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The 2020 Energizing Finance report finds a widening gap between actual and required investment for universal energy access, with funding failing to reach the countries with the greatest need. In 2018, only USD 16 billion of the required USD 41 billion for residential electrification was tracked in high-impact countries, and clean cooking finance remained far below the USD 4.5 billion annual requirement. The report highlights a concerning shift toward fossil fuel-generated electricity and a lack of private sector investment in clean cooking, urging a move away from business-as-usual approaches toward coordinated, sustainable financing.

This research paper explores the political economy of climate adaptation projects by combining the 4E typology (enclosure, exclusion, encroachment, and entrenchment) with system mapping. Using the solar electricity system in Turkana, Kenya as a case study, the author argues that integrating these tools helps connect theoretical change processes to empirical reality and allows for the construction of causal pathways from projects to impacts.

FSD Africa reports that between 2012 and 2020, it reached over 5.47 million people and 3.2 million MSMEs through financial inclusion and capital market projects. Key achievements include catalysing £1.53 billion in long-term capital, supporting 27,000 jobs, and effecting approximately 130 regulatory changes. The organization is now transitioning to 'FSD 2.0', shifting focus toward 'sustainable futures', jobs, and basic services, with a particular emphasis on green finance and Covid-19 recovery.

The report examines community resilience and dialogue as tools to prevent violent extremism in three Kenyan counties. It identifies key risk factors, such as police brutality and socio-economic marginalisation, while highlighting existing strengths like inter-group collaboration. The authors argue for a shift from specific P/CVE interventions to broader, P/CVE-relevant development goals to reduce vulnerability.

The document evaluates the coal exit policies of French financial actors, highlighting a lack of uniformity and the failure of some to meet 2019 commitments. It details five categories of best practices: halting new projects and infrastructure, excluding companies with coal development plans, setting low revenue/production thresholds for exclusion, applying absolute exclusion limits for the largest coal actors, and requiring companies to publish closure plans that prioritize shutting down assets over selling them.

The report examines youth climate advocacy in Africa, highlighting the role of civil society, government policies, and the challenges of the digital divide. It argues for a shift from tokenistic inclusion to meaningful participation, where youth are recognized as active agents of change in policymaking and implementation.

The document examines the critical interdependencies between water, energy, and food security, illustrating how failures in one sector trigger crises in others. Using case studies from India, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, and Pakistan, it demonstrates how climate-driven droughts and poor governance exacerbate resource scarcity and political instability. The author advocates for a systemic shift in international aid, moving away from siloed management toward a nexus approach based on three pillars: enhanced knowledge through data, strengthened institutional governance, and cross-sectoral regional cooperation.

The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) convened a youth working meeting on 8 October 2020 to determine the priorities for a civil society submission to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). Participants defined a 'picture of success' for South Africa, emphasizing the need for committed leadership, youth representation in decision-making, and the eradication of gender-based violence and corruption. The meeting identified a broad range of governance concerns, including unemployment, climate change, and the digital divide, which will be organized into 12 working groups to develop evidence-based recommendations by January 2021.

The document outlines the role of community protocols in implementing Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) frameworks, emphasizing that these protocols should be community-led and tailored to specific local contexts rather than standardized. It details how protocols help communities define their rights, manage resources like Rooibos and Buchu, and negotiate with industry actors. The text highlights the necessity of government support, legal recognition, and a holistic approach that integrates customary laws with national and international rights to ensure sustainable resource management and fair benefit sharing.

The document outlines practical guidance and case studies on using community protocols to manage biological and genetic resources. It emphasizes that protocols should be community-led, adapted to local contexts rather than standardized, and integrated into national legal frameworks to ensure transparency for industry and the protection of indigenous rights.

The guide outlines a framework for land restoration consisting of understanding the land's state through social and physical mapping, setting inclusive goals, and establishing tracking systems. It emphasizes that restoration must integrate local expertise and marginalized voices to avoid pitfalls such as planting trees in incorrect locations or violating land rights. Case studies from Kenya, India, Ethiopia, and El Salvador illustrate how data-driven planning and community engagement can maximize carbon sequestration, water quality, and economic benefits.

