SUMMARY • Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State (SRS) is rich in natural resources, including oil and natural gas reserves in the Ogaden Basin which covers an area of approximately 350,000 sq km comprising much of the SRS. If managed properly…
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
SUMMARY Somalia grapples with unique cultural, societal, and structural hurdles that hinder women’s access to political processes. Despite introducing a non-legally binding quota, the most recent federal elections in 2022 saw a decline in women’s parliamentary representation. Beyond this,…
Summary In recent history, political processes in Somalia have been dominated by a narrow set of political and business elites, armed actors and external players. Following the collapse of the government in 1991, there were a series of conferences…
ማጠቃለያ Find the English version of this report here….
SUMMARY • In June 2018 and July 2019 violent clashes erupted in Hawassa, an important commercial hub in southern Ethiopian and the capital of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region. While the first attack appeared relatively spontaneous, the…
ማጠቃለያ Find the English version of this publication here. …
ማጠቃለያ • ድሬ ዳዋ የኢትዮጵያ ሁለተኛ ትልቅ ከተማ ስትሆን በሀገሪቱ ምስራቃዊ ክፍል – በኦሮሚያ እና በሶማሊያ ክልል አዋሳኝ ድንበር ላይ የምትገኝ የብዝሃ-ብሔር እና የኃይማኖቶች የኢኮኖሚ ማዕከል ነች። ምንም እንኳን የከተማዋ ታሪካዊ ሥርዓት በኃይማኖቶች እና በብሔሮች መካከል ባለ ወዳጅነትና መተሳሰብ…
SUMMARY • Dire Dawa, Ethiopia’s second largest city, is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious economic hub in the country’s eastern region, sitting on the contested boundary between the Oromia and Somali regions. Despite an overarching sense that the city’s historical…
SUMMARY • Gondar city is known for centuries of peaceful coexistence between its Muslim and Orthodox Christian community members. These inter-religious relations have, however, deteriorated over recent decades, erupting into view in the April 2022 attack on Muslim mourners…
ማጠቃለያ በአገር አቀፍ ደረጃ የፖለቲካ ለውጥ ቢደረግም በኦሮሚያ ክልል በሚገኙት ሁለቱ የጉጂ ዞኖች (ጉጂ እና ምዕራብ ጉጂ) የማዕድን ቁፋሮ ሥራ የአካባቢውን ማኅበረሰቦች ማግለሉን ቀጥሏል። ይህ እውነታ በተለይ በሳውዑዲ ቢሊየነር ሼክ መሐመድ ሁሴን አል አሙዲ ባለቤትነት በሚተዳደረው የሚድሮክ የማዕድን እና…
Recent Publications

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Post-2018 Ethiopia: Navigating church–state and inter-religious dynamics
April 4, 2025
This report examines the complex and shifting situation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) in post-2018 Ethiopia, highlighting its struggle to maintain influence amid political, social and religious changes. In addition to examining both the current EOTC relationship with

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