David Cameron has warned that failure to properly support the rebuilding of Somalia will lead to "terrorism and mass migration" as he hosted an international conference on the country's future.
Almost 50 governments and global bodies including the IMF and World Bank gathered at the meeting in London to hear Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud outline his plans to stabilise the country after two decades of brutal civil war.
Opening the conference, the Prime Minster hailed the progress made in the African nation, but demanded action to ensure the momentum is maintained.
That will allow many Somalis who fled the bloodshed to the UK and elsewhere to return home, he pointed out.
A year on from the first such UK-hosted meeting of international backers, a government has been installed and more territory grabbed back from the control of al Shabaab Islamist militias.
The capital Mogadishu is starting to return to more normal life - with petrol stations, supermarkets and international flights returning for the first time since 1991 - despite continued terrorist attacks like the suicide car bomb which killed several civilians last week.
The PM arrives at the meeting with Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud But the president faced "one of the most difficult tasks of any leader anywhere in the world", Mr Cameron said, to overcome the "huge challenges" that remained including poverty, corruption, sexual violence against women and securing wider support for the government beyond the capital.
"Despite the gains made against al Shabaab, the recent tragic and despicable attacks in Mogadishu - including one just last weekend - remind us how much work there is still to do in the fight against terrorism and extremism.
"These challenges are not just issues for Somalia. They matter to Britain - and to the whole international community.
"Why? Because when young minds are poisoned by radicalism and they go on to export terrorism and extremism, the security of the whole world is at stake.
"And to anyone who says, this isn't a priority or we can't afford to deal with it, I would say that is what we've said in the past and look where it has got us: terrorism and mass migration.
"We made that mistake not just in the Horn of Africa, but also in Afghanistan in the 1990s and we must not make it again," Mr Cameron said.
(L-R) William Hague, David Cameron and the Somalian President at the summit Ending poverty and the lure of payment by extremists was "the best antidote to extremism", the PM told representatives.
But help had to go well beyond humanitarian aid, he said, pledging £10m of UK support for developing Somalia's armed forces, £14.5m to boost police numbers and train judges and financial support for a maritime radio system to counter piracy.
"I hope that others here will contribute too and the countries in the region will stay the course and work with Somalia while it builds up its own forces," Mr Cameron added.
At present, the country relies on the help of Ethiopian and African Union military support to combat al Shabaab.
The PM said the international community had to send a "strong signal" to world financial institutions to help Somalis deal with debt and get access to finance now it has a government recognised by the US and other key players for the first time in more than two decades.
And al Shabaab extremists who renounced violence should be able to join the political process.
Earlier Mr Cameron had talks with young members of the Somali diaspora. He said he wanted to make their country safe enough for those who wished to return and help with the rebuilding process.
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