NAIROBI,Kenya,Sep 18 – Somali fragrance manufacturer Wara Fragrance is expanding its presence across East Africa, with its products now stocked in more than 1,000 outlets as the three-year-old company seeks to build a regional consumer brand.

The company’s expansion has been accompanied by recognition at the 2026 SOBA Awards, where Wara was named Business of the Year, while its co-founder and chief executive Abdirahman Hussein Mohamed received the Outstanding Excellence in Business award.

Founded in 2023, Wara says it distributes its fragrances across four East African markets and has registered the brand in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

The company says it has obtained ISO 9001 and Good Manufacturing Practice certifications and subjects its products to third-party quality control. It also provides Safety Data Sheets for its fragrances.

The expansion highlights growing opportunities for locally developed consumer brands to move beyond their domestic markets as East Africa’s retail and consumer goods sectors continue to integrate.

Wara’s growth has also been supported by Mohamed’s earlier experience in retail. He worked in Mogadishu’s Bakara Market before opening his own retail outlet and later co-founding Sarah Cosmetics in 2019, which expanded its operations into Somalia and Kenya.

“We don’t simply create cosmetics and fragrances; we create identities, experiences, and brands designed to outlive their founders,” Mohamed said.

The company has previously received industry recognition, winning Best Perfume Brand of the Year at the SOBA Awards in 2025 and the East Africa Somali Awards in April 2026. Its Moon Beam fragrance was also named Best Scent of the Year at the latter awards.

Wara operates alongside other businesses co-founded by Mohamed and his brother Anas Hussein Mohamed, including Haajar General, KAAT Cosmetics and Juusto Media. 

The group says its businesses employ more than 200 people, although no financial figures were provided.

The company is now looking to deepen local manufacturing, with plans to establish a factory in Somalia in 2027.

For Wara, the next stage will involve converting its growing distribution network and brand recognition into sustained sales across a competitive regional personal-care market, where international and local brands compete for increasingly diverse consumers.