By Michel Thill The current debate over Rwanda’s support for M23––the latest rebellion in North Kivu––has refocused international attention on this crisis-ridden eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Much of the media coverage has focused on…
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By Magdi El Gizouli Instead of Sadiq al-Mahdi, the imam of the Ansar, it was Abd al-Mahmoud Abbo, the Secretary General of the Ansar Welfare Association, who led the prayer last Friday in Sayed Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi mosque in…
By Peter Elborn This is a book that is what it says on the label – it is a handbook. But that makes it sound like the dull product of a propaganda ministry and it is far from that….
By Aly Verjee The maxim that the test of any agreement is in its implementation is familiar to those who follow Sudanese politics, even from a distance. This article reviews the latest agreements reached between Sudan and South Sudan…
South Sudan's first year of life has been marred by political uncertainty, lawlessness and an oil dispute. Its east African neighbours are watching for opportunities but wary of investing. … Magdi El Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley…
By Magdi El Gizouli Obviously challenged by the stubborn show of anger against their long rule in the heartland of the country the high priests of the National Congress Party (NCP) shifted gears from unashamed dismissal to defensive posturing…
Hunger is likely to persist among people caught up in conflict in Sudan’s border states, despite a government promise to allow food relief into areas that aid groups warn are on the verge of famine. Sudan agreed on June…
On September 27, one of the most repressive governments on earth was thrown a lifeline. After an eight-month standoff that ravaged the two countries' economies and brought them to the brink of war, North and South Sudan resolved a…
‘Gatekeepers’ are siphoning off food aid intended for internally displaced people living in squalid camps in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, Refugees International said in a report on Thursday, calling on aid agencies to stop operating via remote control from…
By Magdi El Gazouli Sudan's Military Industry Corporation (MIC), established according to its website in 1993, has as its motto the phrase 'for peace we gather all our effort'. The phrase mocks the fact that the Sudan Armed Forces…
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