The Central African Republic (CAR) is highly exposed to the impacts of climate change due to socioecological vulnerabilities and ongoing insecurity. Drivers of vulnerability include the absence of state authority, natural resource mismanagement, and low household and community resilience. Although the security situation has improved in recent years, it remains volatile
Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet: Central African Republic
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Ghana, Africa’s largest gold producer, launched its first refinery in August this year. The raw gold will come from the artisanal mining sector mainly because large, predominantly foreign-owned companies supply gold mined in Ghana to refineries outside Ghana in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and India.
Illegal mining digs up multiple problems in Ghana
Enhancing Africa's response to transnational organised crime
Burkina Faso, a low-income country in the Sahel region of Africa, has improved many of its human development indicators in recent decades, including reducing child mortality rates. This has been achieved in part through investing to improve nutrition and women’s access to health care through the Universal Health Insurance Scheme
Improving food security and child health in Burkina Faso in a changing climate
The London School of Economics and Political Science
Protests in Kenya began on June 18, triggered by the country’s treasury announcing a set of revenue-raising measures.
The new levies included a 16 percent sales tax on bread, a 25 percent duty on cooking oil and the introduction of an
“eco tax” on several basic products. The measures were approved in the Kenyan National Assembly on June 20
Dysfunction and disillusionment in Kenya
Geopolitical Intelligence Services AG
In July, Iran and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) resumed diplomatic relations after eight years of a bilateral nadir. The agreement was already signed in October 2023, but the new Iranian ambassador, Hassan Shah Hosseini, was only received by SAF’s chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who dispatched a Sudanese ambassador to Tehran more than half a year later.
A New Old Player in Town: Reconciliation between Sudan and Iran and its Regional Implications
Brussels International Center
Le contexte du Burkina Faso se caractérise par une crise sécuritaire depuis 2015, une crise humanitaire et alimentaire et une instabilité politique, affectant ainsi les perspectives économiques du pays. Le Burkina Faso, affecté par les changements climatiques, a une économie peu diversifiée et vulnérable aux chocs externes.
Rapport Pays 2024 - Burkina Faso - Impulser la transformation du Burkina Faso par la réforme de larchitecture financière mondiale
African Development Bank Group
This report explores trends in renewable energy investment, finance and policy in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a view to unlocking the potential of renewable energy as an important lever of socio-economic development in the region.
Sub-Saharan Africa: Policies and finance for renewable energy deployment
International Renewable Energy Agency
Nigeria’s cultural and creative industries (CCIs) illustrate the dynamic interplay between cultural production and economic growth. Through Nollywood and Afrobeat, Nigeria has effectively leveraged its creative capital to strengthen its economy and broaden its global cultural influence.
Cultural Flows: The Development and Global Influence of Nigerias Creative Industries
Policy Center for the New South
In Africa, agriculture contributes about 15% of total GDP on average, employs more than half of the total labor force, and within the rural population, provides livelihoods for multitudes of smalls-scale producers whose farms constitute approximately 80% of all farms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (OECD-FAO, 2016).
READING OF THE WEEK: Feed Africa Strategy 2016 - 2025
African Development Bank Group
In the 10 years leading up to 2021, the share of women in sub-Saharan Africa who owned a financial account more than doubled to reach 49%, according to data from the Global Findex. Since 2017 alone, account ownership rates for women in the region increased 12 percentage points, driven entirely by increased adoption of mobile money accounts.
Digital finance boosting womens financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa: Emerging evidence
Brookings Institution
After an almost two-year lull, sub-Saharan African issuers are clawing their way back into international markets. In close succession, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Kenya issued $4.85 billion worth of Eurobonds in the first quarter of 2024. The bond offerings were as much as six times oversubscribed, in a sign that investor demand for riskier frontier market debt is back.
Is Sub-Saharan Africas Credit Crunch Really Over?
Center for Global Development
This policy-synthesis report is a comparative summary of (a) six sub-Saharan country-partner policy insights into macroeconomic crises and their management; (b) statistical analysis of the utilization of monetary and fiscal policy instruments; and (c) the relationship between (components of) macroeconomic resilience and GDP growth
Building Macroeconomic Resilience Through Counter-Cyclical Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa
South African Institute of International Affairs
A wave of protests rocked Kenya in January, with thousands of people taking to the streets in support of the independence of the judiciary and women’s rights. With hundreds of demonstrations reported throughout the country, January marked a new record high in the number of protest events recorded by ACLED since July 2023.
