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The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is a financial market infrastructure designed to enable instant cross-border payments across Africa using local currencies, reducing reliance on foreign currencies like the US dollar and Euro. While supported by the AU and AfCFTA, the system faces significant hurdles, including low awareness—with 39% of business leaders unaware of it—and fragmented regulatory frameworks. Despite these challenges, as of May 2024, 13 African central banks, over 115 commercial banks, and 10 payment switches have connected to the system. The report recommends harmonizing regulations, investing in digital infrastructure, and improving data transparency to unlock the system's potential for economic integration.

The assessment finds that SMB's mining operations in the Boké region have caused severe environmental degradation, including deforestation and water pollution, and have negatively impacted local health and livelihoods. The report concludes that SMB has failed to comply with several Guinean laws, including the 2019 Environmental Law and the 2011 Mining Code, particularly regarding community compensation and environmental protection.

The document analyzes China's dominance in Africa's critical minerals landscape, highlighting its role as a primary investor and buyer. It argues that while Africa's reserves are vital for the global energy transition, the current model of exporting raw materials without local processing limits socioeconomic benefits and risks environmental degradation. The brief recommends that African governments pursue strategic partnerships, invest in research and development, and build energy infrastructure to move up the value chain, while urging international partners to support technology transfer and local capacity building.

The policy brief argues that the African mining sector is hindered by political and institutional lock-ins, specifically the slow ratification of AMDC statutes. It proposes integrating strategic foresight—a systematic approach to anticipating future trends—into the AMDC's four-pillar mandate to move from reactive to proactive governance. The authors advocate for a 'foresight-led social contract' to ensure mineral wealth benefits local communities and supports the green energy transition. Key recommendations include establishing an anticipatory governance unit, reforming financial architectures to reduce debt dependency, and coordinating regional responses to transnational risks such as deep-sea mining and Global North competition.

The document highlights the absence of directly impacted communities from the UN Secretary-General's Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals. It asserts that these frontline communities, who face the impacts of 'green extractivism' on their land, health, and rights, are essential for the panel to achieve its goal of leaving no one behind. The briefing specifically references concerns regarding lithium, nickel, and bauxite mining and processing in Argentina, Indonesia, and Guinea.

The research paper examines the role of vertical industrial policies in Africa, contrasting them with horizontal policies and global value chain (GVC) theories. It highlights how Nigeria and Morocco successfully developed their cement sectors through targeted government interventions, while noting that replicating these specific tools in other sectors, such as sugar and tomato paste in Nigeria, has failed due to different raw material coordination needs.

The report examines the strategic importance of critical raw materials (CRMs) for OACPS member states, highlighting their significant global production shares in minerals like cobalt, platinum-group metals, and manganese. It identifies a critical gap in local beneficiation capacities, noting that most CRMs are exported as raw ores, which results in lost economic value. The document analyzes the impact of new industrial policies from the US, EU, and China—such as the US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU Critical Raw Materials Act—which emphasize reshoring and 'friendshoring' and may conflict with OACPS industrialization goals. It concludes that OACPS countries must move beyond extractive 'pit-to-port' models through regional cooperation, strategic partnerships, and robust regulatory frameworks to maximize socio-economic benefits while managing environmental and social risks.

The document examines the gap between high popular support for democracy in Africa and the low satisfaction with its actual implementation. It highlights a trend of disputed elections and popularly celebrated coups as symptoms of leadership failure and the inability of democratic systems to provide basic socio-economic rights. Using examples from Zimbabwe and Gabon, it argues that when elections fail to reflect the will of the people or improve living conditions, the stability of democratic institutions is threatened.

Africa possesses vast untapped renewable energy resources, including 60% of global solar resources, yet accounts for only 1.6% of global installed renewable capacity. The continent faces significant barriers to energy transition, including a massive financing gap—requiring $557 billion by 2030—and a heavy reliance on imported technologies, with Africa contributing less than 1% of global clean energy patent applications. While the region holds 40% of global critical mineral reserves essential for green technologies, it primarily serves as a raw material supplier. The document advocates for strengthened partnerships with the G20 and Global North to improve climate finance, facilitate technology transfer, and develop local green value chains to move beyond the export of primary commodities.

Africa possesses vast untapped renewable energy resources and critical minerals but faces significant barriers in financing, technology ownership, and value chain integration. While some progress has been made in solar, wind, and hydropower, the continent remains heavily reliant on imports for technology and patents. The document argues for strengthened partnerships, increased climate finance from the Global North, and the development of local manufacturing to ensure a just energy transition.

