Analysis

Op-Ed: Using African schools to create sustainable communities

In many African countries, ambitious policies and strategies are being developed to support the transition to a circular economy. Yet despite growing awareness and investment, many interventions struggle to achieve sustained impact at community level. The starting point might just be via one of Africa's…

Re-evaluating Media Performance in Russia and Africa

Under the auspices of the Faculty of Journalism of Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Russian-African Club, in late April, held its IV International Forum of Journalists from Russia and Africa, which marked another historical milestone. According to an established annual tradition, discussions were…

From Scarcity to Strategy: Why Somalia Needs a National Afforestation Programme

Rethinking the absence

The Quiet Centralization: How Somalia's New Constitutional Provisions Redistribute Power Outside the Federal Framework

The amended constitution's power allocation framework rests on a closed schedule structure. Four schedules distribute governmental powers across the three tiers: Schedule 2(A) lists the exclusive powers of the federal government ("FGS"), Schedule 2(B) lists shared powers, Schedule 2(C) lists…

Beyond Vulnerability: What Somalia's Climate Finance Gap Reveals About Global Priorities

In recent years, climate change has come to occupy a central place in Somalia's public and policy discourse. It is invoked to explain drought cycles, displacement, food insecurity, and the increasing fragility of rural livelihoods. These associations are neither incidental nor overstated. The Intergovernmental…

Somalia: Mogadishu Governed from Above: The Constitutional Case Against the Capital Arrangement

This is the third in a series of essays examining the amendments to the Provisional Constitution. The first two essays examined the amendments as proposed, while this one analyzes the text as passed by Parliament.

Somalia: Article 54 and the Federal Settlement: Constitutional Authority and the Politics of Completion

A previous essay [2] examined how the proposed amendments to Chapter 5 of the Provisional Constitution reorganize the allocation of powers between the Federal Government (FGS) and the Federal Member States (FMS). The amendments include two provisions requiring separate treatment: the allocation of powers…

Somalia: From Transitional Federalism to a Defined Federal Order: Constitutional Design Choices in Amended Chapter 5

This is the first in a series of essays examining Somalia's proposed constitutional amendments and their implications for governance. This essay focuses on the institutional architecture created by the amended Chapter 5 and provides an overview of how the new text restructures the federal system.

Today's Geopolitics Influencing Africa's Food Sovereignty

While adapting to the rapidly geopolitical changes, Africa has to review its relations with external partners over food security from diverse perspectives. In the economic context, Africa can demonstrate concern by analyzing the distinctive challenges its agricultural sector faces, redesign agricultural…

Somalia's Four-Year Cycle: Why Momentum Fades and What It Will Take to Break It

At the end of every four years in Somalia, there's a new occupant at the Villa Somalia although these timelines may at times be abused as a result of political intransigence necessitating extensions which run into months.