The 1st century CE Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, among other documents, reports early commercial exchanges between traders inhabiting city-states on the northern Somalia littoral with Himyarite and Sabaean merchants, who controlled much of the Arabian Peninsula.

[6] In March 2014, Prime Minister of Somalia Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed began an official three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates to discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two nations.

The officials touched on various matters of bilateral interest, including military operations, governmental re-institutionalization, maritime security, and the local reconstruction process.

Omer in turn commended the Emirati government for its various development initiatives in Somalia, and applauded the UAE's commitment to the reconstruction process therein.

[11] The Somali government announced on Wednesday April 11, 2018, that it will take over paying and training the soldiers in the programme, Defence Minister Mohamed Mursal Abdirahman told Somalia's state news agency Sonna.

[13] In late March 2013, Foreign Minister of Somalia Fowziya Yusuf Haji Adan and her Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation.

The agreement re-establishes formal diplomatic ties between Somalia and the UAE, and also focuses on the political, security, economic, investment and development sectors.