Wara Fragrance takes a Somali perfume brand across borders

Wara Fragrance is expanding a Somali-founded consumer brand through shops across East Africa. A September 2026 report said the company had reached more than 1,000 retail outlets across four markets, according to Wara, and had received recognition at the Somali Business Awards.

Abdirahman Hussein Mohamed is Wara’s co-founder and chief executive. His brother Anas Hussein Mohamed is also involved in the family’s wider businesses.

The achievement is a regional distribution network built around a product with branding, packaging, scent design and repeat retail demand. It shows that consumer brands founded in Somali markets can build routes to customers beyond their home country.

Wara plans to deepen local manufacturing; its 2027 factory ambition should be understood as a plan rather than a completed investment.