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The document outlines the need for more inclusive, evidence-driven partnerships between African governments, extractive companies, and communities to move beyond raw material exports toward value-addition and beneficiation. It proposes the creation of Regional Mining Visions (RMVs) to set standards on social and environmental impacts and calls for strategic global partnerships with systemic players like China to enhance Africa's position in global minerals value chains.

The report examines the gap between Africa's strong rhetorical commitment to regional integration and the limited actual progress achieved. Using APRM data from 17 countries, it identifies systemic barriers including reluctance to cede national sovereignty, overlapping memberships in multiple regional economic communities (RECs), inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of private sector involvement. While some blocs like the East African Community (EAC) show more progress, most have not advanced beyond free trade areas or customs unions, and intra-African trade remains low compared to trade with external partners like the EU and China.

The report provides an 'Afro-realistic' analysis of accountability in Africa, contrasting the potential of continental initiatives like the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and Agenda 2063 with the practical challenges of domestic implementation. It investigates the roles of the African Union (AU), national parliaments, ombudsman offices, and civil society in curbing executive power and ensuring sustainable peace. The text highlights a tension between economic development and democratic governance, noting that while some states achieve growth, it often occurs at the expense of human rights.

The report examines the intersection of energy poverty and gender inequality in West Africa, highlighting how socially determined roles lead to differential access to and use of energy services. It identifies significant barriers for women in the energy workforce and entrepreneurship, including gaps in STEM education and limited access to land and finance. The document assesses the existing regional and national policy landscapes, noting a general lack of gender-disaggregated data and limited collaboration between energy and gender ministries. It argues for a gender-responsive approach to energy planning to maximize the impact of interventions and achieve universal energy access by 2030.

The document argues that traditional techno-economic approaches to energy access are insufficient and proposes an ecosystem services lens to better understand how biomass use affects human welfare and the environment. It details three primary research methodologies: demand-side surveys, supply and value chain analysis, and economic modeling of consumer choice, with a particular focus on the charcoal sector in sub-Saharan Africa.

The report assesses 50 environmental impact assessment frameworks, finding that few focus exclusively on livestock. It identifies nine key impact dimensions—including GHG emissions, water use, and biodiversity—and notes a significant lack of ex-ante analysis and explicit rationale for indicator selection. The review highlights that while many frameworks target policymakers, they often rely on short-term data and lack clear methodologies for up-scaling results across different spatial and temporal scales.

The HASHI program in Tanzania's Shinyanga region restored 500,000 hectares of woodland by reviving 'ngitili', a traditional Sukuma practice of seasonal livestock enclosures. This effort reversed decades of desertification caused by cash-crop expansion and 'villagization' policies. Success was driven by a combination of traditional knowledge, decentralized governance, and long-term funding from the Norwegian Development Assistance Agency. While the program provided significant economic benefits and reduced workloads for women, it faces ongoing challenges from population growth, socioeconomic disparity in land ownership, and a lack of national monitoring systems.

The document argues that regreening, primarily through Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), is a cost-effective solution for restoring degraded landscapes in Africa's arid zones. It details a six-step strategy for scaling these efforts: identifying existing successes, building a community of champions, resolving policy and legal barriers, implementing communication strategies, developing agroforestry value chains, and filling knowledge gaps through research. The report highlights significant achievements in Niger, where 5 million hectares have been regreened, and emphasizes the multiple economic, environmental, and social benefits of integrating trees into agricultural systems.

The report advocates for the scaling of regreening, specifically farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), as a low-cost solution to food insecurity and climate change in drylands. It details a six-step strategy: identifying successes, building grassroots movements, addressing policy barriers, implementing communication strategies, strengthening value chains, and expanding research. Using examples from Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal, the authors argue that FMNR is more cost-effective and has higher survival rates than conventional tree planting.

A case study detailing a 2014 capacity-building initiative in Tanzania's capital markets, delivered by FSD Africa and the London Stock Exchange (LSEG) Academy to enhance professional skills and market infrastructure.

The report argues that conservation initiatives frequently violate the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, despite an increasing international legal consensus on their protections. It asserts that responsibility for upholding these rights extends beyond states to include international organisations, businesses, and NGOs. The authors analyse a vast array of international instruments and find that while normative trends are moving toward greater recognition of rights, enforcement and redress remain significant challenges. The document concludes by suggesting the creation of core standards, stakeholder guidance, and potentially a dedicated global grievance mechanism or 'Roundtable on Ethical Conservation' to ensure just conservation practices.

