How to Register a Business in Somaliland: A Step-by-Step Guide

Somaliland’s government runs an online system for business registration and licensing, and the Ministry of Trade says the basic process can be done in a day. This guide walks through it in order, from the first name search to the licence on your wall.

Before you register a business in Somaliland

Start with the context. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and governs itself; Somalia regards it as part of its territory, and Israel (December 2025) is so far the only UN member state to recognise it. In practice, Somaliland runs its own ministries, courts and company registry, and registration there is separate from any process in Mogadishu.

Companies are governed by the Companies Law, Law No. 80/2018, which came into force on 1 September 2018 and replaced an earlier 2014 law, according to a legal research guide published by NYU’s Globalex. For the wider picture, from the economy to land titles, read our guide to doing business in Somaliland.

Step 1: Search for a name and reserve it

The official Business Registration and Licensing Services portal lets you run a name search and apply for registration online. Check a few spellings in English and Somali before you settle on one.

Step 2: Prepare your documents

The Ministry of Trade lists the documents it asks for on its registration page:

Document	Notes
National ID (for each owner)	Foreign owners should ask which ID the ministry accepts
Application letter	Addressed to the ministry
Articles of Association	Your company’s founding rules
Permit from the relevant ministry	Only for licensed sectors, such as education, health, mining, telecoms or financial services

Step 3: Register the company

You then submit the documents to the Ministry of Trade, complete the registration form and register with the Attorney General. On the online portal, this is also the step where you apply for registration and download your digitally signed certificate.

Step 4: Pay the fee and collect your business licence

Once you pay the licence fee, the ministry issues a business licence valid for one year, so put the renewal date in your calendar. The ministry does not publish the fee on that page, so ask for the current amount when you apply. The ministry says the whole process takes one day.

Payments in Somaliland often go through mobile money; our guide to money in Somaliland explains how it works.

Registering a business in Somaliland as a foreign investor

Foreign investors have an extra layer. Somaliland’s foreign investment law sets up a Foreign Investment Board that approves and registers foreign investments. According to the text of the law:

• the Board decides on a complete application within 60 days;
• registered foreign investments are treated in the same way as domestic ones and are protected from expropriation, except in narrow public-interest cases with fair compensation;
• profits are exempt from profit tax for three years from the start of operations;
• capital and profits can be transferred abroad freely after three years from registration.

The law places the Board within the ministry responsible for commerce. Since December 2017, however, Somaliland has also had a separate Ministry of Investment, which issues investment licences through a one-stop shop. Contact both before you apply, and check which office handles your case.

Setting up in the Berbera Economic Zone

The Berbera Economic Zone, next to the port, opened its first phase in March 2023 and has a master plan of more than 1,200 hectares. It has its own one-stop shop. DP World, which runs the zone with the government, sets out the steps on its website:

1. Send an enquiry.
2. Receive and complete the application for registration, licence and lease.
3. Have your documents attested.
4. The one-stop-shop team checks the file and sends it to the zone authority.
5. The authority approves registration and the licence, subject to a signed lease.
6. Collect your registration certificate, licence and lease agreement.

To see why the port matters for trade across the region, read Berbera Port: Why It Matters.

Exporting after you register a business in Somaliland

Exporters register with the Somaliland Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, an independent body founded in 1993. Companies must show their certificate of registration from the Attorney General’s office. In 2020, the same Globalex guide listed the export licence fee as 2,084,000 Somaliland shillings, about US$600; check the current figure with the chamber. To see how one export trade works, from the market to the ship, read our guide to Somaliland’s livestock exports.

Checklist: register a business in Somaliland

• Reserve your name on the official portal.
• Gather your documents: IDs, application letter, Articles of Association and any sector permit.
• Register with the Ministry of Trade and the Attorney General, and download your certificate.
• Pay the fee and collect your one-year licence.
• Foreign investors: apply to the Foreign Investment Board and ask the Ministry of Investment about its one-stop shop.
• In Berbera: go through the economic zone’s own one-stop shop.

Rules and fees change, so confirm each step with the ministry before you pay or sign. For what drives the market you are entering, read Somaliland’s economy explained.

Sources (8)

1. Steps of Business Registration, Ministry of Trade and Tourism, Republic of Somaliland (accessed 6 November 2026).
2. Somaliland Business Registration and Licensing Services, Government of Somaliland (accessed 6 November 2026).
3. Researching the Somaliland Legal System, Prof. Mohamoud Hussein Farah, GlobaLex, NYU School of Law, May/June 2020.
4. Promotion, Protection and Guarantees of Foreign Investment Law, House of Representatives of Somaliland, text published by the Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan (accessed 6 November 2026).
5. Ministry of Investment (Somaliland), Wikipedia (accessed 6 November 2026).
6. DP World and Somaliland Government open Berbera Economic Zone, Dubai Media Office, 3 March 2023.
7. Business setup, Berbera Economic Zone, DP World (accessed 6 November 2026).
8. Israel’s first ambassador presents credentials in Somaliland, Africanews, 2 November 2026.

Last checked 6 November 2026. Found an error or something out of date? Tell us.