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The research paper examines whether South Africa has eclipsed Nigeria as Africa's dominant power. While Nigeria maintains significant demographic and resource-based weight, the author argues that South Africa has leveraged multilateral institutions, a diverse economy, and a value-driven foreign policy to achieve greater global visibility and influence. The analysis highlights Nigeria's internal security challenges and strategic drift as factors that have diminished its international standing, while noting that South Africa faces its own domestic vulnerabilities, including energy crises and high unemployment.

The strategy aims to make climate adaptation options visible and foster societal ownership of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) in the Central African Republic by 2030. It identifies nine target groups, including the public sector, private sector, and indigenous peoples, and outlines four strategic axes: political and financial appropriation, public awareness of best practices, information sharing among stakeholders, and coordination/monitoring. The plan includes a wide array of activities such as community radio broadcasts, mobile applications, and educational outreach, with an indicative budget of 479,225,000 FCFA. Implementation is led by the National Climate Coordination (CNC) under the supervision of a steering committee.

The report confirms that the FP211 Hardest-to-Reach programme is classified as ESS Category I-2 and has established an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS). This system, which includes a Land Acquisition and Resettlement Policy and Guidance on Indigenous Peoples, is disclosed in English, French, Portuguese, and Arabic. The ESMS is available at Acumen's offices in Kenya and Nigeria, as well as at the Nationally Designated Authority offices in the target countries. An updated version of the ESMS was released on June 30, 2025, to provide more detail on investing strategy and safeguarding roles, and to include Liberia in the programme scope.

The East African Community (EAC) has expanded its membership to include the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia, aiming to increase its geopolitical influence and market size. However, this growth strains the bloc's institutional capacity, particularly regarding financial sustainability, bureaucratic efficiency, and the harmonisation of economic policies among fragile states. The inclusion of conflict-prone members introduces significant security risks, though it also provides opportunities for collective regional stability and trade integration through frameworks like the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement.

The report argues that low-income countries face a systemic balance of payments crisis rather than a simple liquidity or solvency problem, driven by a rise in expensive, short-maturity non-guaranteed private debt and reversed capital flows. It proposes the Debt for Resilience (D4R) initiative, which would provide a standardized 50% reduction in the net present value (NPV) of official bilateral and multilateral debt for IDA-eligible countries. Participation would be contingent on an active IMF program and the development of nationally determined growth plans supported by the United Nations and World Bank to avoid austerity. The report also evaluates existing proposals like the Bridge Initiative and the Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery (DRGR), arguing they rely on a flawed binary between liquidity and solvency and fail to account for the heterogeneity of countries' credit compositions.

The document outlines a comprehensive approach to electrifying rural health centers in sub-Saharan Africa using solar PV. It emphasizes the necessity of professional technical consultancy to avoid project failure, provides detailed mathematical formulas for dimensioning components (panels, inverters, and batteries), and compares different system architectures (Off-Grid, On-Grid Backup, and On-Grid). The guide also details various financing models, including Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), and stresses the importance of a two-level maintenance strategy and the appointment of an energy manager ('Monsieur/Madame Energie') to ensure long-term system viability.

The document examines the 'catnip project', which successfully developed an environmentally friendly mosquito repellent using local bioresources in eastern Africa. While the project demonstrated strong entrepreneurial activity and legitimacy through community involvement, it faced significant barriers in financial mobilization, policy guidance, and market creation. The analysis highlights the critical role of bio-innovation platforms like BioInnovate Africa in linking research to market, while noting that short funding cycles from aid agencies often conflict with the longer timelines required for successful innovation and commercialization.

The document reports on interviews with 1,500 farmers in ten African mountain regions, identifying increased temperatures, reduced fog, and erratic rainfall as primary climatic changes. These changes have led to lower yields for maize, cassava, and coffee, as well as reduced milk production and increased soil erosion. Farmers are adapting through on-farm strategies like changing planting dates and adopting new crop varieties, though wealth and conflict significantly influence the capacity to adapt. The brief recommends improving access to credit and markets, enhancing knowledge exchange, and accounting for the impacts of violent conflict in adaptation planning.

The brief argues that agrochemical use and misuse are increasing across Africa due to corporate profit motives, weak regulation, and climate change, posing severe risks to human health and the environment. It recommends strengthening governance, increasing investment in agroecology, and leveraging financial tools to reduce synthetic chemical dependence.

The document details how climate change is manifesting in African mountains through rising temperatures and erratic precipitation, leading to decreased crop yields and livestock production. It highlights that while farmers are adapting by changing planting dates and adopting new crop varieties, they face significant barriers such as limited access to credit and land, and the destabilizing effects of violent conflict.

