MOGADISHU, Somalia — Wara Fragrance CEO and co-founder Abdirahman Hussein Mohamed has bagged the coveted business leader crown at the Somali Business Awards (SOBA) 2026.
Mohamed scooped the Outstanding Excellence in Business award, one of the Somali business community’s most closely watched annual recognitions.
The individual honour came in the same year Wara Fragrance was named Business of the Year 2026 at the same ceremony, giving the brand and its founder a rare double recognition on the same stage.
Mohamed’s business background and growth
Mohamed founded the company in 2023 alongside his elder brother Anas Hussein Mohamed.
Born in February 1997 in Ethiopia, he spent three years as a teenage mathematics and physics teacher before working as a teenager in Mogadishu’s Bakara Market, first for the construction materials company Qoobey and later for the electronics brand Sumec, rising to manage the largest branch at each.
He later opened his own retail shop in Mogadishu’s Wardhigley district before co-founding Sarah Cosmetics in 2019, which grew into a retail chain operating in Somalia and Kenya.
From Bakara Market to the Boardroom, Mohamed’s path to founding Wara Fragrance began well before the company’s launch.
Wara Fragrance has since grown into one of East Africa’s most recognised perfume brands in just three years.
The company is certified to ISO 9001 and Good Manufacturing Practice standards, issues Safety Data Sheets for its fragrances, and runs its products through third-party quality control before they reach shelves.
Wara’s products are now sold through more than 1,000 outlets across four East African countries, and the brand is registered in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
The brand has built a consistent track record on the awards circuit. The company previously won Best Perfume Brand of the Year at the SOBA Awards 2025, then repeated the win at the East Africa Somali Awards in April 2026, where its signature scent, Moon Beam, was separately named Best Scent of the Year.
At the 2026 SOBA Awards, Wara added Business of the Year 2026 to its case, with Mohamed personally recognized for Outstanding Excellence in Business the same night.
The co-founder Anas Mohamed, who serves as the company’s Chairman, chose the name to reflect “long-lasting” — a nod to the brand’s ambitions for scent longevity as well as staying power in the market.
“We don’t simply create cosmetics and fragrances; we create identities, experiences, and brands designed to outlive their founders,” Mohamed said in a press statement seen by News9.africa.
Business empire
Today, Wara Fragrance sits within a wider group of businesses Mohamed has co-founded alongside Anas, including Haajar General, KAAT Cosmetics, and Juusto Media, a Somalia-based advertising agency.
The companies employ more than 200 people, investing in the infrastructure behind their growth, from ISO and GMP certifications to four-country distribution footprint.
Mohamed holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Somalia (UNISO) and is completing an MBA at Open University Malaysia.
He plans to expand his business empire by opening a factory in Somalia in 2027.
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