Women and Lawyers Demonstrate Nationwide
ACLED
According to the news sources, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have announced they are leaving the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional bloc that promotes economic integration and political stability. The three countries are led by military juntas that have been suspended from the bloc for failing to restore democratic rule. They said it was a sovereign decision to withdraw from ECOWAS and plan to form a new confederation that will deepen their ties
West Africa trade will take a hit as Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso leave Ecowas
The Conversation
On November 21, 2023, the International Peace Institute (IPI), the Stimson Center, and Security Council Report organized a workshop to discuss the mandate and political strategy of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). This discussion was part of a series of workshops that examine how the activities included in peace operations’ mandates can be better prioritized, sequenced, and grounded in a political strategy.
Prioritizing and Sequencing Security Council Mandates in 2023: The Case of MONUSCO
International Peace Institute
The debt burden is rising in Africa, with several countries in debt distress. Others have defaulted on their debt services or are undergoing debt treatment under the G20’s Common Framework for Debt Treatments. This comes at a time when the world is experiencing multiple shocks, disrupting economies’ recovery from the pandemic.
Africas Debt Priorities: A Sustainability Perspective and Required Support from the G20
The South African Institute of International Affairs
In the emerging landscape of global geopolitics, economic partnerships and competition for critical minerals for the green energy transition and digital transformation, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has become a focal point for major actors. These partners are drawn by its abundant natural resources, growing markets and collective voting power in international fora like the United Nations.
Reading Of The Week: Beyond Natural Resources: The Growing Centrality of African Markets
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI)
On 20 December, 44 million eligible Congolese voters will elect their new president alongside parliamentary, regional assembly, and local council positions in a single-round poll. The incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi and 21 opposition candidates have entered the presidential race, marking the first election after a democratic transition of power since independence
Disorder and Distrust Ahead of the 2023 Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo
ACLED
Sitting on troves of unexplored critical mineral resources such as cobalt, copper, and lithium, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, and Zambia are emerging as theatres of great power competition in Africa. A new infrastructure undertaking which was conceived under the United States’ (US) Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) initiative—the Lobito Corridor
The Lobito Corridor: The Wests bid against Chinese domination in Central Africa
Observer Research Foundation
The mysterious plane crash in which the head of the Wagner Group and nine other people were killed has immediate political and military implications. What is the likely future of the infamous mercenary organization, and is the Putin regime more stable in the aftermath of the event?
The Death of Prigozhin: A Short-Term Threat Removal for Putin?
The Institute for National Security Studies
The evidence-informed policy ecosystem has evolved significantly over the past two decades. Alongside an increase in the number of impact evaluations, the community of researchers and organizations in low- and middle-income countries conducting these studies continues to grow. Locally immersed researchers can help increase the policy use and utility of impact evaluation and related evidence, bringing critical insight on the priorities of policymakers and windows of opportunity to inform decision-making. Still, despite their vital role, many locally immersed research organizations encounter chronic funding challenges and other institutional and professional barriers.
Taking Stock of Organizations with Impact Evaluation Capacity Headquartered in sub-Saharan Africa: A New Database and Landscaping Analysis
Center for Global Development
This study explores the complex relationships between urbanisation and transnational organised crime, focusing on how illicit arms shape urban violence and are leveraged by criminal groups. It maps the nexus between arms trafficking actors and criminal groups operating in other organised markets in urban contexts and proposes interventions that engage with diverse layers of urban governance and stakeholders in the cities. The study focuses on Bamako and Lagos as urban centres in which arms trafficking and urbanisation intersect.
Reading of the Week: Silencing the guns in Bamako and Lagos
ENACT Africa
Central Africa experienced accelerated growth in 2022, recording a real GDP growth rate of5.0% in 2022, up from 3.4% in 2021, according to African Development Bank statistics. This renew economic activity was driven by favourable commodity prices, particularly in a region with net exporters of not only crude oil, but also minerals and other commodities. This regional growth momentum was mainly sustained by the Democratic Republic of Congo which recorded a real GDP growth rate of 8.5% in 2022.
Central Africa Economic Outlook 2023
African Development Bank Group
As part of MONUSCO’s mandate renewal in December 2022, the UN Security Council called for the secretary-general to outline pathways for the mission’s transition and withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with possible options for the future reconfiguration of the UN’s presence in the country, by July 2023. This past year, the rise of the M23 and other non-state armed groups in eastern DRC has led to the deployment of regional and bilateral forces, while rising anti-MONUSCO sentiment has further restricted the UN’s operating space. Following widespread and lethal civilian demonstrations against the mission’s perceived ineffectiveness throughout 2022, the government of the DRC notified the UN Security Council of its intention to reassess the agreed timetable for the mission’s departure, citing the deep displeasure of the Congolese people.
