Drawing on ongoing multi-sited research conducted as part of the GOVSEA (Governing economic hubs and flows in Somali East Africa) research project, this paper formulates a number of hypotheses that highlight the nexus between corridor making and state making. Taking their point of departure in empirical state formation dynamics across the Somali territories, the paper highlights how the (in-)formal governance of economic hubs – including market places and gateways –contributes to state-building, how economic actors engage in state-building to reduce transaction costs, how certain gateways produce rents that retard institution-building, and how, in contexts of weak statehood, the adoption of international economic and technical standards constitutes a pragmatic state-building tactic. This paper brings together empirical insights and materials by different GOVSEA researchers. It connects to classic state-building and formation theories in an attempt to shed light on the latter form the particular angle of everyday trading and economics in Somali East Africa.