Large gaps and inconsistencies remain in published estimates of Nubia–Somalia plate motion based on reconstructions of seafloor spreading data around Africa. Herein, we use newly available reconstructions of the Southwest Indian Ridge at ∼1-Myr intervals since 20 Ma to estimate Nubia–Somalia plate motion farther back in time than previously achieved and with an unprecedented degree of temporal resolution. At the northern end of the East African rift, our new estimates of Nubia–Somalia motion for six times from 0.78 Ma to 5.2 Ma differ by only 2 per cent from the rift-normal component of motion that is extrapolated from a recently estimated GPS angular velocity. The rate of rift-normal extension thus appears to have remained steady since at least 5.2 Ma. Our new rotations indicate that the two plates have moved relative to each other since at least 16 Ma and possibly longer. Motion has either been steady since at least 16 Ma or accelerated modestly between 6 and 5.2 Ma. Our Nubia–Somalia rotations predict 42.5