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The Green Aggregation Tech Enterprise (GATE) is a proposed guarantee facility designed to mitigate demand and payment risks for mini-grids in Sub-Saharan Africa. By guaranteeing a baseline level of revenue, GATE aims to transform mini-grids into a bankable asset class, shifting their financing from donor grants to private debt. The instrument will be piloted in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, and the DRC, with a phased implementation pathway moving from a proof-of-concept (2018-2019) to full commercialization by 2028-2030. Financial modelling suggests that at scale, GATE can be sustainable and catalytic, potentially mobilizing US$ 1.725 billion in private investment by 2030 and providing electricity to millions of households and businesses.

The document examines five types of illegality—resource rights, labor rights, other laws, fraud, and corruption—across several global commodity chains. It provides case studies on beef, palm oil, pulp and paper, cocoa, shrimp, olive oil, dairy, and soy, highlighting how illegal practices drive deforestation, biodiversity loss, and labor abuse. The paper argues that illegality is an underappreciated threat that increases with global food demand and climate change, calling for precompetitive cooperation between governments and companies to ensure supply chain transparency.

The WACA ResIP-CCA is a proposed project targeting Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Senegal, and Togo to address vulnerabilities to sea-level rise, flooding, and coastal erosion. With a total indicative cost of USD 382 million, the project aims to protect critical infrastructure and ecosystems in the transport, urban, and natural resources sectors. It combines national-level policy strengthening and capacity building with local-level physical interventions, such as nature-based and hard infrastructure, to benefit approximately 12 million indirect beneficiaries.

The document analyzes Zimbabwe's transition following the ousting of Robert Mugabe, focusing on the 2018 general elections. It argues that while Emmerson Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF are likely to win, the legitimacy of the process is crucial for unlocking foreign investment and implementing economic reforms. The author suggests a 'pragmatic' economic approach, citing Cote d'Ivoire as a positive model for recovery through IMF engagement and market-friendly policies, while warning against the political instability seen in Egypt. Key priorities identified include addressing the $9 billion debt, stabilizing the currency, and re-engaging with Western partners and the IMF.

The report argues that inclusivity is vital for sustaining peace and must be integrated into every stage of the peace continuum, from mediation to state-building. Using Liberia and South Sudan as case studies, it contrasts Liberia's relatively successful inclusive frameworks and unified regional support from ECOWAS with South Sudan's elite-driven processes and fragmented regional response from IGAD. The document highlights that technical exercises in security sector reform (SSR) and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) often fail if they do not address underlying political power structures and incentives for spoilers. It concludes with recommendations for the UN to prioritise joint analysis, community consultation, and support for institutionalised regional governance frameworks to ensure sustainable, inclusive peace.

The document argues that while the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance provides a normative framework, democratic processes in Africa have largely stagnated in a transitional phase, often trapped in an 'electoral fallacy' where regular elections occur without deep institutional consolidation. It identifies internal pressures—such as the rise of populism, election-related violence, and long-term leadership—and external pressures—including the influence of non-democratic powers like China, Russia, and Turkey, and a 'security-first' doctrine from Western actors—as primary drivers of democratic recession. Despite these challenges, the author notes positive signals such as the increasing number of charter signatories, the role of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), and the effectiveness of ECOWAS in restoring democracy in specific instances. The briefing recommends limiting the concentration of power through term limits and shifting international investment toward domestic democratic processes rather than just regional frameworks.

The document examines the systemic failures of public-private partnerships (PPPs), citing the collapse of Carillion in the UK and concerns over the US 'Rebuilding Infrastructure' plan. It argues that PPPs often fail when used primarily to keep debt off public balance sheets, leading to poor project preparation and skewed risk allocation. To improve outcomes, the author suggests moving toward systemic master planning, enhancing public sector negotiation skills, and adopting procurement strategies that prioritize lifecycle value over the lowest bid. The paper emphasizes that for PPPs to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals, they must be designed with transparent, equitable contracts and a focus on sustainable development rather than just financial returns.

The report examines the integration of gender considerations within National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes, drawing on a review of documents from NAP Central and data from country teams. It identifies common challenges and themes to support countries and development partners in implementing gender-responsive adaptation planning. As of March 2023, 98% of NAPs submitted to the UNFCCC mention gender, and about 50% identify women as agents of change in climate change adaptation.

The report examines remittance flows in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting that while they are a vital source of capital—often exceeding official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI)—formal flows are constrained by high costs and regulatory barriers. Nigeria is the dominant receiver of remittances in the region. The study identifies a significant mismatch between migration patterns and formal remittance data, suggesting a high level of informality. It argues that shifting these flows to formal channels would enhance financial sector development and overall economic growth in SSA.

