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The document examines how COVID-19 transitioned from a health crisis to a systemic human development crisis in Africa, highlighting the severe economic contraction faced by energy exporters and tourism-dependent nations. It notes that while developed economies initially bore a higher infection burden, the economic downturn is universal, potentially triggering debt crises and defaults. However, the report suggests the pandemic could accelerate digitisation and a transition toward a sustainable economy powered by renewable energy.

The document examines the vulnerability of Mombasa to climate change, specifically flooding and sea-level rise, and argues for the integration of nature-based solutions into urban planning. It highlights the role of mangroves, constructed wetlands, and urban green zones in enhancing ecological and social resilience. The brief notes that current major planning documents, such as the Gate City Master Plan, lack systematic climate resilience strategies, and advocates for a 'joined-up' approach using the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to coordinate stakeholder action and build social capital.

This report describes a participatory workshop conducted in February 2020 by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Hivos with residents of non-grid connected villages in Machakos county, Kenya. The exercise used a 'backcasting' methodology, asking participants to imagine a 2030 scenario where their entire villages used electricity for cooking and then determine the necessary sequence of changes required to achieve that goal. The study emphasizes the need to prioritize sociocultural factors—such as gender roles, cultural norms, and cooking practices—over a traditional focus on technical efficiency when scaling clean cookstove access.

Natural Justice pays tribute to Mzee Abubakar Al-Amudy, the co-founder and long-term leader of Save Lamu, who passed away on June 21, 2020. Al-Amudy is credited with leading the community's successful legal challenge against the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) regarding the environmental license for the Amu Power coal plant in Lamu. He also played a key role in the development of a Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP) to help the local community respond to government development projects.

The policy brief argues that African governments should leverage the urgency of the COVID-19 crisis to implement lasting reforms that protect the continent's long-term growth trajectory. It outlines ten priorities divided into resource mobilization, governance, business environment, and digital innovation. Key recommendations include closing tax loopholes, streamlining government bureaucracy, improving the ease of doing business, and crowding in venture capital to support a tech-driven innovation ecosystem.

The report details a study in rural Kenya where community members imagined a future of fully electric cooking and worked backward to identify the necessary steps to achieve it. Participants linked electric cooking to broader development goals, including improved health, gender equality, and infrastructure. The proposed pathway involves a gradual transition from fuelwood to improved stoves and LPG before reaching full electrification, driven by community savings, civic engagement, and government support.

The report details how COVID-19 caused operational disruptions, reduced premium income, and accelerated digitalization within the insurance sector in Eastern and Southern Africa. While life and health products provided some coverage, business interruption insurance largely failed to support business resilience. Insurers face prudential stability concerns and liquidity challenges, though 50% expect premium income to recover within a year.

The report analyzes national dialogues in Sudan, South Sudan, and Kenya, identifying key success and failure factors such as inclusivity, convener credibility, and implementation mechanisms. It argues that Ethiopia's current political transition, marked by ethnic tensions and the deferral of the 2020 election, could benefit from a similar process to resolve constitutional deadlocks and foster national reconciliation.

The document argues that Africa is experiencing a growing economic divergence from the rest of the world, with GDP per capita projected to be less than one quarter of the global average by 2040. While human well-being indicators like life expectancy have improved, the continent's growth is constrained by an unproductive economic structure dominated by low-end informal services and a slow demographic transition. To ignite a 'growth revolution', the author advocates for a 'bottom-up' approach focusing on basic infrastructure, reducing fertility rates, and transitioning toward manufacturing and productive agriculture. The brief emphasizes that leveraging the fourth industrial revolution, renewable energy, and the African Continental Free Trade Area, alongside accountable leadership, is essential to reversing commodity dependence and achieving sustainable prosperity.

The document examines the African Peer Review Mechanism's (APRM) drive for universal membership, arguing that while a worthy goal, the organization must first address its backlog of 'slow states' and improve the implementation of National Programmes of Action (NPoAs). It highlights that 40 of 55 African states have joined, but many have failed to undergo first reviews or progress to second reviews. The authors warn that 'targeted reviews' may allow governments to avoid sensitive issues and suggest that the APRM adopt stricter measures, similar to the OGP or EITI, to handle inactive members.

