By Abdullahi Salad - Reporter
Somalia, 16 July 2026 — Somalia's Cabinet has dissolved the Board of the Somali Chamber of Commerce and Industry and appointed Yasin Mahmoud Ibar as the Chamber's interim chairperson.
The decision was made during the cabinet's regular meeting chaired by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, following a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
As interim chairperson, Ibar has been tasked with preparing the electoral framework and overseeing the formation of a new chamber leadership over the next two years.
However, the Deputy Chairman of the Somali Chamber of Commerce, Abdirahman Adullahi Adan ‘Galaanbi’, told Dawan Media that the Chamber is not a government institution directly managed by the federal government. He said the Chamber's constitution provides that its leadership is elected by its members.
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"The Chamber of Commerce is not directly under the government, nor is it an institution whose leadership can be dismissed by the executive. It is an independent body with its own rules and electoral process,” Galaanbi said.
“The Federal Government's role is limited to oversight. The current leadership still has eight months remaining in its term, after which Chamber members will elect the chairperson and deputy chairperson," he added.
According to the Somali Chamber of Commerce and Industry's governing regulations, the General Assembly consists of 65 members, while the Board of Directors is made up of 25 members. The Chamber's chairperson is elected by the General Assembly through a secret ballot and serves a five-year term. The regulations also indicate that the most recently recognized election was held on March 9, 2017.