Amidst regional turmoil and Somalia’s ongoing inner fragility, Mogadishu signed a brand new defence pact with Pakistan on August 28, 2025. The five-year settlement is supposed to strengthen Somalia’s naval and maritime capability. The deal will see Pakistan practice Somali officers, give counter-terrorism and peacekeeping classes, and in addition assist improve previous navy gear. It additionally contains assist for the Somali Navy, organising new models, and dealing collectively on patrols and anti-piracy efforts. A joint committee will meet yearly to overview progress, and the pact may even result in wider cooperation with Turkey within the Horn of Africa.
However what appears like a lift for Somalia’s weak armed forces additionally comes with dangers. Pakistan’s document on defence offers is marred by corruption, most famously the Agosta submarine scandal of the Nineties, when it purchased three submarines from France in a deal price about €826 million. Investigations in France and Pakistan later confirmed that enormous sums have been taken as bribes for officers and middlemen. The case dragged on in courts for years, triggered political bother, and even led to claims that unpaid bribes have been linked to the 2002 bombing of French engineers in Karachi.
The Agosta scandal was not an remoted incident. Pakistan’s defence offers have lengthy been criticised for being murky. Auditors have flagged points equivalent to contracts awarded with out competitors and cash paid out earlier than tools was delivered. Even newer initiatives, just like the Hangor-class submarines with China, have confronted delays, technical troubles, and little readability on prices. Questions over cash and oversight proceed to hold over Pakistan’s naval modernisation.
Pakistan’s historical past ought to fear Somalia. It’s well-known that the nation’s defence establishments are weak. There may be little to no exterior audit or parliamentary oversight of navy expenditure. A problem as severe as defence procurement is usually dealt with informally. Moreover, there are hardly any mechanisms to stop conflicts of curiosity or to make sure open competitors. Most significantly, many years of reliance on exterior companions and donors have fostered a dependence that leaves gaps in accountability. Whilst Somalia’s lengthy expertise with arms embargoes has normalised particular exemptions that may simply be exploited, the MoU with Pakistan, by giving Islamabad a direct function in Somali coaching, naval help, and tools upgrading, dangers importing not simply technical experience but additionally the corruption tradition that has plagued Pakistan’s personal navy.
If shady middlemen and secret offers take over this settlement, Somalia may find yourself paying an excessive amount of, dropping cash, and weakening public belief. International donors, who already maintain Somalia’s finances and safety afloat, may step again in the event that they see funds being wasted—at a time when the financial system is already fragile. Worse nonetheless, corruption scandals may sap the already fragile legitimacy of the Somali state and undermine the operational effectiveness of its armed forces, leaving vessels unmaintained and models under-equipped regardless of massive expenditures on paper.
For Somalia, the defence pact with Pakistan is due to this fact a double-edged sword. It affords an opportunity to construct capability in maritime safety, counter-piracy and counter-terrorism, nevertheless it additionally opens the door to practices which have tainted Pakistan’s navy procurement for many years. Until Mogadishu insists on transparency, strict oversight, and accountable monetary procedures, this cooperation dangers changing into much less a path to stability and extra a replay of the Agosta scandal—this time within the waters off the Horn of Africa.