The Gender Action Plan (GAP) for the Collaborative R&DB Programme aims to integrate gender mainstreaming into climate technopreneurship across five ASEAN countries. It defines specific criteria for 'women-owned SMEs' and 'women-led JVs', requiring that at least 50% of invested joint ventures (JVs) meet these priority conditions or implement a gender mainstreaming commitment plan. The plan provides sector-specific guidelines for renewable energy, agriculture, water, waste management, and early warning systems, focusing on reducing barriers to entry, improving occupational health and safety for women, and ensuring inclusive communication and leadership roles for women in climate adaptation and mitigation projects.

The report argues that the EU's pursuit of 'policy coherence' in its external migration dimension is primarily a tool for containment, often instrumentalising development aid to limit migration. It highlights the inherent tensions between migration management, development, and integration, noting that the EU's reliance on conditionality and compensation in partnerships with third countries often ignores the domestic interests of those partners and lacks evidence-based effectiveness in addressing the 'root causes' of migration.

The report analyzes the ASM value chain, from exploration to mine closure, highlighting a stark divide between rudimentary artisanal methods and more capitalized small-scale operations. It identifies critical gaps in technology for ore extraction, transportation, and beneficiation, while showcasing promising innovations in mercury-free gold processing, blockchain-based traceability, and digital mining cadastres. The document warns that while mechanization can boost yields and critical mineral supply, it risks displacing labor—particularly women—and increasing environmental degradation if not managed through inclusive policies and strategic zoning.

A World Weather Attribution analysis concludes that the extreme heatwave affecting the Sahel in early 2024, which coincided with Ramadan and power cuts, would have been impossible without the 1.2°C of global warming caused by human activities. The event was particularly severe in Mali and Burkina Faso, where 5-day maximum temperatures had a return time of 200 years. The study finds that human-induced warming increased 5-day maximum temperatures by 1.5°C in Mali/Burkina Faso and 1.4°C across the wider Sahel, while the current El Niño event contributed only a small amount (approximately 0.2°C). In Bamako, Mali, the Gabriel Touré hospital reported 102 deaths between 1-4 April, significantly exceeding the 130 deaths recorded for the entire month of April 2023.

The report examines how developing countries can capture a fair share of financial benefits from critical minerals, highlighting risks such as price volatility, oversupply, and opaque markets. It suggests opportunities for these nations to increase state participation, develop downstream processing capabilities, and reform fiscal incentives to maximize economic gains from the energy transition.

Based on survey data from nearly 13,000 young adults, the research finds that while migration information campaigns—primarily those warning against migrating—have significant reach in many African and Asian communities, they generally fail to reduce migration aspirations. In some instances, exposure to these warnings is actually associated with a higher desire to migrate.

The document analyzes Russia's strategic pivot toward Africa as a means to diversify partners and evade Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine. It argues that while Africa is not a central priority for the Kremlin, it serves as a critical 'theater' for projecting power, securing natural resources, and challenging US-led unipolarity. The paper details Russia's approach across several sectors, including arms sales, nuclear energy, and mining, while highlighting the role of the Wagner Group in providing security in exchange for resource access. It concludes that Russia leverages African support at the UN to maintain its status as a global power and to promote a multipolar international system.

The GCF Board's 37th meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, resulted in the approval of 15 funding proposals totaling USD 736.4 million and the adoption of the 2024 administrative budget of USD 112.4 million. Key strategic outcomes include the endorsement of the Readiness Strategy 2024–2027, which allocates USD 501.5 million to enhance country ownership and direct access, and the confirmation of USD 9.3 billion in pledges for the second formal replenishment (GCF-2). The Board also established an ad hoc Committee on Human Resources Matters to address systemic compensation and policy issues. Significant discussions occurred regarding the potential for a regional presence to reduce operational bottlenecks and the ongoing debate over the financing of results-based payments for REDD+, which was deferred to the next meeting.

The author argues that for MC13 to be successful, the WTO must move beyond non-binding declarations toward binding commitments. Key proposals include an exemption for least developed countries (LDCs) from food export restrictions to ensure food availability. However, significant disagreements persist between developing nations (such as India and China) and developed nations (including the US and EU) regarding public stockholding and the reduction of trade-distorting domestic support.

The brief presents evidence from the Gender Equality in a Low Carbon World (GLOW) programme, demonstrating that integrating gender-responsive policies and women's empowerment into business models enhances the productivity and viability of climate-smart SMEs. It highlights specific successes in aquaculture, hydroponics, and solar irrigation across Africa and Latin America, while urging impact investors and public financiers to adopt gender-lens investment strategies to unlock untapped markets and improve social equity.