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The paper explores the intersection of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), arguing that digital innovations can overcome traditional barriers to intra-African trade. It highlights the role of blockchain in enhancing supply chain transparency and financial inclusion for MSMEs, and AI in improving agricultural productivity. The authors emphasize that while COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of ecommerce and fintech, significant gaps in internet connectivity, data infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks must be addressed to realize the AfCFTA's full potential.

The NAP Global Network's 2020-2021 progress report highlights its efforts to accelerate climate adaptation in developing countries, particularly LDCs and SIDS. Key achievements include supporting 20 countries with their first Adaptation Communications (ADCOMs), expanding short-term technical assistance via the Country Support Hub, and advancing thematic work on gender-responsive planning and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). The Network's 2025 strategy focuses on transitioning from planning to implementation and enhancing inclusive, locally led adaptation.

The document argues that while Africa views migration as a demographic and development issue, the European Union has increasingly adopted a securitised approach. It identifies four key entry points for strengthening the Africa-EU partnership: remittances, legal labour migration pathways, international protection, and voluntary returns and readmissions.

The NAP Global Network's 2020-2021 report highlights a shift toward short-term technical assistance via its Country Support Hub and a focus on transitioning from adaptation planning to implementation. Key achievements include supporting 20 countries with their first Adaptation Communications (ADCOMs), facilitating peer learning on gender-responsive action and conflict-sensitive planning, and developing knowledge products on climate and disaster risk finance and insurance (CDRFI). The Network's 2025 strategy emphasizes enhancing monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems and elevating underrepresented voices, particularly women, in adaptation decision-making.

The report analyzes the integration of climate and disaster risk finance and insurance (CDRFI) within National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes, finding that while insurance is widely mentioned—particularly for agriculture—there are significant opportunities to better utilize risk analytics, adaptive social protection, and diverse financial instruments to enhance climate resilience in developing countries.

The report identifies 24 deforestation fronts across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, where over 43 million hectares of forest were lost between 2004 and 2017. It argues that while commercial agriculture remains the dominant direct driver, indirect pressures such as population growth, dietary shifts toward meat, and weak governance amplify forest loss. The analysis evaluates a range of responses, from area-based protections and indigenous land rights to commodity-specific certifications and REDD+ frameworks, concluding that no single approach is sufficient and that integrated, context-specific solutions are required to halt deforestation.

The document argues that African nations should leverage the post-COVID-19 recovery to 'build back better' by adopting green finance mechanisms. It identifies green bonds as a primary tool for raising large-scale capital and emphasizes the need for targeted public finance to de-risk investments and attract private capital. The briefing details several pathways for a green transition, including the establishment of environmental funds, the deployment of renewable energy as an economic stimulus, and the implementation of green fiscal reforms such as carbon taxes. It also highlights the critical role of central banks in 'greening' the financial sector through macroprudential regulation and the development of green taxonomies to reduce information asymmetries.

The briefing outlines four priority areas for climate negotiations leading up to COP26: finalizing the Paris Agreement rulebook (specifically common timeframes for NDCs, transparency frameworks, and Article 6 carbon markets), establishing metrics for adaptation and loss and damage, addressing the shortfall in public climate finance for developing nations, and bridging implementation gaps for the 'decade of ambition'. It highlights the role of the 2020 Climate Dialogues in maintaining momentum and warns that a lack of public funding and transparency from developed nations threatens trust and the success of future negotiations.

The document examines the evolution of the digital divide from basic infrastructure access (A2A) to access to knowledge and data (A2K). It assesses how the WTO's JSI on e-commerce addresses these gaps, arguing that current proposals—largely driven by developed nations—often overlook the developmental needs of LDCs and developing countries. Key areas of analysis include the necessity of 'enabling' e-commerce ecosystems, the risks of restrictive data flow and localization rules, and the impact of prohibiting government access to source code on technology transfer.

The report evaluates the African Union's (AU) limited capacity to intervene in crises due to principles of national sovereignty and subsidiarity. It details the unraveling political alliance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the conceptual and operational failures of the 'Silencing the Guns in Africa 2020' initiative, and identifies high-risk elections and conflicts in countries such as South Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia for 2021. Additionally, it features an interview on the necessity of a culturally contextualized African mediation doctrine based on the AU's experience in Sudan.

