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Russia maintains ties with Mozambique and Zimbabwe based on Soviet-era liberation movement relations, focusing on education, mining, and military cooperation. Zimbabwe's alignment increased during the late Mugabe era due to shared experiences with Western sanctions, while Mozambique has seen Russian involvement in fisheries, oil, and a failed intervention by the Wagner Group against Islamist insurgents.

The report examines the systemic and internal obstacles facing opposition political parties in southern Africa, highlighting how dominant-party systems, state repression, and internal fragmentation undermine democratic accountability. It analyzes specific country cases—including Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Mauritius, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe—to illustrate the 'politics of incumbency' and the critical need for opposition parties to engage with civil society and reform internal governance to achieve democratic consolidation.

The report examines the economic relationship between South Africa and Zimbabwe, highlighting that while strong business ties persist, South African firms face significant operational hurdles. These include hyperinflation, foreign currency shortages, erratic government policy, and a shrinking domestic market. The document also notes the impact of 'quiet diplomacy' by the South African government and the resulting exposure of companies due to the lack of a signed trade and investment protection agreement.

The report examines how Chinese state-owned banks, having undergone domestic reform and international listing, are expanding into Africa. This expansion is driven by the need for resource security and the 'follow your client' model, where banks support Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and SMEs. Key mechanisms include project finance via China ExIm Bank and China Development Bank, the establishment of the China-Africa Development Fund, and strategic equity investments, such as ICBC's 20% stake in South Africa's Standard Bank.

South Africa is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in Africa, with emissions primarily driven by a coal-dependent energy sector. The country faces a strategic dilemma in balancing poverty alleviation and energy security with international pressure to reduce emissions. To navigate this, South Africa engages in multilateral alliances such as the BASIC group and IBSA to promote 'climate equity' and 'climate justice', arguing that historical polluters should bear the primary burden of mitigation. While South Africa has pledged emission cuts under the Copenhagen Accord, the document notes a gap between its international rhetoric and domestic implementation of renewable energy policies. The report suggests that South Africa and other emerging economies can collaborate on technology transfer, climate modeling, and adaptation strategies to transition toward low-carbon economies without compromising development.

The study identifies Zimbabwe's foreign exchange controls as the most costly non-tariff barrier (NTB) affecting bilateral trade between South Africa and Zimbabwe across multiple sectors. Other significant costs include administrative delays at the Beit Bridge border crossing and high freight costs resulting from a dysfunctional regional rail network. The paper also highlights congestion at Durban Port and specific sectoral barriers, such as South Africa's ban on second-hand vehicles traveling on its roads and two-stage conversion requirements for Zimbabwean textiles.

The document advocates for the use of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to help African coastal and island communities adapt to climate change impacts such as sea level rise and tropical storms. It provides a set of nine key recommendations for SADC stakeholders to integrate EbA into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), align biodiversity and ocean policies, and ensure the inclusion of local communities and gender equity in project design. The statement emphasizes the need for a regional SADC EbA strategy and a resource mobilisation plan to support sustainable investments across the region.

The author contends that the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) are being emasculated by a lack of political will among African leaders. Specifically, the paper highlights how the 'quiet diplomacy' of South African President Thabo Mbeki and other leaders toward Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe reflects a deeper commitment among National Liberation Movement (NLM) governments to protect one another from democratic turnover. The author asserts that this solidarity among former liberation movements contradicts the stated goals of good governance and democracy required to attract G7 financial support, thereby risking the overall success of the African renewal process.

The report investigates the captive predator breeding industry in South Africa, specifically focusing on lions. It challenges industry claims of economic significance and conservation value, arguing that the industry relies on deceptive marketing to attract volunteer tourists and supplies the 'canned hunting' and lion bone trades. The author contends that the industry lacks scientific grounding, suffers from genetic inbreeding, and may facilitate organised crime through the legal export of lion skeletons to Asia. The paper suggests that the opportunity costs—including damage to South Africa's tourism brand and the loss of potential jobs from ethical ecotourism—outweigh the industry's private returns, recommending a move toward a zero export quota for lion derivatives.

The document examines the shift in India's Africa policy from Cold War-era support for anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles to a modern approach centered on economic diplomacy and energy security. While India seeks to secure crude oil and LNG to fuel its projected economic growth, the author argues that its engagement remains 'development friendly' and 'Third Worldist,' evidenced by diversified trade, capacity-building initiatives, and multilateral cooperation through forums like IBSA.

