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Reports and Publications
OSAA produces a number of publications within its mandate. These range from mandated Secretary-General’s reports to policy briefs on various issues affecting Africa. The reports provide the research needed for OSAA to carry out its advisory, advocacy, coordination and monitoring roles.
The Indispensability of STEM for Sustaining Economic Growth in the 21st Century
This policy brief underscores the transformative potential of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education as a catalyst for Africa’s sustainable economic growth and its realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063. By strategically investing in STEM education, Africa can address pressing challenges such as youth unemployment, inequality, and climate change while positioning itself as a global leader in innovation and economic resilience. Drawing lessons from transformative models in China, South Korea, and Singapore, the brief emphasizes the need for Africa to prioritize STEM-focused reforms. These include creating dynamic curricula, strengthening public-private partnerships, and integrating STEM policies across education and labour sectors. A forward-looking approach calls for governments to embed STEM across all education levels, improve efficiency in education financing, and foster ecosystems that link STEM education with industrial and technological innovation. By mobilizing domestic resources and leveraging STEM to build human capital, Africa can transition to a knowledge-based economy, enhance global competitiveness, and move up the global value chain. Such a commitment will accelerate inclusive development, making STEM a tool for economic transformation and a cornerstone for achieving "The Africa We Want."
Understanding the Complex Relationship Between Globalization and Multilateralism
This working paper outlines a strategic vision for reimagining globalization and multilateralism to address 21st-century global challenges effectively. It emphasizes the need for a balanced multilateral framework that integrates economic growth with equity, sustainability, and accountability. Key strategies include revitalizing multilateral institutions to enhance regulatory oversight, address systemic imbalances, and foster trust in global governance. The paper advocates for leveraging the "缅北禁地2.0" framework to modernize multilateralism by prioritizing inclusive leadership, sustainable resource management, and data-driven decision-making. It highlights the importance of aligning global governance structures with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure equitable development and environmental resilience. A central pillar is the recognition of Africa’s pivotal role in shaping a new global order. By empowering African leadership and addressing regional priorities, such as energy access, food systems, and domestic resource mobilization, multilateralism can drive transformative change that benefits all nations, creating a truly equitable and sustainable global system.
Challenging the Global Narrative on Africa's Debt
This policy paper calls for a paradigm shift in understanding and addressing Africa's debt. It urges a departure from the conventional, technocratic view that frames Africa's economic challenges as stemming from excessive borrowing and fiscal mismanagement. Instead, the paper highlights the structural inequities in the global financial system, which inflate debt-to-GDP ratios by suppressing Africa's GDP growth. It argues that this skewed measure fails to capture Africa's economic potential and overlooks the broader systemic issues hindering its development.
Advocating for a political economy approach, the paper challenges the global narrative around Africa’s debt distress, asserting that meaningful reform of international financial institutions is essential to creating a fairer, more resilient economic landscape. As the world approaches the United Nations Summit of the Future, this paper underscores Africa’s right to a prominent role in shaping global financial reforms, aiming to correct historical imbalances and unlock Africa’s full leadership potential in the global economy.
Home-Grown School Feeding: From Hot Meal to Macroeconomic Tool - A Low-Hanging Fruit for Africa’s Urgent Challenges
This policy paper positions Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) as a transformative, Africa-led approach to advancing resilience across the continent, applying lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals era. HGSF creates a bridge between education, agriculture, and community development that can be leveraged to tackle the interconnected “Triple Paradoxes” of Financing, Energy and Food Systems hampering Africa's progress.
With returns as high as $9 for every $1 invested, HGSF offers a practical, immediate intervention to tackle Africa’s urgent needs while contributing to the continent's long-term development goals. By integrating the four essential dimensions of Peace and Security, Energy Access, Climate Adaptation, and Food Systems Transformation, HGSF programmes deliver sustainable benefits that extend beyond school meals. Equipped with renewable energy delivered through HGSF initiatives, schools serve as hubs for education, climate-smart practices, and local food production, helping stabilize rural economies and enhance state presence.
