NAIROBI - Somalia has made progress restoring state institutions and accountability and its administration can now handle more funds directly, the African Union's deputy head of mission to Somalia said.

For two decades the Horn of Africa nation has had no functional central government and its transitional administration controls only sections of the capital Mogadishu.

Wafula Wamunyinyi, the deputy special representative for the AU Commission for Somalia, said the government received inadequate direct funding, and that there were still some impediments to their getting more aid.

"They were working hard in re-establishing state institutions, coordination and implementation of the plans; they are making progress ... and taking care of the accountability system," he said. - Reuters