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The document analyzes COP 28 outcomes for Africa, noting a gap between high-level agreements and the actual financial resources provided for adaptation and loss and damage. While it highlights the historic agreement to transition away from fossil fuels and new food system initiatives, it argues that the scale of funding remains insufficient for Africa's urgent needs.

The report confirms that the Building Climate Resilience for Food and Livelihoods in the Horn of Africa (BREFOL) programme, managed by the African Development Bank, is classified as an Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) Category B programme. It documents the disclosure of Environmental and Social Management Frameworks (ESMF) and Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMP) on February 2, 2024, in English, French, Amharic, and Somali across Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan.

The document explores the transition from electronic money to CBDCs, focusing on China's e-CNY as a tool for renminbi internationalisation and its potential impact on Africa. It details the technical differences between cryptocurrencies and CBDCs, the specific two-tier design of the e-CNY, and the risks associated with privacy and financial disintermediation. For Africa, the paper highlights opportunities for financial inclusion and more efficient remittances, while cautioning against the risks of digital divide and state surveillance. It concludes with recommendations for African civil society and policymakers to engage in the design and standard-setting of digital currency frameworks to maintain monetary autonomy.

In July 2023, SEforALL partnered with the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) to provide specialized training to energy planners from nine African countries. The program focused on geospatial data collection, curation, management, and governance to improve the planning of electrification and clean cooking access. Participants from countries including Madagascar, Malawi, and Rwanda are now applying these skills to develop national data governance plans and clean cooking models, utilizing tools such as OnStove.

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.

A coalition of 60 trade ministers asserts that the global trading system must move beyond "business as usual" to support the Paris Agreement. They advocate for breaking silos between trade, finance, and environment ministries to catalyze investment in clean energy, support climate-vulnerable nations, and reform the global financial system to promote net-zero trade finance and sustainable supply chains.

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 document argues that while African nations have submitted ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), they face a massive climate finance gap and high debt burdens that hinder a just energy transition. It critiques previous G20 presidencies for treating developing countries as a monolith and failing to address Africa's specific needs, such as the disparity between mitigation and adaptation funding. The brief recommends that the Brazilian and South African G20 presidencies focus on increasing the flow and quality of finance through concessional capital, debt-for-nature swaps, and the re-channeling of special drawing rights, while also enhancing Africa's participation in carbon markets and attracting private sector investment.

The project supported 885 people in lower eastern Kenya, focusing on regenerative farming, syntropic agroforestry, and water infrastructure to improve biodiversity, soil health, and economic output for female smallholder farmers. Key achievements include the rehabilitation of 1.01 hectares for a demonstration farm, the installation of 43 household vertical gardens, and the construction of 3 water pans, alongside the training of 177 people in sustainable agriculture and 17 young men in water infrastructure maintenance.

The report evaluates the impact of FSD Africa's regulatory interventions in African capital markets, highlighting the importance of tailoring international best practices to local contexts and the need for formal implementation support. It identifies capacity constraints at both regulator and market participant levels as significant barriers to the adoption of new frameworks, such as Islamic finance regulations in WAEMU and corporate bond guidelines in Ghana. The document recommends a sequenced and clustered approach to future interventions, with an increasing focus on green and sustainable finance once foundational regulatory structures are established.

The report examines the global tea market, highlighting the vulnerability of smallholder farmers to price volatility and climate change. It assesses the impact of voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) like Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance, noting that while they can provide price floors and premiums, a significant amount of certified tea is still sold as conventional. The document argues for a shift toward more transparent pricing, direct trade, and sustainable land management to ensure living incomes for producers.

The report examines Kenya's climate risk insurance landscape, highlighting the effectiveness of government-subsidised programmes like KLIP and KAIP, while identifying significant barriers such as inadequate weather data, low insurance penetration (2.4%), and a substantial adaptation funding gap of approximately KES 853bn annually. It argues for a multi-level risk transfer approach and improved data infrastructure to enhance the commercial viability and impact of climate insurance.

The report evaluates how South Africa's sophisticated insurance industry can be leveraged to bridge a R2.3bn annual disaster funding gap and improve climate resilience. While the country has high insurance penetration (10%), non-life coverage remains low among vulnerable groups due to affordability and regulatory costs. The document highlights opportunities in index-based agricultural insurance, municipal risk pooling, and the integration of insurance into social grant systems via SASSA. It also identifies significant transition risks for insurers due to the economy's reliance on carbon-intensive assets and recommends streamlining Public-Private Partnership (PPP) regulations to incentivise private sector investment in adaptation.

The report assesses Malawi's high vulnerability to extreme weather and the limitations of its nascent insurance market, which has low penetration (1.9%) and high reliance on international reinsurance. It examines various insurance levels—macro (sovereign), meso (cooperatives), and micro (bundled services)—and identifies barriers such as inadequate weather monitoring infrastructure and a shortage of actuarial skills. The document recommends scaling through digital distribution, 'pay-at-harvest' models, and integrating insurance into national adaptation policies to bridge a significant climate finance gap.

The manual establishes a framework for mainstreaming Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) within Ethiopia's national development and climate change projects. It provides facilitators with a structured eight-session module covering basic GESI concepts, analysis tools, and gender-responsive budgeting. A significant portion of the document focuses on the intersection of climate change and GESI, arguing that climate impacts are distributed unequally and can amplify existing social disparities. The manual advocates for a transition from 'GESI blind' or 'sensitive' approaches toward 'GESI transformative' initiatives that challenge structural power dynamics and norms. It includes practical tools for gender analysis at the household and community levels, such as activity profiles and decision-making matrices, and offers strategies for achieving gender parity within government institutions.

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.

The document presents findings from the Gender Equality in a Low Carbon World (GLOW) program, demonstrating how gender-responsive business models in agriculture and aquaculture improve productivity and market access. It highlights specific successes in Kenya, Senegal, Rwanda, and Nicaragua, while urging impact investors and public funders to adopt gender-lens investment strategies to support the energy transition.

The document outlines how gender-responsive approaches—identifying barriers for women and promoting their leadership—enhance the efficiency of climate-smart technologies in agriculture and aquaculture. Drawing on the GLOW programme (2021–2024), it provides evidence from Africa and Central America showing that empowering women leads to higher yields, better market access, and increased attractiveness for impact investors.

The 2023 study found that none of the five water infrastructure investments in Garissa County were fully functional, with three partially functional and two non-functional. The primary drivers of failure were a lack of dedicated budgets for operations and maintenance (O&M), capacity gaps in local management, and limited early engagement with water institutions. The report recommends establishing sustainable financing mechanisms, integrating renewable energy to lower costs, and strengthening the technical and project management skills of local site committees.

The 2023 study found that only two of nine assessed water investments were fully functional, with many others limited by inadequate maintenance, vandalism, and resource-based conflicts. While community-led planning and local knowledge improved sustainability, the report highlights a need for dedicated maintenance financing, better technical siting, and genuine gender inclusivity in management committees.