List of ambassadors of Sweden to Somalia

On the occasion of Somalia’s declaration of independence on 1 July 1960, Acting Foreign Minister Herman Kling sent a congratulatory telegram to Somalia’s head of government, Abdullahi Issa, in which he stated that the Swedish government recognized the Somali Republic as a sovereign and independent state. The telegram also expressed hopes for friendly and cordial relations between the two countries. Sweden was represented at the celebrations in Mogadishu by its envoy in Addis Ababa, Åke Sjölin, who had been instructed to convey the King’s congratulations.^[1]

In July 1961, Ambassador Sjölin, based in Addis Ababa, was appointed as Sweden’s first envoy to Somalia when he was also accredited to Mogadishu.^[2] On 6 December 1961, Sjölin presented his credentials to President Cheab in Mogadishu.^[3]

Sweden has never had a resident Swedish ambassador in Mogadishu. Instead, the Swedish ambassadors based in the capitals of nearby countries—Addis Ababa (1961–1964), Cairo (1964–1970, 1980–1981), and Dar es Salaam (1971–1979)—were accredited to Mogadishu from 1961. From 1980 onward, the ambassador was based in Stockholm.

In 1991, the collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic amid the outbreak of the Somali Civil War left the country without a central government. Krister Göranson [sv] was Sweden’s ambassador to Somalia during 1992. In early 1993, it was reported that there was no formal government or president in Somalia who could accredit Swedish diplomats.^[4] As a result, the ambassadorial post remained vacant from 1992 onward.

In April 2013, a new Swedish ambassador to Somalia was appointed after the post had been vacant since 1992.^[5] That same year, the ambassador was based at the Somalia Section of the Swedish Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. The ambassador, who heads the section, travels regularly to Somalia.^[6][7]