Integrating energy access, climate adaptation, and food systems goals into these programmes can potentially double the return on investment. This paper illustrates how Africa-led, context-specific solutions can deliver immediate impacts and support the long-term resilience needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across the continent. It underscores the continent's capacity to lead its own transformative development path through inclusive, home-based solutions like HGSF.
Factsheet: Building Effective Patent Systems To Catalyze Local Innovation In Africa
This factsheet is based on the policy paper, Building Effective Patent Systems to Catalyze Local Innovation in Africa. This is the 缅北禁地Office of the Special Adviser on Africa’s second publication by OSAA on Intellectual Property (IP) rights. The patent systems in Africa provide a potentially unique and important opportunity to promote local innovation. However, there is limited recognition and utilization of IP rights in general, and patents in particular, on the continent. The factsheet highlights eight key IP and other policy options that African policymakers and relevant stakeholders could pursue to address different challenges: 1) philosophical, 2) procedural, 3) substantive and 4) non-legal aspects of the patent systems on the continent.
Factsheet: The Case Studies on Intellectual Property (IP) Policymaking and Implementation in Promoting Agriculture in Africa”
This factsheet is pegged to the policy paper, The Case Studies on Intellectual Property (IP) Policymaking and Implementation in Promoting Agriculture in Africa. This is the 缅北禁地Office of the Special Adviser on Africa’s third publication on IP rights. This knowledge product highlights existing national, regional, and international legal frameworks and the landscapes of African countries’ legal conditions in relation to promoting agriculture and food security in Africa. It focuses on three specific aspects: 1) Protection of Traditional Knowledge, 2) Protection of Farmers' Rights and Plant Breeders' Rights and 3) Digitalized Agriculture and Data Protection Laws, considering the important role played by small-scale subsistence farmers who form the backbone of Africa’s agricultural sector.
Investing in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education to Build Africa’s Resilience against Climate Change
While African countries have signed climate agreements and developed policies and strategies to curb the negative impacts of climate shocks, these efforts sometimes overlook education’s role in equipping school children, youth, and communities to play an active role in mitigation and adaptation action. This policy brief advocates for promoting national and community-specific climate change literacy through STEM education - focusing on teaching skills for adaptation measures and building resilient infrastructure. Some topics covered include urban design, energy systems, water management, food systems, and localized data collection and analysis. These sectors need an influx of current and potential workforce equipped with specialized technical skills and capacities. Understanding the connections between STEM education and these areas is essential in proposing policy recommendations and curriculum changes to prepare young people for building climate-resilient communities.
Building Effective Patent Systems to Catalyze Local Innovation in Africa
This policy paper is the second installment by OSAA on intellectual property (IP) rights, titled "The Role of IP Rights in Promoting Africa’s Development." The advancement of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) is widely recognized as a crucial factor in achieving the goals outlined in the 缅北禁地2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. IP rights play a significant role in advancing STI as they influence all stages of scientific, technological, and innovation processes. However, the recognition and utilization of IP rights, particularly patents, are limited across the African continent, reflecting the region's current IP culture.
The paper provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges facing patent systems in Africa, including philosophical, procedural, substantive, and non-legal issues. It also offers concrete policy recommendations for African member states, the private sector, and academics to better leverage patent systems, which hold unique and vital opportunities to promote local innovation in support of advancing STI and sustainable development.
The Case Studies on Intellectual Property Policymaking and Implementation in Promoting Agriculture in Africa
This is OSAA’s third policy paper on intellectual property (IP) rights, under the overall title "The Role of IP Rights in Promoting Africa’s Development." IP rights are essential for fostering science, technology, and innovation (STI), which are key enablers for achieving the 缅北禁地2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, particularly in agriculture, health, industrialization, and environmental and energy sectors. This policy paper focuses on case studies that explore IP policy-making and implementation aimed at promoting agriculture and food security in Africa, with special emphasis on the vital role of small-scale subsistence farmers, who form the backbone of the continent's agricultural sector.
Specifically, the paper presents three case studies focused on traditional knowledge, farmers’ rights, and data protection, each highlighting good practices and key lessons learned. Traditional knowledge is crucial for protecting farmers’ rights, while agricultural data supports both traditional knowledge and farmers’ rights. The paper also proposes policy options for African policymakers to promote inclusive and sustainable agricultural development.