Reading of the Week: Options for Reconfiguring the UN Presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
International Peace Institute
International support is needed to sanction businesses complicit in timber trafficking from the Central African Republic. Almost 37% of the 62 million hectares of land in the Central African Republic (CAR) is forest. The forestry sector represents an important source of income and employment for the country, contributing 13% of its export revenue.
CAR conflict drives illegal logging and timber trafficking
ENACT Africa
Avec plus d’une soixantaine de groupes ethniques, le Burkina Faso est considéré comme un modèle de vivre-ensemble où le brassage culturel et ethnique ne souffrait d’aucune menace majeure. Mais depuis quelques années, cette cohésion sociale qui régnait semble laisser place à un climat de méfiance, faisant de la question des identités, en particulier celle de l'appartenance ethnique, l’une des plus sensibles, au point où le rapport sur les résultats définitifs du Recensement Général de la Population et de l'Habitat 2019 ne comporte aucune donnée sur la répartition ethnique de la population burkinabè.
Les Burkinabè sont fortement attachés à leur identité nationale
AFRO Barometer
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) offers a multitude of positive development outcomes for communities and the broader population when practised responsibly and with transparent access to global gold markets. However, under the control of kleptocratic networks and foreign nationals jockeying for position to maximize profits, the gold sector in South Sudan is currently characterized by corruption and criminality.
Tarnished Hope: Crime and corruption in South Sudans gold sector
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Over the past seven years, kidnapping has become a widespread business in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Members of all segments of society are kidnapped, and many people not only the members of armed groups have become kidnappers.
Reading of the week: The kidnapping business, Criminality in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
In Tunisia, migration issues were historically limited to Tunisians residing abroad and, since the 1990s, has also referred more dramatically to the irregular emigration of Tunisians to Europe. National identity in Tunisia remains officially homogeneous and does not include contemporary cultures or migrations in its definition. Since independence, the national narrative has partly recognized cultural diversity, but only in relation to the past.
Reading of the Week: An Aborted Cosmopolitanism? Sub-Saharan Migration and the Entry into the Politics of Racism in Tunisia
Arab Reform Initiative
The resurgence in late 2021 of the M23 rebel movement has plunged the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into even more turmoil, displacing an additional 600 000 people in 18 months. Tensions between the DRC and Rwanda, which is supporting the M23, are at an all-time high. Regional efforts by Luanda to reconcile the two countries have so far failed. The East African Community has taken the bold step of sending in a regional military force, but its composition is problematic and it is already coming up against domestic opposition.
Reading of the Week: The M23 Crisis. An Opportunity to Bring Sustainable Peace to the Great Lakes Region?
The South African Institute of International Affair
Le Burundi a initié un programme d’élaboration des Bilans Alimentaires (BA) qui essayent de couvrir la totalité des denrées alimentaires, primaires ou dérivées. Ils constituent un outil efficace de suivi de la sécurité alimentaire.
Rapport danalyse des bilans alimentaires du Burundi 2020-2021
African Development Bank Group
In Central African countries, explosive substances, explosive precursor chemicals and initiators are controlled products and special authorization is needed to import, use, and transport or store them. However, some of these products are diverted, and used to manufacture improvised explosive devices (IEDs), or in activities such as illegal mining or blast fishing. Criminal actors are involved in the illicit flows of explosives. Some are the illegal final users of explosives, which constitute the last step of the illicit supply chain.
Reading of the Week: Illicit flows of explosives in Central Africa
Enhancing Africas Response to Transnational Organised Crime
The activities of a Private Military Company (PMC) traditionally involve 3 other parties: the Contracting State, the Territorial State and the Home State. While Western Contracting States generally recognize the Montreux Document (which reaffirms the international legal obligations of States) and Western PMCs observe the self-regulatory ‘International Code of Conduct’ (which serves as the governance and oversight mechanism), Russian PMCs operate in absence of any regulatory provision or national legal framework.
Strategic priorities for the Russian PMC WAGNER: geopolitics, propaganda and mercenary business
Royal Institute for International Relations
In a recent football game between Tunisia and Senegal, Senegalese players celebrated their victory by proudly pointing at the colour of their skin. The gesture comes following weeks of a fierce racist campaign against sub-Saharan African migrants in the country, resulting in many fleeing the country. Ensuingly, a boycott campaign against Tunisian products in certain sub-Saharan countries has been launched. A leaked internal document by the World Bank announced it is pausing its partnership with Tunisia over the State’s racist rhetoric and the attacks victimizing sub-Saharan Africans.
The Disjunction of Black and White Africa: The Case of the Racist Campaign Against Sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia
Brussels International Center
The surge in violent extremism in sub-Saharan Africa undermines hard-won development gains and threatens to hold back progress for generations to come. The need to improve understanding of what drives violent extremism in Africa, and what can be done to prevent it, has never been more urgent.
