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The workshop served as a platform for youth working groups to validate a report on governance in South Africa, covering themes from institutional planning and political participation to climate change and economic empowerment. Government and APRM representatives emphasized the importance of integrating youth voices into the national review process, particularly given high youth unemployment rates. The working groups identified systemic failures in policy implementation, a lack of youth representation in political parties, and the need for a 'green, intersectional and just' future to address climate change and its compounding effects on other social issues.

The document examines how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of e-governance tools, specifically social media and smartphones, to maintain public service delivery. It highlights South Africa's use of WhatsApp chatbots and the 'COVID Alert SA' contact tracing app as innovative examples, while noting that the 'digital divide' and concerns over surveillance and fake news remain significant barriers to digital governance across Africa.

The report details South Africa's transition from a secret nuclear weapons programme to a global advocate for nuclear disarmament and peaceful nuclear use. It analyzes the current nuclear governance framework, the state of aging facilities like the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant, and the political and financial turmoil surrounding nuclear expansion plans, particularly during the Zuma presidency. The document highlights systemic challenges including state capture, dwindling expertise, and fragmented governance, while outlining the Ramaphosa administration's more cautious approach to adding 2,500MW of nuclear capacity.

The document examines Ghana's history of energy crises and its strategic shift toward nuclear energy to support industrialisation. It details the country's existing nuclear research capabilities, the challenges posed by political instability, and the progress made through IAEA infrastructure reviews.

The document examines the failure of most SADC member states to adhere to the Abuja Declaration's pledge to allocate 15% of annual budgets to health, noting that by the end of 2018, all member states were struggling to meet this target. It identifies aid dependency and economic decline as primary barriers, while arguing that the COVID-19 pandemic serves as a critical catalyst for overhauling underfunded systems. To bridge funding gaps, the author recommends establishing a SADC regional healthcare fund backed by the African Union, forming public-private partnerships, improving domestic tax compliance, and involving civil society organisations to ensure transparency.

The Zimbabwe APRM Popular Sensitisation (ZAPS) project, led by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and the SIVIO Institute, seeks to support Zimbabwean civil society organisations (CSOs) in influencing the national African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process. Following a pre-planning meeting on 29 January 2021, the project intends to establish a CSO Working Group to identify 10-12 key governance issues and produce an evidence-based 'spotlight report' for the government and the APRM Secretariat. The project is scheduled to run for six months, with a sensitisation workshop planned for February 2021 and a working group meeting in March 2021 to select governance priorities.

The January 6 Capitol attacks damaged the United States' reputation as a democratic leader, prompting various nations to reconsider their reliance on U.S. leadership. While the UK sees an opportunity for a values-based partnership under Joe Biden, Brazil's President Bolsonaro has aligned himself with Trumpism, potentially hindering cooperation on climate change. South Africa views the events as a cautionary tale regarding democratic fragility and a reinforcement of U.S. racial inequality. Turkey expects a return to predictable diplomacy but notes the need for humility in U.S. human rights advocacy. India and other Quad members may pursue more autonomous regional initiatives to counter authoritarianism, specifically from China, due to perceived U.S. domestic dysfunction.

The paper explores the intersection of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), arguing that digital innovations can overcome traditional barriers to intra-African trade. It highlights the role of blockchain in enhancing supply chain transparency and financial inclusion for MSMEs, and AI in improving agricultural productivity. The authors emphasize that while COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of ecommerce and fintech, significant gaps in internet connectivity, data infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks must be addressed to realize the AfCFTA's full potential.

Egypt is constructing a nuclear power plant at Al Dabaa through a partnership with Russia's ROSATOM, a project framed as a 'mega-project' to boost national prestige and ensure long-term energy self-sufficiency. While the government argues the plant is necessary for a growing population, critics suggest it is an expensive and redundant luxury given Egypt's current energy surplus and investments in renewables. The project is characterized by top-down governance, significant Russian financing via a $25 billion loan, and domestic disputes over land expropriation and environmental risks.

The document argues that African nations should leverage the post-COVID-19 recovery to 'build back better' by adopting green finance mechanisms. It identifies green bonds as a primary tool for raising large-scale capital and emphasizes the need for targeted public finance to de-risk investments and attract private capital. The briefing details several pathways for a green transition, including the establishment of environmental funds, the deployment of renewable energy as an economic stimulus, and the implementation of green fiscal reforms such as carbon taxes. It also highlights the critical role of central banks in 'greening' the financial sector through macroprudential regulation and the development of green taxonomies to reduce information asymmetries.

