Lasanod is located on the border between the Republic of Somaliland and Somalia’s federal state of Puntland. Now under the administrative control of Somaliland, the city is contested— sometimes violently— between the two polities, which are both products of Somalia’s post-1991 state-building project.

Lasanod: City at the Margins examines the economic and political consequences of this ambiguous borderland status, which has led to new forms of revenue collection and political organization. It describes how traders negotiate multiple tax regimes in the borderlands between Somaliland and Puntland and outlines the consequences for doing business in the region.

This report is a product of the FCDO’s Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) programme, funded by UK aid from the UK government.