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The report highlights a significant gender gap in African political representation, with women making up only 24% of parliamentarians and 7% of top executive positions. While the judiciary shows more encouraging trends, with 21 countries meeting a 33% representation target, structural barriers like patriarchal norms and cyberbullying persist. The text argues that higher female political participation correlates with lower corruption, increased social spending on health and education, and the adoption of stricter climate change policies.

The document examines the rapid expansion of private schooling in Africa since the 1990s, noting that while it provides a quality alternative to failing public systems in some areas, it often exacerbates inequality and is increasingly driven by profit-seeking and foreign investment rather than charity.

Since independence, African agriculture has lagged behind global productivity due to a lack of resource allocation, tenure reform, and infrastructure. Despite possessing 45% of the world's land suitable for sustainable production expansion, the continent remains the most food-insecure region globally, with yields remaining roughly half of the global average. Productivity is further hampered by conflict in states like Angola and DR Congo, extreme weather events, and significant deforestation, with 4 million hectares of forest lost annually. While the African Union's CAADP initiative aims to drive growth, most national budgets allocate only 5-7% to agriculture, leaving smallholder farmers—who provide 80% of sub-Saharan production—without essential inputs and market access.

The document outlines a simulated agricultural revolution in Africa based on eight interventions: increasing crop yields, expanding irrigation, increasing water withdrawal, protecting forests, improving supply chains, enhancing rural road access, and increasing per capita calories. The scenario predicts that by 2043, average crop yields will reach 7 tons per hectare (a 37% increase over the 'Current Path') and irrigated land will grow to 17.4 million hectares. It emphasizes the role of these interventions in reducing food loss and waste—projected to drop to 19.4% by 2033—and improving rural accessibility to 69%. The model balances agricultural expansion with forest protection, aiming to save 30 million hectares of forest land by 2043 compared to the Current Path forecast.

The research paper analyzes historical agricultural transformations in China, Brazil, and Egypt, highlighting the roles of institutional incentives, genetic seed tailoring, and targeted infrastructure investments in increasing yields and food security.

The document analyzes the strategic interests of the EU and Indonesia in Africa's critical raw materials sector, arguing that their differing strengths—the EU's financial and regulatory capacity and Indonesia's downstream industrialisation experience—could be combined through triangular cooperation to support African development and reduce mutual dependence on China.

The document advocates for the substitution of problematic shrink sleeve materials (PET, PETG, and PVC) with floatable polyolefins, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), to enhance the recyclability of PET bottles. It highlights that problematic sleeves cause recycling facilities to reject bottles, leading to landfill waste and pollution. The transition, supported by the SA Plastics Pact and early adopters like Woolworths and SPUR Corporation, is part of the broader 'Plastic Reboot – South Africa' project aimed at implementing upstream circular interventions in the food and beverage sector.

The document examines the debate over South Africa's economic trajectory. While Treasury and business argue that structural reforms in electricity and transport, along with modest growth increases from 0.6% in 2024 to 1.1% in 2025, signal a recovery, critics argue that growth remains below population growth (1.33%) and is insufficient to address unemployment. The briefing highlights a decline in the investment-to-GDP ratio to approximately 14% and warns that fiscal austerity and contractionary monetary policies may stifle growth. Additionally, it notes that an emerging international crisis involving the war on Iran and rising oil prices threatens the economy with stagflation, potentially exacerbated by a hawkish Reserve Bank and a lack of a major fiscal stimulus package.

The SUNCASA project has implemented nature-based solutions (NbS) across three Sub-Saharan African cities, planting 2.4 million trees and shrubs and restoring over 3,500 hectares of land within its first two years. In Dire Dawa, the project focuses on afforestation and agroforestry to combat soil erosion and improve food security. In Kigali, efforts center on riparian buffer zones and agroforestry to reduce flood risks. Johannesburg's primary focus is the removal of alien invasive species to protect water quality and biodiversity. The project integrates gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) to ensure marginalized groups participate in climate adaptation. Cost-benefit analyses indicate significant future savings in flood-related infrastructure and health expenses across all three cities.

Ghana faces a critical juncture where economic recovery is threatened by a fragile, high-carbon energy sector and widespread illegal mining. The energy sector is characterized by high debt, a heavy reliance on thermal generation, and a lack of renewable energy investment. Simultaneously, illegal mining (galamsey) causes severe deforestation and water pollution, threatening food security and the viability of hydropower. The document proposes a transition toward sustainable growth through competitive solar auctions, the establishment of a green investment facility, the formalization of artisanal mining via the Ghana Gold Board, and large-scale ecosystem restoration.

