Africa: Rethinking the AU's Somalia Peace Mission After US Funding Cuts

What the report says

AllAfrica republished an Institute for Security Studies analysis arguing that the African Union should rethink its Somalia operation after the United States told the AU on 1 July that it would stop funding the African Union Stabilisation and Support Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, after 31 December. According to the ISS authors, Meressa K Dessu and Tamrat Zeyede Haile, the mission depends on U.S. financing for logistics, while Washington has also supported troop-contributing countries and Somali security forces bilaterally.

The analysis says the U.S. decision was linked to concerns that Somalia’s federal government has not fully assumed responsibility for security or preserved gains against al-Shabaab and other armed groups. It notes that although Washington would not veto a UN Security Council renewal of AUSSOM’s mandate at the end of 2026, it would oppose UN logistical or operational backing. The article also recalls that the U.S. objected in 2024 to using UN Security Council Resolution 2719 to finance AUSSOM.

ISS places the funding cut in the context of nearly two decades of AU deployments in Somalia, from AMISOM in 2007 to ATMIS in 2022 and AUSSOM in 2025. The authors argue that AU missions helped Somalia build federal institutions and weaken al-Shabaab, but that military-heavy deployments have since faced donor fatigue, debt, capacity limits, mandate problems and political friction with Somali authorities.

The analysis recommends a cautious transition rather than a sudden exit, warning that Somalia’s forces may struggle to fill a security gap. It says the AU Peace and Security Council could consider a regional security cooperation mission involving current troop contributors, alongside a time-limited political and technical mission focused on stabilisation and Somalia’s political processes.