The document highlights that over 3.2 billion people in 52 high-impact countries face cooling access challenges, with 1.05 billion at high risk. It advocates for a shift from equipment-based projections to a needs-based approach covering thermal comfort, food security, and healthcare. The report recommends national action plans, public-private partnerships, and targeted financing for the most vulnerable populations to ensure equitable access to sustainable cooling.

The document lists ten financing programs providing grants, seed funding, and technical assistance for renewable energy technologies. These programs target various stages of business development, from R&D and pilots to scaling and commercial expansion, primarily within African nations and other low-income or developing regions. Funding amounts vary significantly, ranging from small grants of US $15,000 to large-scale transition grants of up to US $15 million.

The Malawi Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) outlines a strategy to move from 12.5% electricity access in 2022 to universal access by 2030 for an estimated 5.5 million households. The plan proposes a mix of grid-based solutions (64% of new growth) and off-grid solutions (26%), with a heavy emphasis on the Central and Southern regions. It identifies significant financing gaps and suggests that adopting international competitive bidding and low-cost rural design standards could reduce grid expansion costs from $3.1 billion (BAU) to $1.8 billion. The report also assesses the electrification of public facilities, including 1,058 health clinics and 7,123 schools, and examines the impact of e-cooking on future energy demand.

The document explores how battery storage can enable eCooking in areas with weak, unreliable, or non-existent electricity grids. It specifically proposes a Battery Swapping Model (BSM) where users lease batteries from a central station, reducing upfront capital burdens and ensuring professional battery maintenance. The paper identifies a 'Goldilocks Zone' for this model—informal urban settlements, humanitarian settings, and mini-grid edges—where population density and proximity to stations make daily swaps practical. It concludes that while promising, the BSM requires targeted pilots to determine financial and operational viability.

The report evaluates the extent to which gender considerations are embedded in national energy policies and the corporate practices of energy companies. It utilizes a scoring system to analyze female participation, economic empowerment, education, and labor rights across different income levels and energy sectors, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electrification.

The CHAPOSA project investigated charcoal production systems around Lusaka, Dar es Salaam, and Maputo between 1989 and 1998. Findings indicate a significant reduction in closed forest cover in all three areas, with the most severe depletion around Maputo. Charcoal serves as a critical income source for rural poor and a stable, affordable energy source for urban poor, creating a socio-economic dependency that complicates regulation. The report argues that current fiscal and licensing systems are inadequately enforced, treating forests as open-access resources. To mitigate deforestation, the authors recommend a coordinated approach: enforcing licensing to increase prices and fund forest management, while simultaneously providing rural income alternatives (e.g., improved agriculture) and urban energy substitutes (e.g., expanded electricity access).

The document evaluates biofuel production in southern Africa, finding that sugarcane generally improves food security and reduces poverty, while jatropha's benefits are unproven or precarious. It highlights a trade-off where sugarcane can increase carbon stocks but displace food crops, whereas jatropha plantations in Mozambique caused substantial carbon stock losses. The brief also notes that high costs hinder the adoption of ethanol cooking stoves in urban Mozambique despite their potential to reduce charcoal-driven deforestation.

The project, running from October 2013 to October 2015, seeks to identify strategies to minimize trade-offs between biofuel production and rural wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa. It employs field-based research at case study sites in Malawi, Swaziland, and Mozambique, focusing on sugar cane and jatropha feedstocks. The study examines various ecosystem services—including climate regulation and water—and dimensions of poverty such as food security and energy poverty, with a specific focus on Malawi's long-term experience with biofuel blending in transport fuel.

The document provides a conceptual framework for institutional capacity development (CD) in developing countries, integrating traditional institutional development, governance, and micro-economics. It defines institutional capacity as a combination of functions, resources, and structures, and argues that sustainability depends on local ownership and the ability to secure domestic resources. The authors propose generic 'capacity areas'—such as information, competence, and governance—and suggest monitoring tools like the Institutional Development Framework (IDF) and the Organisational Capacity Assessment Tool (OCAT) to track progress through specific indicators.

The document serves as a guide for designing agricultural development efforts that empower both women and men in Sub-Saharan Africa. It originated from a process initiated by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative (SIANI) to move beyond the analysis of gender roles toward devising mechanisms for changing attitudes and roles to support food security, agricultural sector growth, and poverty alleviation. The report includes analytical frameworks and case studies covering topics such as land rights, value chains, household methodologies, and 'climate-smart' agriculture.