Tag Archives: Al Shabaab

Al Shabaab Governance – peer-reviewed paper published

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How does the insurgent Somali Islamist movement Al Shabaab govern the populations it controls, and what are the implications for Somalia and the international intervention there? This is the subject of my article published by the Canadian Journal of African Studies on 18 July 2025.

Here is the link to the final manuscript as accepted by the Journal, and following is the abstract of the paper.

Presentations and echoes

I will discuss this paper as part of the presentation on my current research at Leiden University on 24 September, in a closed session to which LU staff and students are invited.

I’m organising a seminar on this topic at the Center for International Studies of Sciences Po (CERI) in Paris in the second half of October (precise date and location to follow). The seminar will be presented and moderated by my colleague at the CERI Hélène Thiollet.

An article based on my research will soon be published by the New Humanitarian, and a shorter, more divulgative article will appear in The Conversation (African edition). The links will be placed here upon publication.

I had the pleasure to discuss this paper with Guido Lafranchi, researcher at the Clingendael Institute, and look forward to other discussions with experts!

Note: the banner image is from a 2018 map depicting areas of influence. Al Shabaab = green. Not much has changed since then.

Al Shabaab bans plastic bags

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Late June 2018 the Somali insurgent movement Al Shabaab announced a ban on plastic bags, citing environmental concerns and the impact on livestock. In my travels through Somalia, I have noticed extensive plastic bag pollution. The first cause of death for camels in the United Arab Emirates is plastic bags (see an article in The National or a short analysis here), and undoubtedly they cause many deaths in Somalia too. Camel raising is a main source of wealth in Somalia. So a ban on plastic bags, whoever declares it, should be greeted with relief.

Mogadishu’s beaches are full of plastic and other litter

Remarkably, the few international media that reported on it, as well as almost all social media comments, ridiculed the decision. See for example the New York Times report which gives some examples of the laughter generated about the ‘first eco-terrorist group’.

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Business Community of Mogadishu under fire

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In brief: the IMF has congratulated the Federal Government of Somalia on its progress on revenue collection and other reforms it considers necessary. It has also suggested that the government increase its regulation of the Somali Telecoms sector, an often-repeated request of the international community, worried about Al Shabaab’s use of mobile money services. Meanwhile, the insurgent group has been engaged in a taxation war with the Islamic State. In the middle of these contentions, between a rock and a hard place, stands Mogadishu’s successful business community.

Pizza House in Hodan has considerably expanded since it was attacked by Al Shabaab a few years ago. It’s a favorite hangout of Mogadishu’s youth
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