By Asha Elmi - Reporter
Mogadishu, 7 September 2026 Somalia is working on a national policy to improve management of foreign aid and reduce fragmentation among development projects, Planning Minister Mahmoud Abdirahman Beenebeene said on Sunday.
He was speaking at the opening of a two-day consultation bringing together federal and state planning officials, directors, experts and advisers to discuss the proposed policy.
The policy is intended to ensure foreign funding is aligned with national development plans and that implementation and results of aid-funded projects can be tracked, Beenebeene said.
"We hope that a national policy will emerge from these two days that will guide every project and every resource that comes to Somalia from abroad," he said.
The government also wants the policy to reduce fragmentation among projects and improve coordination of assistance, he said.
Beenebeene said a significant amount of foreign aid does not pass through the government's financial and treasury systems, making it necessary to develop a framework to address off-budget aid.
"A lot of aid is off-budget and does not currently pass through the government's financial system or treasury," he said, adding that the new policy would seek to provide a solution for managing such funds.
Somalia has long sought to improve coordination of assistance and align external resources with national priorities. The Ministry of Planning says its Donor Engagement Office was established to strengthen coordination with partners and improve alignment and effectiveness of external resources.
The ministry's planning department is also mandated to coordinate and standardize development programs and projects across the country, including efforts to avoid duplication and align plans with national priorities.
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Somalia's National Transformation Plan for 2025-2029 is the country's main strategic development roadmap and succeeds the previous National Development Plan.
The proposed policy is being developed through consultations with federal institutions, Federal Member States, civil society and international partners, officials said.
The ministry said consultations had already been held over the past two months, while the current meeting was intended to expand participation of Federal Member States in shaping the policy.
Director-General of the Ministry of Planning Abdifatah Abdiqadir Farah said the policy would seek to ensure aid becomes more closely aligned with national priorities.
He said the government wanted a national framework developed through consultation with federal institutions, Federal Member States, civil society and the international community.
The consultations are expected to address challenges in coordination, transparency and accountability and identify reforms needed to improve management of assistance at federal and state levels.
The minister said about 60 to 65 representatives from the federal government and Federal Member States were taking part.
The new policy is expected to provide a framework for linking foreign assistance more closely to national priorities while improving monitoring of projects and their results.