The document outlines seven criteria for 'health-inclusive' NDCs, including alignment with 1.5°C warming limits, healthcare sector adaptation, and the reduction of super-pollutants. It provides a roadmap for civil society to engage governments, suggests interministerial coordination strategies, and identifies common barriers—such as ministerial silos and lack of data—alongside corresponding solutions to ensure health is prioritised in national climate plans.

The report analyzes the prevalence and effects of tax incentives in Africa's mining sector, concluding that these measures frequently result in substantial public revenue losses and encourage aggressive tax avoidance. It argues that mining investments are driven more by resource quality and political stability than by tax breaks. The document recommends that African nations move away from generous, contract-based incentives and instead adopt regional tax harmonization and targeted, time-limited incentives linked to specific development goals, such as mineral processing and the energy transition.

The document examines how African youth are transforming peacebuilding through AI and digital tools, shifting from passive consumers to active knowledge creators. It highlights the decentralisation of early warning systems and the use of digital platforms for peace messaging and mobilisation. However, it warns that digital divides, gender gaps, and linguistic biases—where 88% of African languages are ignored by computational tools—threaten to marginalise rural youth and women. The brief notes a disconnect between the AU's Continental Framework on Youth, Peace and Security and digital strategies, urging for integrated policies and the institutionalisation of youth roles in AI governance to ensure digital peacebuilding is ethical and inclusive.

The report analyzes the integration of human mobility into National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), finding that while 83% of submitted NAPs reference mobility, most lack detailed strategies for sub-national implementation. Through case studies in Costa Rica, Senegal, and Sri Lanka, it identifies gaps in financing, data, and coordination between national and local governments, while proposing a typology of approaches for localizing mobility actions.

The report argues that artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is an underestimated but significant contributor to the global supply of critical minerals, particularly cobalt, tin, and tantalum. It highlights that while some minerals like lithium have high potential for ASM extraction in pegmatite deposits, others like graphite are less viable due to low value per unit of weight. The document emphasizes that the sector's deep informality, lack of geological data, and restrictive licensing frameworks hinder its potential. It presents case studies from the DRC, Indonesia, and Chile to demonstrate both the challenges of informality and the success of formalization models like Chile's ENAMI. The report concludes that for ASM to become a reliable supplier, governments must streamline licensing, provide geological foundations for small-scale plots, and create tailored regulatory frameworks specifically for critical minerals rather than relying on generic gold or gemstone policies.

The report details the disclosure of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), and an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) for the Ampyr - Dhule subproject in Maharashtra, India. It confirms that these documents were made available in English and Marathi to satisfy GCF requirements for Category B sub-projects, ensuring disclosure at least 30 days before an investment decision. The report also notes that the project adheres to an IFC-compliant ESMS and lists specific dates for stakeholder engagement and public disclosure in Mhasale Village.

The report analyzes gender inequalities in Burundi's agricultural sector, highlighting barriers such as limited land rights, patriarchal decision-making, and low literacy among women. It outlines a Gender Action Plan by One Acre Fund (1AF) to increase female participation through tailored credit certificates, gender-sensitive training, and the collection of sex-disaggregated data to improve climate resilience for Burundian smallholders.

The report highlights that climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, particularly mulching and agroforestry, can significantly increase coffee yields and carbon sequestration in the East African Community (EAC). It notes a growing export market in the EU, which accounted for 60.1% of EAC coffee exports in 2021, but emphasizes that producers must adopt CSA to meet stringent EU sustainability, traceability, and phytosanitary requirements. Key barriers to CSA adoption include limited finance, land tenure issues, and inadequate extension services.

The analysis finds that human-caused climate change has significantly increased the frequency of dangerous nighttime temperatures globally, affecting billions of people. Using the Climate Shift Index, the report quantifies additional nights above 18°C, 20°C, and 25°C, noting that these temperatures disrupt sleep and increase risks of cardiovascular conditions and mortality. The most severe impacts are observed in tropical regions and urban areas due to heat island effects, with specific cities in India, Indonesia, and Africa experiencing an additional month or more of extreme nighttime heat.

The report analyzes 450 votes and 5,850 voting decisions by African states at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) between 2006 and 2022. It finds that the African Group generally opposes or is unwilling to defend civil and political rights, particularly regarding sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) and freedom of expression. The group frequently protects African states from international scrutiny through country-specific resolutions while remaining inconsistent or indifferent toward human rights violations in non-African countries. Despite a general decline in the domestic freedom scores of its members, the group's HRC voting patterns show a slight shift toward a more human rights-friendly direction after 2010, though it remains largely obstructive toward intrusive mandates for African nations.