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This briefing by Friends of the Earth International argues that the pursuit of 'dirty energy'—including fossil fuels, nuclear power, and megadams—is causing severe environmental and social harm across Africa while failing to resolve energy poverty. The document highlights specific case studies of destructive energy projects in South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, and Mozambique, and calls for a transition toward community-controlled renewable energy and 'energy sovereignty'.

This report by Friends of the Earth International examines the impacts of 'dirty energy'—including coal, oil, gas, nuclear, and mega-dams—across the African continent. It argues that these energy systems exacerbate climate change, cause severe health and environmental damage, and fail to provide universal energy access, while often benefiting corporate elites over local communities.

The report critiques the prevalence of polluting energy sources in Africa, highlighting the environmental and social costs of coal in South Africa, oil in Nigeria and Uganda, and large dams in Mozambique. It emphasizes the paradox of high energy production alongside extreme energy poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and advocates for a systemic shift toward decentralized, renewable energy.

This case study examines the development and scaling of M-Shwari, a mobile-based savings and loans product in Kenya created through a partnership between the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and Safaricom. It details how FSD Kenya acted as a market facilitator, providing research and technical expertise to help CBA design a product tailored to low-income consumers, ultimately expanding formal financial access to millions of Kenyans.

This research paper examines the rapid pace of urbanisation in Africa, forecasting population trends and identifying the structural challenges that hinder sustainable urban development. It focuses on the emergence of megacities and the disconnect between urban growth and economic structural transformation.

This policy briefing examines the vulnerability of the livestock sector in Southern Africa to climate change, highlighting the severe impact of the 2015/2016 drought. It argues that while regional strategies like the SADC Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan exist, implementation remains sporadic and donor-driven. The document advocates for the use of indigenous animal genetic resources, improved support for small-scale farmers, and enhanced regional collaboration to build a climate-resilient livestock industry.

This policy briefing examines climate adaptation readiness in the agricultural sector of South Africa's Western Cape province following the 2015/2016 El Niño-linked drought. It argues that while comprehensive policy frameworks for disaster risk reduction and management exist, implementation is hindered by bureaucratic bottlenecks, insufficient funding, and a persistent focus on short-term relief over long-term resilience. The document highlights the success of conservation agriculture among grain farmers and calls for strengthened intergovernmental cooperation and adaptive water resource planning.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) wrote to the Minister of Environmental Affairs on 25 October 2016 to follow up on a request to strengthen the National Dust Control Regulations. The CER expresses concern over the Department of Environmental Affairs' narrow focus on monitoring methods rather than health impacts, and objects to a proposal to increase the allowable dust limit for residential areas.

This document is a statement of grounds of appeal filed on 13 October 2016 by eight environmental and community organisations against the approval of the Environmental Management Programme (EMPR) for the Yzermyn underground coal mine. The appellants argue that the approval, granted by the Mpumalanga Regional Manager of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) on 28 June 2016, ignored critical biodiversity risks, failed to provide adequate mitigation for water resource degradation, and disregarded the socio-economic vulnerability of local rural communities.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) submitted comments to the Department of Environmental Affairs on October 7, 2016, regarding proposed amendments to the Financial Provisioning Regulations, 2015. The CER argues that several proposed deletions of appendices and clauses would create legal uncertainty, reduce transparency, and weaken the state's ability to ensure that mining rehabilitation funds are available and used correctly.

This briefing by Friends of the Earth International advocates for a legally binding UN treaty to hold transnational corporations (TNCs) accountable for human rights and environmental violations, specifically highlighting systemic impunity and access-to-justice barriers in Africa.

The East Africa Crowdfunding Landscape Study, published by FSD Africa in October 2016, analyzes the crowdfunding and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending ecosystems in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, comparing them with more mature markets in South Africa and the United Kingdom. The report finds that while the region is experiencing rapid growth, it is primarily driven by international donation and concessionary lending platforms from the global North, rather than native equity or for-profit lending models, which are hindered by regulatory uncertainty and a lack of investment-ready MSMEs.

This case study examines the role of FinScope, a nationally representative survey developed by the FinMark Trust (FMT), in driving financial inclusion in South Africa. It analyzes how the tool filled a critical information gap for policymakers and financial service providers, moving the industry toward evidence-based decision-making and the development of pro-poor financial products.

This research paper examines the commercial tax evasion component of illicit financial flows (IFFs) in five African countries: Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco, Zambia, and Egypt. It clarifies the distinctions between transfer pricing, abusive transfer pricing, trade mispricing, and trade-based money laundering (TBML), while estimating the scale of these flows using IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS) and a developed TBML model. The authors highlight significant data anomalies in international trade databases and advocate for the implementation of the Unique Consignment Reference (UCR) to improve accuracy and curb illicit outflows.

This report by the African Center for Economic Transformation outlines a strategy to transform agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through the generation and diffusion of modern technology and improved management practices. The study identifies rice as a promising crop for a 'Green Revolution' in the region and suggests that technology transfer from advanced regions like South Africa and tropical Asia (specifically India) can help close yield gaps. The paper emphasizes that technological innovation must be coupled with improved agronomic management and marketing to be effective.

A joint letter from the Centre for Environmental Rights and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies requesting the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to amend its section 15 declaration under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to increase transparency and remove restrictions on who can access mining and environmental records.

This guide by GreenCape provides municipal officials in the Western Cape with a framework for implementing and regulating Small Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG), primarily focusing on solar photovoltaic (PV) systems under 1MW. It details the technical components of PV systems, cost trends, tariff design principles, the application process for grid-tied and off-grid systems, and the necessary legal and regulatory standards to ensure grid stability and safety.

This executive summary by FSD Africa examines the 'cusp group' in sub-Saharan Africa—individuals earning $2-$5 per day who straddle formal and informal economies. The report analyzes credit market dynamics in South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana to provide recommendations for regulators and donors to foster healthy credit markets that enable upward mobility without leading to systemic overindebtedness.

A reflection by Ivan Vaalbooi of Natural Justice on the life and contributions of Andries Steenkamp, a leader within the Khomani San and broader indigenous communities in South Africa.

An open letter from 30 civil society organisations to South African ministers demanding that Eskom comply with environmental and health laws, cease its opposition to renewable energy, and provide transparency regarding the decommissioning of ageing coal-fired power stations.