Enhancing the Economic Participation of Women and Youth through the AfCFTA
The policy brief highlights the strategic potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to drive inclusive growth in Africa by enhancing the economic participation of women and youth. It underscores the necessity of targeted policy reforms, emphasizing the AfCFTA’s capacity to integrate women and youth into regional and global value chains, and advocates for policies that support their transition into formal economies. Key strategic interventions include finalizing and implementing the Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade, investments in human capital, and promoting digital platforms, such as e-commerce, which can expand trade opportunities. The AfCFTA can act as a catalyst for reducing poverty and inequality by fostering inclusive industrialization, focusing on sectors like agriculture and textiles that employ a high percentage of women. For maximum impact, the brief calls for gender- and youth-sensitive policies within AfCFTA national implementation strategies. By removing barriers to participation and enhancing access to markets and finance, the AfCFTA offers a pathway to realizing Africa’s demographic dividend, contributing to the broader goals of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Understanding Africa’s Global Air Pollutant Emissions and Contributing Economic Sectors
With a rapidly heating planet reducing global greenhouse emissions (GHG) is at the forefront of many conversations related to emissions. When it comes to the African continent, the two dominant narratives are “the least contributor to GHG emissions” and the push to “maintain the continent’s low carbon trajectory and a carbon sink”. The purpose of this data deep dive into Africa’s atmospheric pollutant emissions profile is to add a data-backed nuance to these narratives. Based on the paper’s analysis, the data shows that Africa’s main problem with air pollution comes from local air pollutants, including household and ambient air pollution, instead of GHGs which have implications for global climate change. The data shows that while African countries have almost zero contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollution was responsible for 1.1 million deaths across Africa. In the target year, household air pollution accounted for 697,000 deaths and ambient air pollution for 394,000 deaths in Africa. The data analyzed also indicates that Africa’s pollutant emission profile is mostly caused by Africa’s energy poverty and the lack of modern, reliable, and affordable energy services rather than the other way around.
Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders Revolutionising Education in Africa for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Beyond
In the rapidly evolving landscape of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the significance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education cannot be overstated. Nowhere is this more pertinent than in Africa, where the youth bulge presents both a challenge and an opportunity. As the continent strives for sustainable development, harnessing the potential of its burgeoning youth population through STEM education is essential not only for economic growth but also for social progress.
As Africa stands at the cusp of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the imperative to invest in STEM education for its youth has never been clearer. By equipping young Africans with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the 4IR economy, STEM education not only generates decent jobs but also fosters innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development. Through concerted efforts and collaborative partnerships, Africa can harness its demographic dividend to chart a path towards prosperity and inclusive growth in the digital age.
The Primacy of Domestic Resource Mobilization in Ethiopia
The publication “The Primacy of Domestic Resource Mobilization in Ethiopia” delves into Ethiopia's steadfast belief in the power of domestic revenues as the cornerstone for sustainable development and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the heart of Ethiopia’s fiscal policy lies a robust commitment to bolstering domestic revenue streams, ensuring the judicious allocation and utilization of resources, and upholding a fiscal deficit in harmony with macroeconomic aims. Despite a number of challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and internal conflicts, Ethiopia experienced strong economic growth, underpinned by a focus on Domestic Revenue Mobilization (DRM) reforms aimed at fortifying tax administration.
The country worked on initiatives including granting autonomy to the Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority, digitizing revenue collection through innovative platforms, and recalibrating Value Added Tax (VAT) policies. In parallel, Ethiopia has also revolutionized its budgetary expenditure management, introducing mechanisms like the Integrated Financial Management Information system and digital payment platforms for government procurement. These transformations highlight the country's drive towards transparent and efficient public spending. The publication also outlines challenges that impede revenue generation, such as tax law enforcement inefficiencies, unchecked tax incentives, and logistical shortcomings. With a clear-eyed recognition of the work that lies ahead, the country remains unwavering in its pursuit of continuous tax policy reforms, tailored to its unique economic landscape.