The VOICE Network critiques the cocoa industry's reliance on voluntary measures to address child labour in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, citing NORC research that 1.5 million children are involved in production. The network argues that poverty is the primary driver and advocates for mandatory due diligence regulations, living incomes for farming families, and increased government investment in education and healthcare.

This research paper by the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) examines the gap between the signing of regional trade agreements and their actual implementation in Africa. It highlights the 'crisis of implementation' affecting the African Union (AU) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and discusses the potential and challenges of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The authors argue for a shift from top-down agreements to a bottom-up, problem-driven approach centered on regional public goods to ensure sustainable economic integration.

The project seeks USD 10 million in GCF grants to modernize Liberia's meteorological and hydrological services. It focuses on installing automated weather stations, weather radar, and creating a Forecast-based Financing (FbF) mechanism to protect vulnerable populations, particularly in agriculture and coastal regions, from increasing floods and temperature extremes.

ClientEarth argues that while the EUTR and FLEGT Regulation have improved transparency in timber supply chains, significant gaps in enforcement, funding, and scope persist. The organization highlights a critical lack of staff and financial resources in EU Member States, uneven implementation that disrupts the market, and a low volume of compliance checks relative to the number of operators. It recommends expanding the EUTR's product scope, introducing stricter responsibilities for traders, and harmonizing penalties to ensure they are 'effective, proportionate and dissuasive'. Regarding FLEGT, ClientEarth notes its success in driving systemic law reform and civil society participation in producer countries but warns that the EU's reduced market weight and the technical complexity of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) may hinder progress. Finally, it calls for new mandatory due diligence legislation to address forest conversion driven by commodities like soy, cocoa, palm oil, and beef.

The report finds that progress toward reducing deforestation from infrastructure, extractive industries, and basic-needs activities is slow. While some governments and companies have adopted policies and commitments, implementation is often weak, transparency is limited, and large-scale development projects continue to threaten intact forests. The report emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift toward alternative development pathways and the empowerment of Indigenous peoples and local communities.

FSD Africa reports that between 2012 and 2020, it reached over 5.47 million people and 3.2 million MSMEs through financial inclusion and capital market projects. Key achievements include catalysing £1.53 billion in long-term capital, supporting 27,000 jobs, and effecting approximately 130 regulatory changes. The organization is now transitioning to 'FSD 2.0', shifting focus toward 'sustainable futures', jobs, and basic services, with a particular emphasis on green finance and Covid-19 recovery.

The document examines the coordinated response of African regional bodies and the specific national strategies of South Africa and Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the role of the Africa CDC and AU in fostering continental cooperation, while contrasting the high-testing, strict-lockdown approach of South Africa with Nigeria's reliance on existing polio and Ebola infrastructure. The paper argues that while health measures were often proactive, the socio-economic fallout—including job losses, increased poverty, and human rights violations by security forces—will have a more lasting impact than the virus itself.

The document outlines a readiness project implemented by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to support 13 accredited and applicant Direct Access Entities (DAEs) within the International Development Finance Club (IDFC). The project aims to remove barriers to GCF accreditation and funding by providing technical assistance for fiduciary, environmental, social, and gender policies, and by developing climate finance tools for risk and impact assessment. Key deliverables include an IDFC-GCF Toolkit, a joint DAE-IDFC Work Program, and the development of multi-country concept notes focusing on climate-resilient recovery post-COVID-19, specifically targeting MSMEs and vulnerable populations in sectors like renewable energy and sustainable land use.

The World Bank has significantly increased its use of development policy finance (DPF) to provide fast budget support to countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many of these loans contain prior actions with positive environmental co-benefits, few have climate change as their overarching objective. The author argues that the Bank must update its outdated 2004/2008 guidance for assessing environmental impacts, improve the reporting of negative effects, and actively promote climate-focused policy reforms to ensure long-term sustainable recovery.

The workshop, part of the 'Support for the NDC implementation in the Waste Management sector in Senegal and Côte D’Ivoire' project, provided technical training on GHG and short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) inventories. Participants were introduced to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, the IPCC inventory software (version 2.691), and the EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook. The training included practical exercises using activity data from Benin to estimate emissions from open burning of municipal solid waste and wastewater management.