The report examines how civil society organizations (CSOs) engage with the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multi-stakeholder initiative (MSI) designed to increase government transparency and civic participation. Through case studies of Georgia, South Africa, and Indonesia, the authors analyze the gap between the OGP's 'co-creation' aspirations and the reality of government dominance. Georgia is presented as a success story where a permanent multi-stakeholder forum fostered genuine partnership, while South Africa is characterized by tokenism and a lack of political will. Indonesia's experience is described as mixed, with active CSOs facing logistical hurdles and a restrictive political environment. The report concludes that while MSIs can open spaces for dialogue, their success depends on political commitment, institutional structures like permanent forums, and the ability of CSOs to form strategic coalitions.

The document highlights the link between cocoa cultivation and dramatic forest loss in key producing regions, specifically noting that cocoa is the top driver of deforestation in Ivory Coast and Ghana. While it acknowledges a commitment by major chocolate companies and the governments of Ivory Coast and Ghana to 'No New Deforestation' in West Africa, it argues that this effort must be expanded globally to protect biodiversity in countries like Cameroon, Indonesia, and Peru. The guide encourages consumers to use a scoring system based on three criteria: participation in the West African pact, adoption of worldwide shade-grown agroforestry policies, and a global commitment to refuse deforestation cocoa.

The research paper evaluates South Africa's foreign policy during the presidency of Jacob Zuma, highlighting the shift toward emerging powers like China and the BRICS grouping while noting a decline in human rights commitments and strained relations with the West. It contrasts Zuma's multilateral approach with the 'African Renaissance' focus of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, and argues that domestic issues like xenophobia and the Marikana Massacre have damaged South Africa's continental leadership and global image.

The document highlights that companies pledging to end deforestation by 2020 have approximately 1,000 days remaining. It cites the Brazilian Soy Moratorium as a successful precedent where soy-driven deforestation in the Amazon dropped to almost zero in under 1,000 days. The author specifically identifies Bunge and Cargill as being responsible for the majority of soy destruction in frontier areas and calls for employees and customers of these firms to pressure them to change their practices.

The document identifies five critical areas for legal reform to prevent illegal forest conversion: land allocation, clearance permits, conversion timber rules, environmental protections, and community rights. It highlights how contradictory laws, lack of transparency, and failure to recognize customary land tenure lead to uncontrolled deforestation and social conflict. The toolkit uses case studies from nine tropical countries to illustrate legal gaps and provides checklists for policy-makers to ensure comprehensive and enforceable regulations.

The document serves as an overview for a legal toolkit designed to help law-makers address the complexities of forest conversion laws. It identifies five key areas for legal attention: land allocation, clearing permits, timber rules, environmental protection, and community rights. The toolkit is based on an analysis of legal frameworks in nine tropical countries and focuses primarily on the regulation of large-scale projects to balance economic growth with environmental and social protections.

The document outlines the necessity of detailed, binding environmental legal tools to mitigate the impacts of forest conversion, such as biodiversity loss and climate change. It emphasizes the role of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), the importance of transparency, and the need for laws to be fit for the specific national context. Through case studies from Gabon, Ghana, Brazil, and Liberia, it illustrates how non-binding guidelines, limited agency capacity, and sustainability policies affect forest protection.

The document argues that formal legal recognition of customary land tenure and the inclusion of local communities in decision-making are essential for protecting both forest ecosystems and the livelihoods of indigenous peoples. It identifies key legal barriers—such as complex registration processes and a lack of implementing legislation—that lead to risks of eviction, land disputes, and land scarcity. The factsheet advocates for the integration of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) into national laws and provides a checklist of questions to guide law-makers through legal reform.

The 2018 Progress Assessment for Goal 4 highlights the difficulty in quantifying the impact of basic needs on deforestation due to limited data. While the distribution of clean cookstoves in developing countries nearly doubled between 2015 and 2016, financial support for woodfuel interventions declined. The report identifies several drivers of deforestation linked to poverty, including swidden agriculture, subsistence migration, and charcoal production, and presents case studies from Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Mexico, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire demonstrating the potential of sustainable landscape approaches, community forestry, and agricultural intensification to reduce forest loss.

The workshop, organized by the IGF in partnership with the UNDP and OECD, focused on the 'IGF Guide for Governments: Managing Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining'. It combined technical training on strategy development—covering startup, elaboration, and implementation phases—with field visits to mining sites in Eséka and Pouma, Cameroon. Participants identified common regional challenges, including formalization, child labor, environmental degradation, and lack of institutional coordination, while sharing case studies from Cameroon, Guinea, Mauritania, and Morocco.

The document argues that tax incentives in the mining sector are often ineffective at attracting investment due to the location-specific nature of mineral resources and can lead to significant revenue losses. It provides a framework for reviewing incentives, identifying high-risk behavioural responses—such as 'high-grading' during tax holidays or abusive transfer pricing in export processing zones—and offers recommendations for better design, including the use of incremental sliding-scale royalties and the avoidance of 'cliff-edge' fiscal changes.