Somalia’s development bank taps Deloitte for first-ever audit as it pivots from aid to investment
The Somali Development and Reconstruction Bank has hired Deloitte for its first external audit, a landmark step for the state-owned lender as it seeks to cement transparency, strengthen governance and attract global investor confidence.
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SDRB said the independent audit began in December and will culminate in a published report in early 2026. The engagement with Deloitte covers not only financial statements but also internal controls—an explicit signal the bank aims to meet the benchmarks investors and development partners expect.
The decision caps a two-year reset at a bank designed to be a bridge between Somalia’s public priorities and private capital. Reconstituted in 2014, SDRB gained renewed momentum in 2024, when the cabinet nominated new leadership—among them a governor, a director general and sub-directors—and handed the institution a clearer development mandate. That came on the heels of Somalia’s debt relief in 2023, a milestone that wiped away $4.5 billion in obligations and allowed the government to concentrate on rebuilding and growth.
The new chapter has unfolded against a fragile but improving backdrop: security trends inching in the right direction, stronger federal tax collection and a national push—mirroring a wider shift across Africa—to move from humanitarian relief to long-term development finance.
Within the bank, the reset has been structural as much as strategic. In 2025, SDRB undertook an organizational restructuring to speed decision-making and tighten oversight. Some roles were phased out, and a national, merit-based recruitment drive signaled a break with patronage. The aim, the bank says, is a leaner institution focused on measurable impact in the productive sectors that underpin Somalia’s economy.
“The bank was reformed to help Somalia make the transition from aid to investment,” said Director General Adam Roble, who argues that pairing governance discipline with practical financing tools is essential to unlock growth. One immediate focus, he said, is bringing credible partners to the table—hence the Deloitte audit—and building programs that meet entrepreneurs where they are.
Those programs are already taking shape. In late 2025, SDRB began rolling out initiatives designed to widen access to capital, reduce borrowing frictions and prepare Somali companies to meet investor standards. Among them:
- A microfinance project launched in December 2025 that channels capital through microfinance institutions to small businesses in farming, livestock and fisheries, sectors that remain the backbone of Somalia’s economy. Sharia-compliant instruments are central to the design, giving entrepreneurs tools aligned with local market norms.
- A digital loan platform aimed at cutting processing times and enabling small firms to access credit without traditional collateral. “It’s not just about efficiency,” said SDRB President Hodan Osman. “It’s about inclusion, giving people access to finance who’ve never had it before.”
- An Investment Readiness Program, the bank’s first direct lending scheme to private companies, built to help entrepreneurs meet investor requirements and attract capital.
- A pipeline for large-scale project financing, with early interest from Somali private sector players in co-financing and co-investing, to revive long-neglected industries.
Behind the programs is a governance overhaul meant to outlast political cycles. By law, SDRB operates as an autonomous institution insulated from turnover. In August 2025, a seven-member Board of Directors—comprising seasoned professionals, including former executives from global development banks—was appointed, lending oversight and credibility to investment decisions. The board’s recent onboarding and formal confirmation, during a two-day meeting, marked a governance milestone that the bank says will anchor its agenda.
Osman said the changes go beyond window dressing. New policies govern finance, procurement, staff conduct and anti-bribery measures; recruitment is competitive; tenders are transparent; and the investment pipeline is open to entrepreneurs across the country. “This ensures that decisions are based on sound investment principles and gives Somalia’s diverse businesses a genuine opportunity to access capital,” she said.
For Roble, governance is a precondition to catalyze risk-taking in a market where access to finance has historically been scarce and costly. “They are about building confidence that convinces farmers to take out loans, entrepreneurs to pursue bold ventures, and international investors to commit capital to Somalia’s economy,” he said.
The Deloitte audit is a crucial test of that proposition. External scrutiny of both financials and controls is standard for development banks competing for concessional funding and co-investment. For SDRB, it is also a signal to Somali businesses—many of them informal, underserved and wary of formal credit—that the institution is accountable and built to last.
Digital transformation is another pillar of SDRB’s strategy. The new loan platform is designed to pull more small and medium-sized enterprises into formal finance by slashing paperwork and relying on alternative data where traditional collateral is out of reach. For entrepreneurs running family farms, fishing cooperatives and livestock operations, the ability to access working capital quickly—without land titles or buildings to pledge—could be game-changing.
The emphasis on Sharia-compliant products reflects practical realities in Somalia’s financial landscape and the wider Horn of Africa, where adherence to Islamic finance is a market norm. By structuring microfinance and project lending around those instruments, SDRB is betting it can meet demand at scale without asking borrowers to change how they do business.
None of this diminishes the risks. Somalia’s financial sector is still evolving, and the bank will have to balance speed with due diligence. That is where the governance framework and the new board matter, as does the bank’s stated commitment to merit-based hiring and transparent procurement. The promise is that a tighter system will yield better projects—and better outcomes—in sectors that drive jobs and exports.
“Somalia is shifting from survival mode to growth mode,” Roble said. “Debt relief gave us the foundation. Reforms gave us the structure. Now our task is to build on that framework sustainably and meaningfully.”
With an external audit underway, a confirmed board and a slate of programs in microfinance, digital credit and investment readiness, SDRB is positioning itself as a conduit for capital into the country’s productive economy. If the model holds, the bank could provide a roadmap for moving from aid to investment—one rigorous control and one viable loan at a time.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
