Uganda and Somalia on Wednesday signed three memoranda of understanding in Kampala to deepen cooperation on security, immigration and labor, and education and sports—agreements officials say will widen legal work channels, ease travel, and support stability across the Horn of Africa. The deals were concluded at the second Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) meeting, where negotiators mapped how the two governments will implement the pacts and measure results.
Co-chaired by Uganda’s minister of state for foreign affairs for regional cooperation, John Mulimba, and Somalia’s minister of education, Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir, the two-day session focused on practical steps: protecting the rights of Ugandan workers in Somalia, expanding placements for Ugandan teachers and health professionals, and coordinating security assistance. Uganda already counts more than 20,000 nationals employed in Somalia, many in education, health, logistics, and private security. In a joint communique, the ministers praised “fraternal relations” and said the sides “agreed to further strengthen cooperation to facilitate trade, investment, and people-to-people connections.”
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The push comes as both countries court investment and talent to accelerate recovery and growth. For more than a decade, Uganda has been a cornerstone troop contributor to the African Union mission in Somalia—first under the African Union Mission in Somalia and later the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia—supporting Somali-led efforts to beat back al-Shabab and secure key corridors for commerce. Officials say the new MoUs dovetail with regional goals to streamline work permits, standardize skills accreditation, and boost cross-border trade. Business leaders and private-sector delegates at the JPC traded proposals on tourism, agribusiness, and services to turn the paperwork into paychecks.
Kampala framed the summit—held under the banner of promoting partnership through investment, trade, and tourism—as a pivot from security-only engagement toward a balanced agenda linking jobs, education, and lawful migration with the safer roads and ports both economies need to grow.