Remittances in Northern Africa
Remittances have become a vital economic lifeline for many families in North Africa, significantly impacting the region’s development. In 2022, North African countries received nearly $48 billion in remittances, a figure that represents a substantial portion of the region’s GDP. Remittances account for 70% of the total foreign financial sources, while Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) make up a smaller portion, at 17% and 13% respectively.
Despite facing various challenges, such as regulatory barriers and informal transfer channels, North Africa is witnessing a rise in initiatives aimed at mobilizing the African diaspora and enhancing the developmental impact of remittances. These efforts are particularly focused on exploiting the potential of mobile money and digital payment systems, which are pivotal in strengthening economic resilience and fostering growth in the region.
Remittances in Western Africa
Remittances represent a critical source of finance for many African economies, particularly in West Africa, where they account for a significant proportion of the sub-region's GDP (7.6 percent). In 2022, the sub-region received nearly $34 billion. In relative terms, these flows represent more than double the amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) combined.
Despite the obstacles hindering the growth of remittances, the sub-region has witnessed the emergence of several initiatives centered around facilitating the mobilization of the African diaspora and strengthening the developmental impact of remittances through harnessing the potential of mobile money and digital payment systems.
The policy paper examines the role of remittances in the ECOWAS sub-region and the opportunities and challenges associated with engaging the African diaspora. It advocates redefining remittances as domestic resources, highlighting their potential as a catalyst for long-term growth. By identifying the main obstacles hindering remittance flows and examining selected case studies from the sub-region, the paper highlights the emerging innovative approaches and best practices, providing insights for maximizing and leveraging remittances for sustainable development. Finally, it proposes policy levers to optimize remittances' impact on economic development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Unlocking Africa's Youth Potential - Empowering The Next Generation
In the 21st century, Africa finds itself amidst a profound demographic transition, witnessing a substantial increase in its youthful population. This demographic shift not only signifies a numerical change but also heralds an era of unprecedented opportunities for the continent's advancement towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Recognizing the pivotal role of Africa's youth in shaping the continent's future, the Office of the Special Advisor on Africa (OSAA) emphasizes the importance of leveraging this demographic dividend. Central to this approach is the African Youth Fact Sheet, which offers a comprehensive overview of the multifaceted challenges and experiences encountered by the continent's youth.
Covering a wide array of domains including demographics, education, employment, health, and culture, this resource serves as a vital tool for policymakers and stakeholders in making informed decisions to promote youth empowerment and sustainable development across Africa. As Africa's youth population continues to burgeon, tapping into their potential becomes imperative for driving inclusive growth, fostering innovation, and building resilient societies that can withstand future challenges.
Remittances In West Africa: Challenges and Opportunities for Economic Development
Remittances represent a critical source of finance for many African economies, particularly in West Africa, where they account for a significant proportion of the sub-region's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 7.6 per cent. In 2022, the sub-region received nearly $34 billion in remittances. In relative terms, these flows represent more than double the amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) combined.
Despite the obstacles hindering the growth of remittances, the sub-region has witnessed the emergence of several initiatives centred around facilitating the mobilization of the African diaspora and strengthening the developmental impact of remittances through harnessing the potential of mobile money and digital payment systems.
The policy paper examines the role of remittances in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region of Africa and the opportunities and challenges associated with engaging the African diaspora. It advocates redefining remittances as domestic resources, highlighting their potential as a catalyst for long-term growth. By identifying the main obstacles hindering remittance flows and examining selected case studies from the sub-region, the paper highlights the emerging innovative approaches and best practices, providing insights for maximizing and leveraging remittances for sustainable development. Finally, it proposes policy levers to optimize remittances' impact on economic development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Indigenous Social Protection Schemes as Building Blocks for Extending Social Protection Coverage in Africa
Social protection is critical in reducing poverty, exclusion, and inequality while enhancing political stability and social cohesion. It is an essential policy tool to prevent and recover from economic crises, natural disasters, and conflicts. Formal social protection coverage remains low in African countries and underinvested in areas such as child benefits, maternity protection, employment injury protection, and disability benefits. However, the discourse about social protection extension in Africa has been mostly on formal social protection, with limited recognition of traditional, non-formal social protection schemes that are an essential part of everyday life for most of the African population.
