By Anderson Scott

Somalia is among at least nine low-income countries that hired US lobbying firms with ties to former President Donald Trump in recent years, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain vital aid and security cooperation even as US funding was slashed.

According to a report published on Thursday, Somalia signed a $550,000 contract with BGR Government Affairs, a prominent Washington lobbying firm co-founded by former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a leading Republican powerbroker.

Global Witness found that Somalia’s lobbying contract aimed to secure meetings in Washington to maintain US government support for stabilization, humanitarian assistance, and counterterrorism cooperation.

The Guardian reported that the payments to Trump-connected firms were part of a broader pattern involving at least nine countries, including Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Angola, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, the Central African Republic, and Gabon.

According to the investigation, the combined total paid by these nations reached millions of dollars between 2023 and 2025.

Global Witness warned in its report that such deals risk creating “a modern version of resource-for-influence diplomacy”, where poorer countries may mortgage future natural resources or policy concessions to secure short-term support or favorable treatment from powerful donor states.

“When aid is cut, poor countries are left with little choice but to pay for access and influence in Washington,” the watchdog group wrote.

It also noted that some contracts reviewed explicitly listed securing resource investment deals or military sales as objectives alongside lobbying for aid.

The Guardian noted that while the Somali contract reviewed did not list mining concessions, it did set goals for preserving security assistance and aid relationships.

BGR Government Affairs and other firms named in the investigation are legally registered under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Lobbying for foreign governments is legal in the United States but requires disclosure of activities and payments.

The US State Department declined to comment on the specific contracts but said foreign assistance is based on “strategic priorities and humanitarian needs.”

Meanwhile, the revelations come amid major reductions in humanitarian funding for Somalia, which has struggled to maintain food security, health services, and security operations in the face of persistent conflict, drought, and economic pressures.