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Trade, Rents, and Authority in borderland Checkpoint Economies​ (TRACE)

This project investigates the political economy of checkpoints in conflict-affected African borderlands.   

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Trucks at a checkpoint on a road out of Kismayo, SudanFlickr Creative Commons License/ AMISOM Public Information

Lead researcher: Peer Schouten 

Partner: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIISs 

Duration: November 2025 – October 2026  

Countries: DRC, Libya, Uganda, Rwanda, SudanSouth Sudan, Yemen, Myanmar

TRACE examines how checkpoints in conflict affected borderlands shape – and are shaped by – shifting forms of authority, trade flows and local moral economies. Combining participatory mapping, interviews and commodity chain analysis, the project develops and tests a typology of checkpoint governance across two workstreams: an in-depth case study in eastern Congo and comparative studies in other border regions. TRACE illuminates how roadblocks redistribute rents, negotiate protection and influence political ordering, while a dedicated uptake stream ensures the findings inform more nuanced humanitarian, diplomatic and development responses. 

Scholars engaged under this workstream: 

  • Abubaker Lndi 
  • David Mansfield 
  • Ibrahim Jalal  
  • Joshua Craze  
  • Olivier Walther  
  • Xu Peng  

For more information regarding this research, contact [email protected]

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