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This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics, in partnership with the Global Offshore Wind Alliance and Ocean Conservancy, examines the potential for offshore wind and marine energy in Africa. It highlights that the continent's 30,500-kilometre coastline could support 6,750 GW of offshore wind, which could significantly exceed current power generation capacity and provide substantial economic and environmental benefits if scaled.

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of South Africa's development trajectory to 2043, comparing a 'Current Path' (business-as-usual) against eight sectoral scenarios and a 'Combined' scenario. It examines the impacts of demographics, health, education, manufacturing, trade (AfCFTA), infrastructure, financial flows, and governance on the country's GDP, poverty levels, and carbon emissions. The analysis highlights structural challenges such as extreme inequality, high unemployment, and a history of deindustrialisation, while offering policy recommendations to transition toward an export-led, green economy with improved human capital and governance.

This research paper outlines a 'Governance scenario' for Africa, modeling the potential socio-economic impacts of improvements in stability, government capacity, and inclusion by 2043. It specifically examines how digital technology can enable direct cash transfer programs to replace inefficient subsidies and forecasts significant gains in GDP and poverty reduction across the continent.

The State of ClimateTech in Africa 2.0 is a report by FSD Africa and partners that analyzes the evolution of the African ClimateTech ecosystem between 2016 and 2025. Moving beyond aggregate funding totals, the report employs a new application-led taxonomy and an adapted Carlota Perez techno-economic framework to demonstrate that African ClimateTech is not a single market but a collection of applications maturing at different speeds. It highlights deep concentrations of capital in the Energy and Mobility sectors and identifies critical financing gaps—particularly in early-stage equity and working capital—that constrain the growth of asset-heavy and adaptation-focused ventures.

This report provides a 'Current Path' development forecast for sub-Saharan Africa from 2019 to 2043, utilizing the International Futures (IFs) platform. It analyzes demographic shifts, economic growth, poverty trends, and energy transitions, projecting a region with significant population growth, increasing urbanization, and a shift toward manufacturing and renewable energy, despite persistent challenges with food insecurity and carbon emissions.

The report forecasts that a 'Combined Agenda 2063 scenario' would nearly double sub-Saharan Africa's economy by 2043 compared to the current path, increasing GDP per capita to US$9,798 and significantly reducing extreme poverty to 7.3%. While services and manufacturing are expected to drive the most GDP growth, the scenario also predicts an increase in carbon emissions to 892 million tons by 2043.

This report by the Institute for Security Studies examines gender discrimination within the family sphere in Africa, focusing on child marriage, the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work, and disparities in divorce and inheritance rights.

This report examines the state of women's political representation across Africa, highlighting significant gender gaps in parliament, local government, and executive roles, while noting relatively better progress in the judiciary. It identifies structural and cultural barriers to women's participation and argues that increased female leadership correlates with lower corruption, higher social spending, and more effective climate policies.

This research paper by the Institute for Security Studies examines gender exclusion in African education, comparing enrollment ratios and attainment levels across different regions and educational tiers. It highlights a persistent gap between male and female education in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Central Africa, and notes that without aggressive interventions, the region will struggle to close the gap with global averages.

This research paper examines the potential for triangular cooperation between the European Union (EU), Indonesia, and African nations in the critical raw materials (CRM) sector. It argues that while the EU and Indonesia currently employ different partnership models in Africa—the EU focusing on supply chain integration and ESG standards, and Indonesia focusing on downstream industrialisation and South-South cooperation—these differences are complementary. The authors propose a framework where EU financial instruments and ESG expertise combine with Indonesia's technical experience in mineral processing to support African goals of local value addition and industrialisation, thereby reducing all parties' dependence on China.

This report by Ember and the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) argues that falling costs for 'electrotech'—solar, batteries, and electric end-use technologies—provide a faster and cheaper path to energy access and economic development for emerging markets than traditional fossil-fuel-based models. It highlights how many CVF nations are already leapfrogging developed economies in solar penetration and electrification, reducing their dependence on expensive fossil fuel imports.

The April 2026 Peace & Security Council Report examines key African Union (AU) initiatives, including a UN resolution on slavery reparations, the integration of governance intelligence into security actions via the APRM-PSC interface, the precarious stability of South Sudan ahead of 2026 elections, and a review of Angola's tenure as AU chair.

This report evaluates the state of industrialisation in Africa, analyzing the causes of stagnation and premature deindustrialisation while modeling a 'Manufacturing scenario' to forecast the potential economic benefits of scaled-up investment in the sector by 2043.

This report outlines the 'Combined scenario' for Africa's economic structural transformation toward 2043, focusing on the shift from low-productivity to high-productivity sectors. It details the projected roles of manufacturing, services, agriculture, and ICT, while emphasizing the necessity of urban resilience and regional trade integration via AfCFTA to achieve a diversified, knowledge-based economy.

This report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the historical shift in African development strategies from the state-led goals of the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action to the market-driven Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) imposed by the World Bank and IMF. It analyzes how these competing frameworks, alongside Cold War proxy conflicts and debt crises, contributed to a period of economic decline and decreased per capita income between 1980 and 1994.

This research paper by the Institute for Security Studies analyzes the projected economic and social impacts of a 'Manufacturing scenario' for Africa between 2023 and 2043. The scenario forecasts that a strategic push toward industrialization will drive structural economic transformation, increase GDP, generate millions of jobs, and reduce extreme poverty and income inequality across the continent.

This research paper examines Russia's diplomatic, economic, and security relations with Southern African nations, particularly since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It argues that while Russia leverages historical liberation-era ties and anti-Western rhetoric to maintain influence, its impact is severely limited by economic weakness, international sanctions, and a reliance on symbolic gestures over tangible developmental gains.

The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), supported by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and Promethium Carbon, has designed two financial instruments—a carbon credit-backed bond and a carbon repo facility—to address the supply-demand imbalance and liquidity challenges in South Africa's voluntary carbon market (VCM). These instruments aim to transform carbon credits into investable assets to mobilize private capital for climate mitigation projects.

This policy brief analyzes how African nations can leverage China's dominance in green energy technology and shifting financing models to accelerate electrification. It highlights a 'window of opportunity' created by US-China geopolitical tensions and China's internal focus on national security and environmental sustainability. The author recommends that African governments professionalize project pipelines, adopt innovative financing to reduce sovereign debt, and pursue regional integration—citing examples like the Southern African Power Pool and Kenya's renewables sector—to ensure long-term developmental gains.

This report, curated by the Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs (TESS), is a compilation of 34 expert views exploring how the international trading system can support the Paris Agreement and climate-resilient development. It identifies critical synergies and tensions at the nexus of trade, climate, and sustainable development, focusing on clean energy transitions, green industrial policies, and the specific vulnerabilities of developing nations.