This Usalama Project report describes the origins, rapid evolution, expansion and activities of this diverse force. The group began as a local response to rampant insecurity but profited from flaws in the various peace deals in the eastern DRC, which helped it evolve from a parochial militia into a violent franchise deployed across large parts of North and South Kivu.

Digital Governance and Security in the Horn of Africa
While digital finance—including mobile money—has developed unevenly across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, such technologies are nevertheless transforming everyday economic activities. In some cases, borderlands and