Six months into its new mandate, the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) is already facing major challenges from a lack of funding to a stubborn insurgency.
AUSSOM officially replaced the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in January 2025. Framed as a fresh start, it was designed to be a leaner, more Somali-led force focused on stabilisation. But its future is already in question.
This week, the African Union approved an additional US$10 million from its Crisis Reserve Facility, doubling the 2025 Peace Fund allocation to US$20 million. While the move is intended to show African unity in the face of shrinking international support, it also highlights just how uncertain the mission’s future remains.
AUSSOM was not just a rebrand of ATMIS but a new approach. About 11,900 soldiers and police from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Egypt, and Sierra Leone are supporting Somali forces to reclaim territory from the militant group al-Shabaab. The aim is to shift security responsibilities fully to Somalia’s government. But on the ground, that goal still seems far off.
The financial situation is dire. AU budget documents show AUSSOM’s expected cost in 2025 is more than US$166 million. In addition, US$92 million in unpaid ATMIS allowances for troops remains outstanding. Things have taken a turn for the worse as Western donors, especially the European Union, have cut back on their support, citing global crises and donor fatigue.
At the same time, new funding from the United Nations is still stalled because of ongoing political delays. Even within Africa, legal agreements with troop-contributing countries remain unsigned, slowing deployments.
One AU diplomat called the new US$10 million boost “mostly symbolic”: “We want to show commitment. But US$20 million is a drop in the ocean. Without large external donors, the mission can’t operate on the scale required.”
Somalia’s security missions have always relied on outside funding. Since AMISOM began in 2007, billions of dollars from the EU, US, and UN have supported the federal government and pushed al-Shabaab out of cities like Mogadishu.
But the group still controls large parts of the countryside, where it runs illegal administrations, collects taxes, and stages deadly attacks. Even during ATMIS’s drawdown talks, al-Shabaab retook towns in central Somalia, killing dozens of soldiers. Somali forces remain poorly funded, fragmented, and split along clan lines.
The early months of AUSSOM have been rough. Despite the official launch in January, legal frameworks with some countries are still not in place. Soldiers continue to face delays in getting paid—an issue that carried over from ATMIS.
Somali military offensives have seen limited success, while al-Shabaab has taken advantage of the situation to regroup. A major operation in the Shabelle region this year caused heavy casualties but led to only short-term gains.
AU officials say AUSSOM will support Somali-led security, promote stabilization, and foster reconciliation. But they privately acknowledge it remains underfunded and politically fragile. The Somali government insists it wants full security control but still relies on international salaries to pay its troops. Political tensions with federal member states further complicate planning.
By doubling its Peace Fund allocation, the AU aims to signal it won’t abandon Somalia despite donor cutbacks. Yet without a credible, fully funded strategy that addresses political divisions and builds real security capacity, AUSSOM risks becoming another costly effort that promises transformation but delivers stalemate.