The document examines how African governments and mining companies track local procurement, noting that aggregate spending figures often mask a lack of genuine local value addition. It highlights the gap between current reporting practices and the data needed to steer effective policy, while identifying emerging industry standards and country-specific examples that could serve as models for improvement.

The document examines the adoption of the Mimi Moto advanced biomass cookstove in peri-urban Kenya, identifying two distinct user archetypes: 'money savers' and 'convenience seekers'. While both groups experienced declines in satisfaction due to inconsistent fuel availability, 'convenience seekers' showed higher overall usage. The study highlights a systemic gap where stakeholders focus on initial awareness and onboarding rather than the long-term 'using' phase, recommending stabilized fuel infrastructure and tailored after-sales support to improve adoption.

The document examines the complex climate finance landscape in Kenya, where a wide range of funding sources and a devolved governance model create coordination challenges. It identifies technical barriers such as capacity gaps and fragmented funding, alongside political barriers including a lack of high-level political will and diverging agendas between the government and development partners. The authors argue that while technical measures are necessary, they are insufficient without addressing underlying political priorities and shifting the government's focus to better include bilateral donors, who provide the majority of the country's climate finance.

The research argues that energy transitions are social and gendered processes, often dominated by male perspectives. By applying an Alternative Pathways framework—categorized into on-stream, off-stream, and transformative pathways—the study examines the impact of excluding women's perspectives in the oil sands of Canada, large-scale renewables in Kenya, and the shift to renewables in Spain, concluding that such exclusions lead to pathways disconnected from local realities and slower sustainable transitions.

The document details how Kurawa Industries Limited illegally expanded its salt pans in Magarini Sub County, Kilifi, causing saltwater seepage that killed the coconut crops of the Mwangi family. Despite efforts by Natural Justice to secure accountability through Access to Information requests to NEMA and inquiries with the Department of Physical Planning, the company operated without the required permits. The case highlights how COVID-19 lockdowns in Kilifi County have further hindered the agricultural assessment needed for compensation and increased the family's vulnerability by restricting access to water.

The document details how climate change threatens the bio-cultural resources and traditional knowledge of African indigenous peoples, specifically within Indigenous peoples' and local communities' conserved territories and areas (ICCAs) and pastoralist communities. It highlights the use of traditional knowledge and 'Community Protocols' as essential tools for climate adaptation and the protection of customary laws. Finally, it outlines the severe risks faced by cultural rights defenders in Africa, including land grabbing, physical violence, and criminalization, while recommending the establishment of defender funds and coordinated monitoring to protect these activists.

The statement posits that global crises like COVID-19 and locust invasions serve as warnings that nature can bring the world to a standstill if environmental protection is not prioritized. It highlights that marginalized communities, including small-scale traders and farmers, are disproportionately affected by these catastrophes and existing climate and biodiversity pressures. The author advocates for mainstreaming sustainable development into governance through policy changes, long-term impact assessments, and participatory decision-making involving indigenous people, women, and youth.

The document examines how COVID-19 exposes weaknesses in global institutions and threatens Africa through economic shocks, reduced development aid, and a retreat from multilateralism. It highlights the risk of increased trade protectionism and the potential for climate goals to be sidelined. The author advocates for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the creation of a continental climate finance fund, and a proactive African role in reforming global governance to mitigate these risks.

Acacia Innovations produces Kuni Safi, non-carbonized briquettes made from sugarcane waste, to replace wood fuel and charcoal in Kenyan schools and small businesses. Since 2016, the company has served over 350 schools across 20 counties, selling more than 4,000 tons of briquettes and saving an estimated 100,000 trees. The company also manufactures portable, institutional energy-saving cookstoves. These solutions aim to reduce deforestation, lower school meal budgets, and improve health outcomes for cooks and students by eliminating smoke-related illnesses.

FSD Africa is adapting its operations to the COVID-19 pandemic by curtailing travel, closing its Nairobi offices to visitors, and shifting technical support to virtual delivery. The organization intends to review its strategy to address pandemic-related challenges and explore how the financial system can help mitigate current and future disasters.