Cross-border trade is crucial for ongoing state building in the Somali inhabited Horn of Africa. This is significantly enabled by revenue collection at border crossings, which forms a crucial part of states’ finances in this region. Cross-border trade is…
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.
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Situated between Somalia’s Federal Member States of Puntland and Galmudug, the city of Galkayo forms an administrative and social boundary within the broader Bosaso trade corridor, which encompasses Puntland, Galmudug and Hirshabelle. Located at the edge of Puntland but…
In Somaliland and Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State, small-scale informal trading far exceeds formal trade. However, most recent writing on trade in this region has disproportionately focused on formal trade thus neglecting a key area of economic activity. In contrast,…
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…
The Sudan-Eritrea-Ethiopia border region has long been a place of deep interconnection. Historically, collaboration across ethno-linguistic and religious divides allowed communities to develop life-sustaining complementary strategies for utilizing the region’s natural resources. These traditional patterns of human-environment interaction both…
Since around 2015, the importance of the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, in the affairs of countries in the Horn of Africa has been growing. At the same time, Turkey, which made…
Since around 2015, the importance of the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, in the affair of countries in the Horn of Africa has been growing. At the same time, Turkey, which…
In the Horn of Africa there is a dynamic interplay between land and sea that has shaped political, economic and social relationships. Historical and contemporary instances of piracy in the Western Indian Ocean, at different times, precipitated a securitization of…
This briefing is an output of the Diaspora Humanitarianism in Complex Crises (D-Hum) project, a partnership between the Danish Institute for International Studies, Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, Rako Research and Communication Centre, and the Rift Valley Institute. Key…
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The World Bank’s Somalia Urbanization Review aims to improve our understanding of the complex issues pertaining to urbanization in Somalia and identifies priority interventions that can help better manage it. There is wide consensus within the government as well…
Recent Publications
BEING MUSLIM & BECOMING ETHIOPIAN: CONTEMPORARY DYNAMICS AMONG ETHIOPIAN MUSLIMS
June 18, 2024
By Terje Østebø SUMMARY In the wake of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) gaining power in 1991, a religious resurgence driven by various Islamic reform movements produced a more active, visible Muslim community. Over time, the government came
GIRL CHILD BLOOD COMPENSATION PRACTICE AMONG THE LOTUKO IN EASTERN EQUATORIA STATE
June 12, 2024
Girls and women in South Sudan face numerous barriers and challenges: customary law often denies women the right to own land, girls’ access to education remains precarious and harmful traditional practices continue to place women and girls at risk of
TRANSBORDER MOBILE MONEY PLATFORMS IN THE GREATER SOMALI ECONOMIC SPACE
June 12, 2024
SUMMARY The informal transborder movement of goods and people have long captivated scholars, policymakers and security institutions in the East Africa region, in particular in the Horn of Africa (HoA). Special attention has been given to the transborder economic activities