Knowledge of Nubia/Somalia relative motion since the Early Neogene is of particular importance in the Earth Sciences, because it (i) impacts on inferences on African dynamic topography; and (ii) allows us to link plate kinematics within the Indian realm with those within the Atlantic basin. The contemporary Nubia⁄Somalia motion is well known from geodetic observations. Precise estimates of the past–3.2–Myr average motion are also available from paleo–magnetic observations. However, little is known of the Nubia⁄Somalia motion prior to ~3.2 Ma, chiefly because the Southwest Indian Ridge spread slowly, posing a challenge to precisely identify magnetic lineations. This also makes the few observations available particularly prone to noise. Here we reconstruct Nubia⁄Somalia relative motions since ~20 Ma from the alternative plate–circuit Nubia–Arabia–Somalia. We resort to trans–dimensional hierarchical Bayesian Inference, which has proved effective in reducing finite–rotation noise, to unravel the Arabia⁄Somalia and Arabia⁄Nubia motions. We combine the resulting kinematics to reconstruct the Nubia⁄Somalia relative motion since ~20 Ma. We verify the validity of the approach by comparing our reconstruction with the available record for the past ~3.2 Myr, obtained through Antarctica. Results indicate that prior to ~11 Ma the total motion between Nubia and Somalia was faster than today. Furthermore, it featured a significant strike–slip component along the Nubia/Somalia boundary. It is only since ~11 Ma that Nubia diverges away from Somalia at slower rates, comparable to the present–day. Kinematic changes of some 20% might have occurred in the period leading to the present–day, but plate–motion steadiness is also warranted within the uncertainties.