Expat insurance and health insurance in Somalia

France Diplomatie states that the Somali health system is disorganised and poorly performing. The quality of medical care is uncertain, medicine supply is irregular, and circulation of counterfeit medicines is reported. The same source lists several diseases present in the country, notably those linked to mosquito bites (yellow fever, particularly in the southern regions, dengue, chikungunya, Zika, Rift Valley fever, malaria) as well as other infectious diseases: cholera, typhoid fever, hepatitis A, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis and rabies. It recommends, depending on the profile and length of stay, updating standard French vaccinations (diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, whooping cough, measles) as well as yellow fever, hepatitis A and B, typhoid fever, ACWY meningitis, tuberculosis (children under 15 on an extended stay), rabies, and vigilance regarding chikungunya, dengue and mpox depending on ongoing outbreaks. No reference healthcare facility or local emergency number is publicly disclosed by France Diplomatie for Somalia: this information remains not publicly disclosed. France Diplomatie strongly recommends checking your insurance cover before any trip, as hospitalisation often requires evacuation to higher-quality facilities.

Care provision relies largely on humanitarian organisations. According to Médecins Sans Frontières, present in Somalia since 1979, the organisation supports in particular the Bay Regional Hospital in Baidoa (South West State), the Mudug Regional Hospital in Galkayo North (Puntland State) and facilities in Galkayo South (Galmudug State), with main activities including emergency obstetric and neonatal care, treatment of severe malnutrition in children, vaccination, management of infectious diseases (tuberculosis, measles, acute diarrhoea) and mobile clinics in areas of population displacement. In 2025, MSF reports having carried out 304,200 outpatient consultations, 66,400 emergency admissions, 26,500 hospitalisations and 10,300 assisted deliveries in Somalia. Given the fragility of the health system and the absence of a French embassy on site, medical evacuation must be anticipated for any serious condition, with no certainty that it can be organised from Somali territory.

• Mandatory visa to enter Somali territory, to be requested before departure from the Somali embassy in France, or, according to France Diplomatie, in the form of a single-entry visa valid for one month obtainable on arrival at Mogadishu international airport, for 60 USD in cash.
• Somaliland: a specific visa-on-arrival procedure is open to French nationals entering this territory, distinct from the Somali visa.
• Minimum passport validity: no detail is disclosed by France Diplomatie for Somalia in the sources consulted; this information remains not publicly disclosed.
• France Diplomatie strongly recommends checking your insurance cover before any trip, though no specifically named legal insurance obligation has been identified in the sources consulted.
• Vaccinations to consider depending on the profile and length of stay, according to France Diplomatie: updating standard French vaccinations, yellow fever (particularly southern part of the country), hepatitis A and B, typhoid fever, ACWY meningitis, tuberculosis (children under 15 on an extended stay), rabies, and vigilance regarding chikungunya, dengue and mpox depending on ongoing outbreaks — to be done before departure.
• CFE recommended, as no Franco-Somali agreement coordinates the health branch.

Security context, addressed here solely from the angle of access to care and assistance: France Diplomatie formally advises against almost the entire Somali territory (red zone), including Mogadishu and other locations in the centre and south under Al-Shabaab influence, as well as Puntland, due to daily acts of terrorism (assassinations, bomb attacks, suicide attacks), a kidnapping risk described as very high particularly for humanitarian staff and journalists, and a risk of maritime piracy off the Somali coast. In Somaliland, only the route linking Hargeisa to Berbera is classed as advised against unless essential, subject to appropriate security measures (escorts, reduced length of stay); the rest of Somaliland territory remains formally advised against. There is no open French embassy in Somalia: competence is exercised by the French embassy in Kenya, in Nairobi, which does not allow direct consular assistance on Somali territory. The sources consulted mention no evacuation arrangement organised by the French authorities from Somali territory.

No bilateral social security agreement exists between France and Somalia: the country is absent from the list of bilateral social security agreements published by CLEISS, both among those in force and those signed but not yet applied.

• No coordination of rights between the two schemes, whatever the branch (sickness-maternity, old age, workplace accidents, family benefits).
• No totalisation of insurance periods, no export of rights.
• No form equivalent to the SE 401/350/351 used with other countries.
• A French resident in Somalia has no access to any public health cover scheme by right identified in the sources consulted: only the Caisse des Français de l’Étranger (CFE) or private international health insurance provide effective cover, including medical evacuation.

1. Before any trip: check France Diplomatie's travel advice, updated regularly, as almost the entire Somali territory is formally advised against, except for the Hargeisa-Berbera route in Somaliland classed as advised against unless essential.
2. Before departure: apply for a visa from the Somali embassy in France, or check the applicable visa-on-arrival procedure (Mogadishu or Somaliland depending on the destination), and check health cover including hospitalisation and medical evacuation / repatriation, as no French embassy is open in Somalia to organise such an evacuation.
3. Before departure: consult a travel doctor for recommended vaccinations (up-to-date standard French vaccines, yellow fever, hepatitis A and B, typhoid fever, ACWY meningitis, tuberculosis, rabies depending on the profile and length of stay).
4. Register with Fil d’Ariane to receive France Diplomatie's security alerts before and during any trip.
5. For any consular formality: as no French embassy is open in Somalia, contact the French embassy in Kenya, in Nairobi, competent for Somalia.
6. Voluntary membership of the CFE recommended, as no Franco-Somali agreement coordinates the health branch.