The Somali leader described a stimulating investment climate supported by numerous incentives for foreign investors while stressing Somalia’s strategic geographical position in Africa. Mohamud noted that the country possesses the continent’s longest coastline in addition to the largest livestock population in Africa, advantages he presented as ripe for partnership. He added that Somalia exports livestock to multiple countries via four ports that could supply Qatar’s needs.
The president listed infrastructure, services, mining, livestock, fisheries, oil and gas and related areas as priorities for foreign direct investment, according to the Shabelle Media Network account. Mohamud told the delegation that Somalia welcomes Qatari investors in a number of important sectors in the country. Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani responded that the chamber would encourage Qatari businessmen to explore the opportunities on offer. The chairman added that Qatar’s private sector remains keen to enhance cooperation with Somalia, noting that several companies have already expressed interest.
Qatar has directed roughly $200 million toward infrastructural projects in Somalia as part of its wider engagements across East Africa, an Africa Center for Strategic Studies assessment found. These commitments form one element of Gulf state activity in the Horn that has grown steadily over the past decade. The assessment placed total Gulf investments in the broader region at tens of billions of dollars, with infrastructure and agriculture figuring prominently in Qatari portfolios.
Somalia’s fisheries sector offers substantial untapped capacity even though annual catches stand at only about 2,000 tons against an estimated potential of 300,000 tons, an East African Community sector profile indicated. The profile pointed to opportunities for processing plants, ice facilities and cold storage as investors look to develop the blue economy. Ports and Marine Transport Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur has separately observed that the sea provides economic prospects unmatched by land-based activity, including maritime logistics and coastal tourism.
In the energy field the government has prepared multiple bankable projects that include heavy fuel oil power plants of 100 megawatts each in Mogadishu, Kismayo, Garacad and Bosaso, according to a Somalia National Investment Promotion Agency document. The agency has also flagged renewable initiatives such as biogas schemes with five-year timelines and budgets around $2.1 million. These proposals sit alongside longer-term oil and gas development plans managed by the Somalia National Oil Company under the 2020 Petroleum Law.
Qatar has already committed to building a deepwater port at Hobyo, a project cited in East African Community infrastructure reviews as an example of bilateral support for Somali logistics. The reviews list additional port upgrades at Mogadishu, Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo as areas where foreign investment could expand container handling and specialised livestock export facilities. Such developments would complement the transport investments Mohamud placed before the Qatari delegation last month.
