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The report argues that while South Africa has high national statistical capacity, local municipalities often lack the ICT infrastructure and technical expertise to leverage data. Using Cape Town and eThekwini as case studies, it highlights how private sector partnerships can address gaps in data relevance, platform usability, and public sector skills to improve service delivery and transparency.

The report examines the 'New Copperbelt' in Zambia's Northwestern Province, highlighting a significant gap between the country's strong formal mining laws and their practical implementation. While large-scale investments from companies like First Quantum Minerals and Barrick Gold drive economic growth, they have also caused heavy metal contamination in rivers and exacerbated social inequalities. The document finds that community engagement often lacks meaningful consent, and the benefits of mining are unevenly distributed, with women and girls facing disproportionate burdens including increased unpaid labour and gender-based violence.

The document defines Local Economic Development (LED) as a participatory, bottom-up process aimed at improving economic conditions for a locality. It argues that while Ghana has a decentralization agenda and a National LED Policy (2013), implementation is hindered by low awareness, inadequate technical guidance, and a lack of dedicated funding. The report suggests that MMDAs must shift from top-down approaches to collaborative partnerships with the private sector, leveraging human capital, ICT, and territory branding to reduce poverty and unemployment.

The report examines the tension between the economic benefits of small-scale mining (ASM) and its severe environmental and social costs in Ghana. While ASM provides livelihoods for approximately one million people and supports community infrastructure, the majority operate illegally as 'galamsey' due to bureaucratic licensing hurdles. The research highlights extreme environmental degradation, including river pollution and deforestation, often exacerbated by mechanized operations introduced by foreign nationals. It argues against a blanket ban, suggesting instead a decentralized, cooperative-based formalization process supported by a special environmental tax and improved state monitoring.

The report establishes a positive correlation between inclusive governance—measured by Voice & Accountability (VA) scores—and broad-based development, measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), across global, continental, and regional scales. It argues that accountable governance fosters political stability and consistent policymaking, which in turn sustains economic dynamism. Using Angola as a case study, the document illustrates how the repression of participation and human rights abuses can lead to the stagnation or reversal of human development outcomes. The report concludes that private sector companies have a financial and reputational incentive to support inclusive governance, anti-corruption policies, and civil society capacity building to mitigate 'above-ground risk' and secure long-term investments.

The document examines the struggle of Ghana's MMDAs to transition from basic service provision to facilitating broad-based local economic development. It highlights a critical gap in fiscal decentralisation, noting that MMDAs are heavily dependent on unreliable central government transfers, specifically the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), while internally generated funds remain too low to cover recurrent expenditures. The brief argues that certain central government initiatives, such as the "one-constituency, one-million dollar" program, undermine decentralisation by bypassing MMDAs through special development authorities. To address these issues, the document recommends that MMDAs expand their revenue bases, create business-friendly environments for start-ups, and foster collaborations with the private sector and civil society to reduce poverty and unemployment.

The report examines the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, led by Alu Sunna Wa-Jama (ASWJ). It argues that the group's growth is driven by a combination of radical Wahhabist ideology, deep-seated ethnic tensions between the Mwani and Makonde groups, and systemic economic marginalisation linked to the extractive industries. The document further details how ASWJ leverages and profits from a thriving illicit economy involving drug, wildlife, and gemstone trafficking, often facilitated by corruption within the Mozambican political establishment. It concludes that heavy-handed military responses have alienated the population and recommends a holistic strategy focusing on inclusive governance, wealth distribution, and community dialogue.

The report examines the 'resource curse' in Southern Africa, specifically regarding LNG projects in Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. It highlights a gap between Africa's significant gas discoveries—accounting for nearly 40% of global discoveries in the last decade—and actual production due to socio-political instability. The document argues that without structural democratic reform and meaningful community consultation, resource wealth fails to translate into broad-based development, as seen in Angola. It recommends that governments and investors prioritize 'Free, Prior, Informed and Continuous Consent' and align mining projects with the Africa Mining Vision and SADC Protocol on Energy to avoid conflict and environmental degradation.

The report examines Sudan's history of military coups, focusing on the 30-year authoritarian rule of Omar al-Bashir and the subsequent 2019 transition attempt. It details the power-sharing agreement between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), and the subsequent October 2021 coup by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The author argues that the coup weakened the civilian government and strengthened the military's influence, leaving the path to democracy uncertain and potentially destabilizing the Horn of Africa.