The document argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed structural weaknesses in global health security and created a 'triple burden' for LMICs, who must manage pre-existing noncommunicable diseases, endemic infections, and the pandemic response. It advocates for a shift from 'vertical' disease-specific funding to a 'whole systems approach' to avoid zero-sum resource shifts. The author emphasizes that domestic resource mobilisation (DRM), including tax reforms and 'best buy' spending efficiency, is the only sustainable path for healthcare strengthening, as official development assistance (ODA) is prone to a 'panic-neglect' cycle. The briefing also calls for a temporary waiver of TRIPS intellectual property provisions to ensure equitable vaccine and medicine access, drawing lessons from the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa.

The document finds that African LICs' economic responses to COVID-19 were modest and suboptimal compared to developed nations, primarily due to pre-pandemic structural weaknesses such as high debt, inflation, and limited fiscal space. While expansionary monetary policy was the most common tool, fiscal stimulus was generally low (1% to 2% of GDP), with exceptions like Senegal, Niger, and Mozambique. The brief highlights a significant financing gap in donor support and argues that recovery requires a shift toward data-driven policy, increased digital and financial inclusion, and the independence of monetary and debt management authorities.

The document examines the two-wave economic impact of COVID-19 in Africa, highlighting the first wave's disruption of trade, commodity prices, and remittances, and the second wave's risk of sovereign credit downgrades and debt defaults. It argues that limited fiscal space and high debt-to-GDP ratios leave many African nations unable to fund recovery, suggesting that central banks use monetised interventions and governments leverage digital technologies to maintain financial stability.

The document argues that the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for Ghana and other African nations to shift from natural resource-based development to a socially inclusive green economy. While Ghana has established frameworks like the National Green Jobs Strategy (2021–2025) and the National Climate Change Policy, its immediate pandemic recovery measures, such as the $17 billion Ghana-CARES programme, have focused on short-term stabilisation rather than structural greening. The author suggests that the G20 and multilateral institutions should condition medium-term financial support on green interventions to ensure a sustainable transition.

President Felix Tshisekedi has effectively seized control of the Democratic Republic of Congo by neutralizing political rivals and dismantling the ruling coalition with Joseph Kabila's FCC. Key moves included removing the head of Gecamines, appointing new constitutional court judges to erode Kabila's influence, and orchestrating the removal of the National Assembly's leadership to form a new parliamentary majority. While this marks a shift in power, the author argues that the future of the DRC depends on whether Tshisekedi moves beyond elite power politics toward good governance, accountability, and economic development.

The document argues that 'neutral' macroeconomic policies in Nigeria and Uganda have exacerbated inequalities by primarily benefiting the formal sector while excluding the urban poor, women, youth, and informal workers. It highlights failures in cash transfer coverage, the lack of impact of monetary easing on high-risk borrowers, and the regressive nature of budget restructuring. The brief recommends leveraging electronic platforms for aid distribution, improving tax capacity, and promoting renewable energy for low-income households to ensure a more inclusive recovery.

The document advocates for redefining youth engagement in African climate policy, moving beyond 'tick-box' exercises to treat young people as key stakeholders. It emphasizes the importance of intersectional approaches, the role of youth networks, and the need for comprehensive curriculum reform to build climate-conscious citizens.

The report examines the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to e-mobility in Southern Africa, identifying key drivers such as rapid urbanisation and falling renewable energy costs. Through four sets of scenarios, it analyses the tensions between inclusive and exclusive transitions and the role of proactive versus reactive government policy. The findings highlight a risk of increased inequality if EVs remain accessible only to the wealthy and warn of a 'brain drain' if the region fails to pivot from protecting the declining ICE manufacturing sector toward developing regional EV value chains and renewable energy infrastructure.

The SADC region possesses the raw minerals necessary for lithium-ion battery production but currently exports most as raw materials, missing value-addition opportunities. While South Africa has some R&D and assembly capabilities, the region lacks battery EV manufacturing plants due to policy gaps, infrastructure deficits, and a limited local market. The paper argues for regional collaboration, alignment with the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap, and a 'just transition' to create jobs and economic growth.

The document argues that while Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE aggressively market surveillance solutions (Safe City/Smart City) that can impinge on rights, there is little evidence that the Chinese government is imposing a specific authoritarian blueprint on African states. Instead, it finds that African governments often drive the demand for these technologies to strengthen their own power, and that the actual effectiveness of Chinese surveillance tech in reducing crime is often overestimated and fails to account for local socio-political complexities.