türkiye's expanding footprint in somalia: strategic partner or neo-colonial power?
a landmark oil deal deepens a decade-old alliance, but raises urgent questions about sovereignty, environmental risks, and the true cost of foreign investment.
When Somalia signed a sweeping oil and gas exploration deal with Turkey in March 2024, granting Turkish entities rights to up to 90% of production revenues, it marked a dramatic expansion of their decade-long partnership. But across the Horn of Africa, the agreement revived old fears: that promises of development may once again mask a deeper pattern of foreign exploitation.
The newly disclosed text of the agreement reveals just how expansive Turkey’s rights are. Turkish entities, primarily the state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), are entitled to recover up to 90% of annual oil and gas production as cost recovery. Somalia, meanwhile, would collect a royalty capped at 5% until Turkey recoups its expenses, a process that could stretch for years, depending on market prices and production rates.
In return, Turkey assumes the financial burden of exploration without paying standard industry fees such as signature bonuses, development bonuses, or administrative costs. It can export its share of hydrocarbons freely at international market rates, and settle any disputes under Turkish-controlled arbitration courts.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has defended the deal, calling it a “mutually beneficial agreement” and emphasizing that Somalia is, for the first time in its history, beginning to explore its own oil potential. He argues that Turkey was the first and only country willing to invest when others stayed away and remains one of Somalia’s strongest international partners.
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