The document highlights that Malawi loses approximately 1.7% of its GDP annually to droughts and floods, a rate significantly higher than the average for Least Developed Countries. It advocates for a 'triple dividend' approach to resilience—avoided losses, unlocked development potential, and co-benefits—noting that benefit-cost ratios for such investments can range from 3:1 to 50:1. The brief provides evidence from infrastructure, social protection, and climate-smart agriculture to support the claim that proactive resilience is more cost-effective than humanitarian aid.

The report highlights the risks posed by the digital transformation of the maritime sector in Africa, noting that while most incidents have occurred elsewhere, the continent's heavy reliance on seaborne trade makes it vulnerable. It identifies a significant gap in Africa-specific research and a slow rate of ratification for the AU Malabo Convention. The author recommends that African Union member states adopt national cyber laws and that the AU integrate cyber security into the African Peace and Security Architecture and the 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy.

The report outlines the critical role of geospatial least-cost modelling in achieving universal energy access, while highlighting significant data gaps in demand-side considerations, grid infrastructure, and clean cooking patterns. It argues for a shift from static to dynamic data inputs and suggests that integrating electrification and clean cooking planning can double the viability of electric cookstoves. The document provides frameworks for key data inputs and proposes cost-effective methods for filling gaps, such as AI-driven remote sensing and cell phone-based surveys.

The pandemic has exacerbated existing infrastructure funding weaknesses in Africa, leading to potential debt defaults, as seen in Zambia's request to pause repayments on $3bn in bonds. China is a dominant creditor, with 44% of Zambia's total debt owed to it and 60% of this year's debt repayments from poor countries going to China. While China has joined the G20's Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), it prefers opaque, case-by-case negotiations and classifies some major lenders, like the China Development Bank, as commercial entities to exempt them from the initiative. The author suggests that African nations may enter deals similar to Laos's hydroelectric plant agreement—where a Chinese entity became the majority shareholder to forestall default—to avoid credit downgrades by agencies like Fitch Ratings and maintain access to capital markets, potentially increasing China's control over African state assets.

The document argues for a comprehensive AU-EU partnership on the green transition and energy access that moves beyond a risk-based lens to address Africa's developmental goals. It highlights the critical need to expand electricity access, leverage private investment through de-risking mechanisms, and integrate nexus issues such as agriculture and the digital economy. While acknowledging the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, the briefing suggests the crisis offers an opportunity to redesign the partnership to ensure a just transition that includes skills development and gender mainstreaming.

The document examines the challenges of Africa's transition to renewable energy, highlighting a significant skills gap and the persistent under-representation of women in energy value chains. It argues that while gender-mainstreaming policies exist, they often lack the monitoring, evaluation, and comprehensive support systems—such as financial and technical assistance—necessary to create tangible change. The briefing specifically calls for the AU-EU strategic partnership to better integrate gender dimensions into its green transition and energy access pillars, particularly for youth and those in fossil-fuel-dependent economies to ensure a just transition.

The document examines the role of the circular economy in the economic recovery of the EU and AU following the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the EU's Green Deal and its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, while noting that African countries often practice circular economy principles without formal policies. The brief suggests that the EU's desire to shorten global value chains for food and medical security presents an opportunity for Africa to enhance its regional value chains in mining and agriculture through partnerships. It recommends that the EU-AU Summit prioritize a circular economy baseline for all future programmes to ensure sustainable development and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.

The document argues that public funds alone cannot meet Africa's growing energy demands, which require an estimated $120 billion annually until 2040. It advocates for 'green financing'—blending public, development, and private capital—to reduce investment risks and improve affordability. Using Kenya as a model, the brief details how instruments like Partial Risk Guarantees, concessional loans, and Feed-in Tariffs have facilitated large-scale wind and geothermal projects. It specifically encourages the European Union to leverage its development finance institutions to create risk-mitigation products and support local private sector partnerships to accelerate the continent's green transition.

The policy brief examines the opportunities and challenges of a sustainable energy transition partnership between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU). It highlights Africa's vast renewable potential and the EU's need for clean energy, while cautioning against post-colonial rhetoric and the economic risks for African fossil-fuel-dependent nations. The authors recommend a joint vision focused on infrastructure investment, technology transfer, and job creation to ensure a just transition.