Against this backdrop of the surge in violent extremism in sub- Saharan Africa, and the continued prioritization of security-driven responses, UNDP initiated a follow-up study, Journey to Extremism in Africa: Pathways to Recruitment and Disengagement in 2020.
Reading of the Week: Journey to Extremism in Africa, Pathways to Recruitment and Disengagement
United Nations Development Programme
This study looks at the links between cattle rustling in East Africa’s Karamoja Cluster and the flow of illicit arms into this ungoverned space. It looks at the actors involved in the illicit arms trade, the sources of the weapons, and the need for responses other than civilian disarmament exercises, which so far have been unsuccessful.
Reading of the Week: Illicit arms flows in the Karamoja Cluster
Enhancing Africa’s response to transnational organized crime
Decentralisation has been one of the most prominent public sector reforms endorsed by international institutions. It has been initiated in a large number of developing economies, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, few studies propose a quasi-experimental evaluation of its capacity to contribute to local development or do so but only focus on specific components.
Shine a (night)light: Decentralisation and economic development in Burkina Faso
Overseas Development Institute
The Greater Lake Chad (GLC) region was identified as one of twelve transnational conflict geographies in which Search will focus its efforts over the coming ten years.
This summary lays out Search’s comprehensive strategy for the GLC region, composed of the countries bordering the Lake Chad Basin, including Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The multidimensional and transborder dimensions of conflict in the region demand a holistic, regional programmatic, and operational strategy.
Greater Lake Chad Strategy
Search for Common Ground
The UN Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in December 2022. The upcoming negotiations among council members will unfold against the backdrop of renewed fighting between the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and the M23 rebel group. And while several regional diplomatic initiatives are underway, the security and humanitarian conditions continue to worsen in the eastern provinces of the DRC, with persistent threats to human rights and the protection of civilians.
Reading of the Week: Prioritizing and Sequencing Security Council Mandates in 2022: The Case of MONUSCO
International Peace Institute
South Sudan is a country with longstanding history of international assistance. In fact, her hard-won independence was birthed in part through external financial and political backstopping. Certain international actors have since deepened their engagement by supporting constitutional designs dating as far back as 2005.
Re-thinking approaches to the international constitutional assistance in South Sudan
The Sudd Institute
The forested swamps of the central Congo Basin store approximately 30 billion metric tonnes of carbon in peat. Little is known about the vulnerability of these carbon stocks. Here we investigate this vulnerability using peat cores from a large interfluvial basin in the Republic of the Congo and palaeoenvironmental methods. We find that peat accumulation began at least at 17,500 calibrated years before present.
Hydroclimatic vulnerability of peat carbon in the central Congo Basin
Nature
This SIPRI Policy Report synthesizes the data on small arms and light weapons (SALW) diversion from the United Nations Panel of Experts reports on the five UN arms embargoes in place in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, on the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan (Darfur region). The report provides a typology on the sources of illicit SALW in the states and regions under embargo and discusses the challenges of enforcing arms embargoes and possible policy solutions to address the various sources of illicit SALW in order to inform and support efforts to combat the proliferation of illicit arms.
Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons in Sub-Saharan Africa
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Après plusieurs décennies de réformes, la situation des secteurs électriques centralisés a peu évolué. Le secteur de l’électricité subsaharien reste peu développé et les secteurs électriques font face à d’importantes difficultés financières qui ont été encore accrues par les conséquences de la pandémie puis de la guerre en Ukraine. Les pertes d’exploitation de l’ensemble des secteurs électriques africains auraient dépassé les 150 milliards de dollars en 2020. Face à l’accroissement démographique de la région, les réseaux centraux ne peuvent pas pleinement répondre aux besoins d’électricité des populations, même dans les zones déjà couvertes par le réseau central.
Nouveau paradigme de lélectrification en Afrique subsaharienne. Comment les systèmes hybrides décentralisés changent-ils la donne?
Policy Center for the New South
The E-Mobility Toolkit is developed by Electricity Lawyer, and provides a detailed country-by-country overview of the adoption of electric mobility for the productive use of energy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Why E-Mobility adoption in sub-Saharan Africa is still a challenge
African Energy Portal
Child malnutrition remains widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in rural areas where many households are involved in subsistence farming. Increasing farm-level production diversity (FPD) is often considered a useful strategy to improve child diets and nutrition, but the empirical evidence is mixed. Most studies have investigated associations between FPD and dietary diversity. We therefore aimed to analyse associations between FPD and child and adolescent nutritional status.
Farm-Level Production Diversity and Child and Adolescent Nutrition in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa: a Multicountry, Longitudinal Study
The Lancet