… The two presidents agreed to "remove all obstacles" in relations and fully implement cooperation agreements, including the flow of South Sudan's oil for export through Sudanese pipelines. But speaking to DW, Magdi el-Gizouli, an analyst and member of…
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An analysis of the situation in Eastern DRC from Reuters: The deployment of a U.N. force of African troops in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo threatens to draw Rwanda into a damaging conflict with African powers and derail its economic 'miracle'…
Extract from a long-form report on South Sudan's independence and the rebellion in the Nuba mountains … Just as Bashir’s regime uses warfare as its main instrument of governance, fighting has become a way of life for the tribal people…
More than two years after Sudan’s southerners voted for a country of their own, some people in lands along the new border with the old rump Sudan remain in limbo. Acuil Akol comes from Abyei, a triangle of contested…
A story in the Guardian about southern Sudan's dilapidated archives and the restoration effort spear-headed by the Rift Valley Institute This is our archive," Youssef Fulgensio Onyalla says wistfully as he pulls back the tarp covering the metal door and opens…
RVI in Local and Global Media July to December 2012 is a cumulative record of references to the Rift Valley Institute in local and international news media and academic literature from July to December 2012. Included in the document are…
Since becoming Africa's newest country in 2011, South Sudan continues to remain locked in a land dispute with Sudan over the Abyei region which covers 10,000 square kilometres of farmland, desert and oil fields. People in the contested border…
In a blog for the Christian Science Monitor, Jason Stearns, Director of the RVI Usalama Project describes how a deal to end the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo fell foul of demands from M23 rebels for integration into the Congolese army…
A nomadic group in the disputed border region of Abyei threatened war if it’s excluded from a referendum over the area’s status, after the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan failed to end an impasse over the issue. Abyei…
Recent Publications

Writing Ethiopia into the World, Writing the World from Ethiopia
October 7, 2026
The Ethiopian Women Researchers Network (EWNET) hosted an online scholarly webinar on Friday, 30 January 2026, titled ‘Writing Ethiopia into the World and Writing the World from Ethiopia’. The webinar examined how Ethiopia has been represented within global knowledge production

The Political Economy of Coffee in the Kaffa–Bench-Sheko–Sheka Belt, Southwest Ethiopia Region
October 6, 2026
This study provides a critical political economy analysis of the coffee sector in the Kaffa–Bench-Sheko–Sheka belt in Southwest Ethiopia Peoples’ Regional State, the genetic and cultural heartland of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica). Based on 47 key respondent interviews, the study

The Political Economy of Coffee in the Jimma–Ilu Aba Bora–Buno Bedele Belt, Oromia Region
October 5, 2026
The findings of this study reveal a number of critical insights about the political economy of coffee in the Jimma–Ilu Aba Bora–Buno Bedele coffee belt. The coffee economy is shaped by a small number of influential actors, including state institutions,