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Kenya's Peace and Security Diplomacy: Gains and Gaps
This policy brief is informed by the proceedings of a youth dialogue on Kenya’s peace and security diplomacy, convened on 14 August 2026. It finds that Kenya's challenge is not a shortage of diplomatic assets but a shortage of institutional machinery to convert them into durable outcomes, and recommends a permanent mediation support unit, transparent intervention criteria, and a national action plan on youth, peace and security.
The Missing Tier: Devolution and Kenya's Artificial Intelligence Governance
Discussion of artificial intelligence regulation tends to organise itself around two figures: the developer who builds a system and the deployer who puts it in front of a user. Both matter. In a devolved state, however, a third question sits beneath them and determines whether any rule will function in practice.
Harnessing Kenya-France Relations in a Shifting Global Order
Following the 2026 Africa Forward Summit, this brief examines Kenya's strategic partnership with France across maritime security, economic transformation, and regional governance. It explores how Kenya can navigate asymmetrical trade, leverage equity-based partnerships, and avoid bilateral silos to convert global diplomatic visibility into sustainable regional stability and domestic industrial gains.
Who Gets to Be a Pan-Africanist?
There is a word that has been spoken by freedom fighters in prison cells, by intellectuals in Paris, by trade unionists in Manchester,and by heads of state in Addis Ababa — and most recently, and most controversially, by a French president standing beside a Kenyan counterpart in Nairobi.
The Price of Presence: Can Kenya Turn French Partnerships into Sovereign Progress?
As the Africa Forward Summit opens in Nairobi, Kenya stands at a crossroads between becoming a permanent market for French high-tech goods or a sovereign co-producer of its own future. Beneath the high-level handshakes lies a stark structural reality that demands a deliberate industrial strategy.
What the Numbers Say About Sudan's Unravelling
As the war enters its fourth year, Sudan now carries a grim distinction: the world's largest humanitarian and displacement crisis. This analysis draws on landmark data to reveal what happens when the international community watches and waits.
Why South Sudan is Returning to Total War
After seven years of delicate peace and trapped transition, South Sudan's security landscape is undergoing a violent and perhaps irreversible collapse. As military convoys move toward the Nuer heartlands, the international community might be witnessing the final collapse of the 2018 peace agreement.
What Would Israeli Recognition of Somaliland Mean for the Horn of Africa's Geopolitics?
Israel's recognition of Somaliland marks a significant diplomatic breakthrough, but what does it mean for regional stability? This analysis explores the geopolitical implications.
Rethinking How Youth Shape the Future of Nature and Finance
This brief interrogates the financialisation of nature through Nature-based Solutions (NbS), examining how ecological restoration initiatives intersect with market logics that commodify ecosystems.
Africa's Democracy on Life Support
Africa's democratic experiment is in deep crisis. Once hailed as the continent of promise, where multiparty politics and constitutional reform would herald a new dawn, much of Africa today finds itself in democratic regression.
GERD Beyond Conflict: Unlocking Regional Value & Cooperation in the Horn of Africa
An important turning point in the history of infrastructure in the Horn of Africa was reached in September 2025 when the turbines of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) were synchronized to Ethiopia's national grid.
Africa's Climate Crossroads: From Nairobi's Promises to Addis Ababa's Demands
The Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) builds on the Nairobi Declaration, pushing into the far more complex terrain of implementation and accountability.
Nala Weekly
A weekly product of the Nala Center, tracking the flashpoints shaping the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, and where they are likely to go next.
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Nala Weekly
No. 05
This week, ambushes, drones and disease tested governments across the region. A federal army column suffered heavy losses near Leego, days into Somalia’s new offensive in South West State, and clashes in Moyale between Ethiopia’s Oromia and Somali regions drove thousands into Kenya. RSF drones cut power across eastern Sudan, Egypt’s parliament authorised support for Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, and DR Congo’s Ebola outbreak passed 9,900 confirmed cases. Each section sets out likely scenarios, a recommendation and what to watch in the coming weeks.
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No. 04
This week, drones and disputed mandates shaped the region. A drone strike on a market in the contested Abyei Area killed at least 153 people, and Ethiopian forces stepped back from the Eritrean border. Egypt weighed sending forces to support Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, Somalia set election dates without the opposition’s agreement, and in DR Congo the AFC/M23 relaunched itself as the FRN. Each section sets out likely scenarios, a recommendation and what to watch in the coming weeks.
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No. 03
This week's Nala Weekly tracks six flashpoints as the region's conflicts become contests between states. On the Ethiopia–Eritrea border, federal and allied forces have pushed to within about 30 km of Eritrea as both capitals took their cases to the UN Security Council. In Sudan, strikes near the Ethiopian and Egyptian borders killed scores of civilians. In Somalia, a dispute over President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's mandate has pitted security forces against the opposition in Mogadishu. In the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb, a Houthi missile struck Riyadh's main airport. In South Sudan, President Kiir secured South African backing for the 22 December polls while the main opposition continues to boycott, and in the DR Congo, former president Joseph Kabila has taken charge of the rebellion in Goma.
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No. 02
This week's Nala Weekly tracks five flashpoints as the region's conflicts increasingly converge. In Ethiopia, federal forces have retaken Mekelle and Addis Ababa has broken off relations with Eritrea, raising the risk of an interstate war. In Sudan, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has ruled out talks as the RSF opens a new front in Blue Nile on the Ethiopian border. In South Sudan, the main opposition is boycotting the pre-election dialogue, leaving the 22 December poll short of legitimacy. Somalia is caught between rival regional blocs as Ethiopia weighs pulling troops out and the AU mission's funding is in doubt. At the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb, Saudi-backed Yemeni forces are fighting the Houthis for control of the strait.
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No. 01
This week's Nala Weekly tracks four fast-moving flashpoints reshaping the security environment in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region. In South Sudan, President Salva Kiir has cleared the way for a 22 December vote, but with Riek Machar on trial and the main opposition rejecting the process, the poll risks deepening the crisis. In Ethiopia, a seven-group alliance with the TPLF as its main fighting force has taken up arms against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, ending the Pretoria agreement and raising the risk of a regional war. At the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb, the Houthis' seizure of Mayun Island has opened a Red Sea front in the war with Iran, putting one of the world's key shipping lanes at risk. In Sudan, the RSF is applying the siege tactics used in El Fasher to El-Obeid, pushing the country towards a de facto partition.
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