The Climate Litigation Lab report summarizes discussions from a 2025 event in Magaliesburg, South Africa, focusing on Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and the legal challenges facing environmental defenders in Africa.

The report forecasts that Africa's energy demand will rise significantly due to population growth and economic expansion, with the 'Combined scenario' projecting demand 26% above the 'Current Path' by 2050. While production is expected to increase—particularly through renewables—demand will still outpace supply, increasing reliance on energy imports. Despite a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, Africa's share of global CO2-equivalent emissions from fossil fuels is projected to rise to 10.4% by 2050 in the Combined scenario.

The document argues that land is a strategic public resource central to South Africa's just transition, rather than merely a financial asset. It outlines how municipalities can use spatial planning, inclusive governance, and tenure protection to balance the land-intensive needs of renewable energy and climate adaptation with the need to redress historical spatial inequalities. The guide identifies significant municipal constraints, including dire finances, lack of consolidated land information, and complex overlaps with traditional authorities, while offering a roadmap for advancing distributive, restorative, and procedural justice through land administration.

The Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) argues that South Africa's Public Procurement Act (2024), specifically sections 30 and 31, provides a statutory mandate for civil society to monitor procurement. To translate this into practice, PARI proposes piloting civic observers for high-risk contracts, expanding community-led social audits for local service delivery, and adopting the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) for machine-readable transparency. The paper emphasizes that these measures shift oversight from retrospective audits to real-time risk mitigation and suggests that National Treasury can begin implementation using existing powers under the PFMA and MFMA even while the new Act is challenged in court.

The report critiques South Africa's National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS) 2020 and its 2025 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for failing to address the root causes of current vulnerability, such as poverty and inequality. It argues that focusing solely on system resilience—such as 'climate smart agriculture'—without reducing existing vulnerabilities like food insecurity leads to 'maladaptation' and risks a 'downward spiral of undevelopment.' The author proposes shifting from 'incremental adaptation' (technical adjustments) to 'transformative adaptation' (system transitions), incorporating a distributive justice framework similar to that used in energy transitions to ensure that the structural causes of vulnerability are dismantled.

The report argues that the abrupt closure of USAID in 2025 has had catastrophic short-term effects on funding-dependent newsrooms in Africa, leading to mass layoffs and a decline in investigative capacity. It highlights the role of Internews as a primary implementer of these projects and warns that the loss of funding increases the risk of 'media capture' by political actors, the 'juniorisation' of newsrooms as senior staff leave, and a shift toward commercial rather than public service reporting. The author concludes that the resulting vacuum in public accountability work may accelerate democratic backsliding in fragile states.

The report argues that the AfCFTA is essential for Africa to overcome a colonial legacy of exporting primary goods and importing manufactured equipment. It highlights that while official intra-African trade is low (14.8% in 2021), informal trade is significantly higher due to high formal costs. The AfCFTA aims to formalise trade, develop regional value chains, and prioritise industrialisation in sectors like agri-business and pharmaceuticals to enhance global competitiveness and economic stability.

The report examines Africa's history of 'premature deindustrialisation' and proposes a strategic shift toward manufacturing to drive structural transformation. It models a scenario where increased investment in R&D, infrastructure, and labour participation leads to significant GDP growth, the creation of millions of jobs, and a substantial reduction in extreme poverty by 2043.

The report argues that Africa is disproportionately vulnerable to climate change and requires substantial support from wealthier nations to transition to renewables. It suggests a gradual phasing out of fossil fuels—starting with coal, then oil, and gas beyond 2050—contrasting with more rapid shifts proposed by other bodies. Key barriers identified include the failure of initiatives like JET-Ps to raise sufficient funds, the unfunded status of the loss and damage fund, and geopolitical tensions between the US, China, and the EU. The authors advocate for a differentiated global carbon tax, the operationalization of the Global Loss and Damage Fund, and the enhancement of Africa's role as a global carbon sink to balance economic growth with climate resilience.

The report highlights how Africa's infrastructure deficit, particularly in roads and aviation, increases transport costs and hinders investment. It notes a significant funding gap and a failure to implement regional air transport agreements, while acknowledging the role of China's Belt and Road Initiative in recent infrastructure development.