The document analyzes the evolving energy partnership between the US and South Africa, framed by the US's shift toward energy independence via shale gas and its 'Power Africa' initiative. While South Africa is interested in the US model for shale gas and renewables, the briefing argues that South Africa must remain cautious regarding hydraulic fracturing due to severe water constraints and infrastructure gaps. It highlights the US-South Africa Strategic Dialogue as a mechanism for cooperation on clean energy, carbon capture, and hydrocarbon development, while noting that US initiatives in Africa have targeted a limited number of countries.

The 10YFP Programme on Sustainable Lifestyles and Education is a global initiative resulting from Rio+20, co-led by Japan, Sweden (via SEI), and WWF. It defines sustainable lifestyles as choices that "minimize environmental degradation" while supporting equitable development. The programme focuses on three main pillars: educating for sustainable lifestyles across formal and informal settings, developing and replicating low-carbon lifestyle scenarios, and promoting innovative and traditional models of sustainable living. Key objectives include building a common framework for understanding sustainable lifestyles, integrating these principles across society, and empowering individuals—particularly youth—through education and awareness. The programme is supported by a Multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee (MAC) and seeks to provide recommendations for policies, infrastructures, and business strategies that enable sustainable living, with a specific emphasis on urban spaces.

The research paper examines whether the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) has led to governance improvements in member states using the 2014 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) as a benchmark. The author finds mixed results: while 10 of 17 reviewed countries showed some progress—most notably Rwanda—others like Mali and Benin experienced regression. The paper concludes that there is no obvious direct positive correlation between APRM reviews and improved IIAG scores, largely because member states have failed to systematically implement the required National Programmes of Action (NPoA). To improve, the author recommends strengthening peer pressure, increasing secretariat support for national planning, and enhancing civil society engagement to ensure domestic accountability.

The policy brief argues that peace agreements in the DRC, specifically the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement and the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement (AAFA), reflect shifts in economic power between the eastern Kivus and the southern Katanga province. While early conflicts and the ICGLR were driven by the exploitation of coltan and other minerals in the east by Rwanda and Uganda, the subsequent rise of copper and cobalt investments in Katanga shifted geopolitical influence toward SADC states.

The document analyzes Kenya's regional diplomatic history, noting a traditional preference for cautious, pragmatic engagement over political leadership. It highlights a significant shift in approach with the military intervention in Somalia and discusses the complexities of Kenya's relations with South Africa and the East African Community. The author argues that Kenya often 'punches below its weight' and recommends a more strategic use of hard and soft power to enhance its regional leverage.

The document examines the challenges facing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Africa, highlighting how their proximity to state power often leads to politicised board appointments and regulatory failures. Using data from APRM reviews of six SADC countries, it argues that SOEs must be treated as professional companies, with merit-based appointments and clear legal mandates, to drive broader economic development and good corporate governance across the continent.

The document examines the transition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Africa from simple philanthropy to a strategic, integrated business approach. Using data from the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), it contrasts the 'first-generation' philanthropic approach seen in less developed economies like Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia with the more 'second-generation' systematic approaches in South Africa and Mauritius. It highlights a gap between advanced conceptual frameworks and actual practice, noting that mandatory labour and environmental regulations are often ignored. The author argues for a 'third-generation' CSR model where businesses partner with society to solve overarching problems, while cautioning that CSR should remain fundamentally voluntary to avoid overburdening companies.

The document identifies significant potential for increasing rice production in Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi through the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), noting that SRI can often more than double yields compared to traditional methods. However, it highlights that these gains are frequently linked to broader improved management practices rather than SRI principles alone. Implementation is hindered by common constraints including low seed quality, poor irrigation, limited credit access, and a lack of specific national policies to promote SRI, although Tanzania incorporates it into its "Big Result Now" program.

The Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) developed a simulation game to communicate the complexities of its productive social safety net (PSSN) program to rural farmers. This tool was designed to help farmers understand conditional cash transfers and how PSSN participation manages rising drought risk. Following tests with over fifty farmers, TASAF adopted the game in 2012 as the primary extension tool for a national rollout targeting 13 million Tanzanians living below the poverty line.