This blog is the third part of a research project called ‘Navigating migration and the experiences of Congolese refugees in Nairobi’. The project’s aim is to better understand the drivers and dynamics of Congolese migration to Nairobi, and the…
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For over two decades Ethiopia’s political federation has been organized around the principle of ‘democratic centralism’. This philosophy also lies at the heart of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition, and its centralized decision-making culture. Until…
A form of insecurity that first manifested in rural areas in North Kivu, since 2015, kidnappings for ransom have also become commonplace in the city of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Here, it is children who are…
Roadblocks—infamous for the informal fees travellers must pay—are often thought to be found exclusively in rural areas. Yet, as Evariste Mahamba shows in this blog, the harbor of Goma also has a history of roadblocks. Having become hotspots of…
Within the city of Bukavu—as elsewhere in the Congo—many women earn a living selling goods and produce at the market or in the streets. In this blog, Alice Mugoli explores the different types of insecurity to which these women…
This blog post was written by Yolande Bouka and Marco Jowell, the Co-Directors of Studies for the Rift Valley Institute’s Great Lakes Field Course, which will be taking place in Ethiopia from 3-7 June 2019. Yolande and Marco will be joined…
In the city of Goma, numerous shop-keepers and street vendors—for instance, those selling phone credit, alcoholic drinks or food—work at night. As Alain Mukombe Misege analyzes in this blog, in certain quarters of the city of Goma—in particular, Kyeshero,…
This blog was written by Yolande Bouka and is part of RVI’s Research Collaboration project in partnership with the Groupe d’Etudes sur les Conflits et la Sécurité Humaine (GEC-SH) and funded by the Knowledge Management Fund of KPSRL. The project examines the political…
Between 2016 and 2018, civil society organizations in the city of Bukavu recorded 17 attacks on money-changers (cambistes), both on the streets and in their homes. Often in possession of large sums of cash, money-changers are a favoured target…
The growing insecurity in the city of Goma created by maibobo or street children, prompted the creation of the so-called anti-gang in 2007 around Virunga market. The anti-gang is a group of youth who ensure security in a particular…
Recent Publications
Thinking about Borderlands: Observations and implications from XCEPT programme research
March 31, 2025
Do the ways in which policymakers and national governments view borderlands reflect how the communities living there experience them? Building on this, can a better understanding of the characteristics of borderlands help in promoting development, improving governance and making more
Digital Governance and Security in the Horn of Africa
March 28, 2025
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 cross-border financial flows are central to these digital developments and are driving further innovation. From
Legally Informal: Women, conflict and cross-border trade in the Mandera tri-border area
March 28, 2025
In the Mandera triangle—a pastoralist region encompassing the point at which the borders of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia meet—the reality of local and cross-border trade often diverges widely from official state policies of control. This disjunction has created a grey