Overview Since the formation of Jubaland state in 2012, decades of conflict have given way to increased stability across parts of the region. Even so, insecurity, political violence and humanitarian crises have persisted amid recurrent tensions between Jubaland and…
RVI publishes books, research reports, research papers, briefings and meeting reports in a range of formats. Publications cover policy, research, arts, culture and local knowledge in the countries of eastern and central Africa. Research publications—books, reports and papers—are peer-reviewed. Some RVI publications are also available in French and/or Arabic.
The RVI is a signatory of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (2001); all publications are free for download in PDF format under Creative Commons licences. The views expressed in books and reports published by the RVI are those of the authors, not the Institute.
SEARCH
PUBLICATION TYPE
LANGUAGE
REGION
COUNTRY
Dulmar Tan iyo markii la sameeyay dowlad-goboleedka Jubaland 2012-kii, tobannaan sano oo colaado ah ka dib, xasilooni ayaa ka jirta qeybo kamid ah gobolka. Iyadoo ay side tahay, waxaa weli sii socda amni darrada, gacan ka haal siyaasad la…
Somalia formally adopted a federal system in 2004 with the establishment of the Transitional Federal Government. This model became more established in 2012 with the ratification of the Provisional Federal Constitution (PFC), which clarified many critical areas of Somalia’s…
Over the past decade, there have been several important gains made with Somalia’s state-building process, notably the establishment of a Federal Government following the endorsement of the Provisional Constitution in 2012. This was followed by the formation of Federal…
Tobankii sano ee la soo dhaafay, horumarro la taaban karo ayaa laga sameeyay xaaladda siyaasadda Soomaaliya, oo ay kamid tahay dhismihii Dowladda Federaalka Soomaaliya ee sanadkii 2012 kadib markii la ansixiyay Dastuurka Federaalka Kumeelgaarka ah. Dowladaha xubnaha ka ah…
Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in Somalia’s post-conflict trajectory, including the formation of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) in 2012 following the endorsement of the Provisional Federal Constitution. Federal Member States (FMSs) were formed…
Despite progress in some significant areas, Somalia’s politics continue to be shaped by stark differences between key political players. This is most evident in the ongoing disagreement around one-person-onevote (OPOV) elections, the framework for which is timetabled to be…
Recent Publications

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

Making Sense of Borderlands
March 27, 2025
This think piece is an extract of a longer paper taking stock of the roughly 40 X-Border studies carried out between 2019 and 2025 under the auspices of the Rift Valley Institute’s XCEPT programme. If we are to fully grasp