Somalia

Active marketChecked 2026-11-14 · confidence medium

The Central Bank of Somalia licensed its first four takaful companies in January 2026, and one of them, Baraka Takaful Insurance, lists named takaful products on its own site. CBS has also issued Shari'ah governance guidelines for Islamic commercial banks (2020).

Five checks

Banking rulesFound

The Central Bank of Somalia issued Shari'ah Governance Framework Guidelines for Islamic Commercial Banks (Nov 2020, under sections 34 and 108 of the Financial Institutions Law 2012) and Guidelines on Financial Reporting for Islamic Commercial Banks (Dec 2020). CBS also lists a Financial Institutions Law 2025 (Somali-language PDF, mostly images, not read). Somaliland has its own central bank and is not covered here.

  • “pursuant to its authority set forth in Sections 34 and 108 of the Financial Institutions Law, 2012”
    Central Bank of Somalia · 2020-11
  • “Guidelines on Financial Reporting for Islamic Commercial Banks in Somalia”
    Central Bank of Somalia · 2020-12
Licensed banks and windowsFound
  • Baraka Takaful Insurance Ltd · takaful operatorLivestock TakafulAll Risks TakafulMotor Insurance
  • Salaam Somali Bank (on CBS's licensed-banks page, which shows logos only; licence not confirmed in text) · full bank
  • Premier Bank (on CBS's licensed-banks page, which shows logos only; licence not confirmed in text) · full bank
  • IBS Bank (on CBS's licensed-banks page, which shows logos only; licence not confirmed in text) · full bank
  • Dahabshil Bank International (on CBS's licensed-banks page, which shows logos only; licence not confirmed in text) · full bank
  • Amal Bank (on CBS's licensed-banks page, which shows logos only; licence not confirmed in text) · full bankHome FinanceAuto Finance
  • “At its meeting on 24 January 2026, the CBS Board of Directors approved the licensing applications of four (4) Takaful insurance companies”
    Central Bank of Somalia · 2026-01-27
  • “3. Baraka Takaful Insurance LTD”
    Central Bank of Somalia · 2026-01-27
  • “BARAKA INSURANCE provides cooperative insurance which complies with Islamic Shariah laws on the bases of a Wakalah”
    Baraka Takaful Insurance Ltd · not shown
  • “The CBS Board of Directors granted Ziraat Katilim Bank of Türkiye a license to establish branch in Somalia on 2 July 2022”
    Central Bank of Somalia · 2023-10-29
  • Central Bank of Somalia · accessed 2026-11-14 via WebFetch only (curl HTTP 403)
  • “Dahabshil Bank International - Leading Sharia-Compliant Banking Solutions”
    Dahabshil Bank International · not shown
  • “Amal Bank Somalia | Modern Islamic Bank and Personal Banking in Somalia”
    Amal Bank · not shown
  • “our Sharia-compliant investment banking helps you grow with purpose and integrity.”
    IBS Bank · not shown
  • “Shari’ah Supervisory Board”
    Premier Bank · not shown
  • “Islamic Banking”
    Salaam Somali Bank · not shown
Sukuk issuedNot checked
Takaful (non-interest insurance)Found

The Takaful Act 2025 (Law No. 39 of 2025) and the Takaful Licensing Regulations 2025 are published by the Central Bank of Somalia, which also issued Guidelines on Retakaful Arrangements in 2026. On 27 Jan 2026 CBS announced its first four takaful licences, approved on 24 Jan 2026: First Somali Takaful Insurance, Amanah Insurance, Baraka Takaful Insurance and Salmaster Insurance. CBS's homepage reportedly counts 8 takaful operators, but that page blocks direct download and could not be checked word for word.

Capital market rulesNot checked

No securities regulator or Islamic capital market rule was identified. The CBS regulatory list contains none. Whether Somalia has an operating securities regulator could not be confirmed with the available tools.

Recent developments

  1. 2026-01-27CBS announced its first four takaful licences (First Somali Takaful, Amanah Insurance, Baraka Takaful, Salmaster Insurance), approved by its board on 24 Jan 2026. source
  2. 2026 (uploaded to CBS site Oct 2026)CBS published the Takaful Act 2025 (Law No. 39/2025) and Takaful Licensing Regulations 2025. source
  3. 2026 (uploaded Jul 2026)CBS published Guidelines on Retakaful Arrangements 2026. source
  4. 2025 (uploaded Aug 2026)CBS lists a Financial Institutions Law 2025 (Somali-language PDF); content not read. source

Still open

Points we could not confirm at source yet.

  • No CBS page or PDF naming the licensed commercial banks in text was found (the licensed-banks page shows logos and is blocked to direct download; the 2024 annual report names no banks), so no bank yet passes the licensed test at a primary source. Ziraat Katilim (licensed 2 Jul 2022 per CBS) describes itself as a participation bank; its Somalia site was not reached.
  • CBS shows licensed banks as logos only; this file lists only the five that call themselves Islamic or Sharia-compliant on their own sites. Others on the CBS list (e.g. Agro, Amana, Bushra, Bulsho, Daryeel, GIB, Idman, MyBank, SomBank, Ziraat Katilim) were not checked one by one.
  • Whether the 2025 Financial Institutions Law makes Islamic banking the required model, which would affect how rules are described, was not read (Somali-language image PDF).
  • Sukuk: no evidence found, but no securities regulator or exchange was searched, so left null.
  • Somaliland (Bank of Somaliland) has separate rules and banks and is not covered in this file.
Where we searched
  • centralbank.gov.so - curl blocked (HTTP 403); homepage, licensed banks, licensed takaful operators and regulatory guidelines pages read through WebFetch; Shariah Governance Framework PDF, FI Law 2012 PDF and Takaful Act 2025 PDF downloaded directly
  • Bank sites: salaambank.so, premierbank.so, ibsbank.so, dahabshilbank.com, amalbankso.so; ziraatkatilim.so redirected (not followed)
  • No securities regulator site identified
  • 14 Nov 2026 review: centralbank.gov.so HTML pages still HTTP 403 to curl; CBS PDFs downloaded (2024 annual report, takaful licensing press release of 27 Jan 2026, Ziraat Katilim press release No. 1509); barakatakaful.com, salmastarinsurance.com (amanahinsurance.com returned an error)