Africa is not an empty space when it comes to social protection. Indigenous, grassroots social protection mechanisms founded on African traditional values and based on kinship or self-organized mutual aid have long acted as an important tool for welfare protection and social cohesion. This policy paper examines the unique role of traditional social protection in African countries, and presents examples of traditional, community-based social protection mechanisms from different parts of the continent. This paper aims to highlight the need for an integrated approach to social protection in Africa, one that recognizes the strengths of traditional mechanisms and incorporates them into the national social protection strategy. As African nations are faced with the compounding risks from poverty, food insecurity, climate change, and conflict and instability, this new, integrated social protection system can help support human capital development, increase access to decent work, and promote a sense of shared responsibility towards Africa’s long-term development and prosperity.
STEM Education in Africa: Paving the Way for Innovation and Growth
This factsheet on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in Africa presents data and facts on how African Governments need to invest more in STEM. African Governments have recognized the critical role that STEM education can play in enhancing Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) as enablers for addressing many challenges that the continent faces, such as poverty and inequalities, diseases, climate change impact, food and nutrition security, and digitization, among others.
However, African countries fall behind in STEM education outputs compared to the rest of the world. This lack of investment has led African countries to have limited capacity and output of technical skills training that is crucial for technicians and other related professions needed to support STI-based economic activities.
The fact sheet advocates for greater investment in STEM education, which can pave the way for scaling up African human capital development with a strong focus on leveraging technology and science and accelerating innovation. It recommends that African governments should address inefficiencies in public spending in the Education sector and should allocate earmarked funds for STEM programmes. Other recommendations to promote the investment in STEM education are presented in the fact sheet.
Solving paradoxes of Africa's development: financing, energy and food systems
The report analyzes three paradoxes relating to financing, energy and food systems, that have hampered development in Africa and their impact as of 2022. African countries are rich in financial and natural resources, yet they suffer debt distress, lack energy access and face high levels of food insecurity. Based on this analysis, the present report provides an assessment of the role of domestic resource mobilization as a game changer, of energy and food systems as drivers and of country systems (under Sustainable Development Goal 16) as enablers of development. It also contains recommendations for undertaking the reforms needed to address the three paradoxes to unlock the continent’s potential to achieve sustainable development.
Africa's Fiscal Space, Fragility and Conflict: A Compendium of Papers Presented at the 2022 OSAA-ACBF Academic Conference
The United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), in collaboration with the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), virtually convened an Academic Conference under the theme “Africa’s Fiscal Space, Fragility and Conflict” from 22 to 24 February 2022. The Conference is a new flagship product of OSAA and is linked to its advisory and advocacy functions.
Through the Conference, OSAA aims to establish a platform for academia to contribute towards shaping and influencing the narrative about Africa while providing the opportunity to discuss ways and means to expand fiscal space, advance sustainable development, avert deterioration of fragility, and prevent conflicts on the continent in the context of recovery and building forward better from the pandemic.
This compendium contains the research papers and proceedings of the OSAA-ACBF Academic Conference. The papers were selected by a committee of OSAA and ACBF members, who also chose the topics for the event and selected the panelists.
Available in full colour (Arabic, English, French and Portuguese)
Digital Health and COVID-19 in Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Digital Innovation to Improve Healthcare Delivery.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted critical health services in Africa and undermined years of progress in fighting other diseases, such as HIV, Tuberculosis, and malar?ia. In coping with these challenges, medical pro?fessionals and facilities worldwide adopted tele?health appointments to facilitate access to care and utilized big data and machine learning tools for COVID-related contact tracing and prevention.
The pandemic has provided an unprecedented opportunity for African countries to harness the potential of digitalization and technological inno?vation to strengthen their public health systems with a forward-looking approach and improve the well-being of their citizens against future outbreaks. This policy brief highlights the important digital health tools implemented by African countries and provide recommendations on future priority policy actions by African governments and the 缅北禁地system to catalyze digital innovation for public health.
Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19: The Primacy of Domestic Resources Mobilization
While the pandemic has reshaped the financing for development landscape in Africa and exacerbated existing vulnerabilities, it also provides an opportunity for African countries to strengthen domestic resource mobilization to underpin sustainable development financing. Effective domestic resource mobilization is essential in order to obtain the financing required to effectively drive the continent’s economic growth and development in an inclusive and sustainable manner. Increased domestic resource mobilization would also be fundamental to Africa reclaiming its policy space over its development, channelling resources towards productive capacity development and structural transformation and industrialization. However, for domestic resource mobilization to play an effective role in the continent’s sustainable development agenda, fundamental changes in both policy and institutions will be required, including through improving efficiency in public expenditures, strengthening revenue collection, harnessing private savings and the private financial sector for development and stemming illicit financial flows.
Strengthening the developmental impact of remittances and diaspora finance in Africa
African countries have made efforts to mobilize the resources needed to support the developmental aspirations of African people, and remittances have become an important source of financing for Africa’s development -almost double the volume of FDI. However, they continue to be relatively untapped sources and are therefore unable to fulfill their potential in Africa’s development. Remittances to Africa rose from $67 billion in 2016 to $87 billion in 2019. In 2020, they decreased by 4% due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have recovered in 2021, to grow again by 9%, reaching $91 billion. Remittances have a strategic position in African countries, due to their nature and increased volumes during the last decades. They have proved to be countercyclical and more resilient compared to other sources of finance, especially during economic downturns and crises as was demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The international community has recognized the importance of such sources and their potential to contribute to achieving the SDGs. In fact, SDG 10, on reducing inequality within and among countries, refers under goal 10.c to the need to reduce the transaction costs of migrant remittances to less than 3 per cent and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent, by 2030. Furthermore, Objective 20 of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, commits to promote faster, safer and cheaper transfer of remittances and fostering financial inclusion of migrants. However, the cost of sending money to Africa continues to be high— reaching 7.7 per cent in 2021, the highest rate among the rest of the regions, while at the same time the development impact of remittances is not fully exploited.
The policy paper entitled “Strengthening the developmental impact of remittances and diaspora finance in Africa: what is the role of international cooperation?” examines the opportunities offered to further attract remittances and diaspora finance for Africa’s development, by highlighting the critical role of international cooperation in supporting African countries’ efforts in this endeavor and facilitating putting in place the necessary conditions to further attract remittances and diaspora finance and harness their transformative financing capabilities.
Tackling Illicit Financial Flows in Africa Arising from Taxation and Illegal Commercial Practices
Illicit financial flows pose a critical challenge to African countries, as IFFs deny countries the opportunity to generate the revenues required for them to meet their expenditure needs and to fund long-term development plans. UNCTAD has put the magnitude of IFFs in Africa at an average of $88.6 billion per year, which represents about 3.7% of the continent’s total Gross Domestic Product. Curbing IFFs can reduce the region’s financing gap by 33%. IFFs drain foreign exchange reserves, affect asset prices, distort competition, and undermine the capacity of countries to maintain economic and financial stability. Consequently, African countries are constrained in meeting commitments made under various regional and international frameworks, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063.
This report is focused on IFFs linked to aggressive tax planning and other illegal commercial practices in the context of Africa. Commercial practices constitute the largest source of IFFs from Africa (65%), followed by crime (30%) and corruption (5%). The report provides a broad overview of the scale and distribution of IFFs in Africa; discusses different forms of IFFs that arise from tax and illegal commercial practices; and reviews current initiatives for combating tax and commercial-related IFFs in Africa. The report provides the conclusion and policy recommendations for combating tax and commercial IFFs in Africa.
Exploring the Role of Green Hydrogen in Africa’s Energy Mix
Some African countries are looking towards green hydrogen as a potential technology to reduce their reliance on fossil fuel imports and to meet their global climate-related commitments. Like many investment decisions, the question is whether it is worthwhile to dedicate part of Africa’s very limited resources to developing green hydrogen as a viable solution for Africa’s energy deficit. This technology primer on green hydrogen explores the maturity of the technology and looks at the costs, risks, and applications of the technology from an African perspective.
The paper highlights i) the need to create collaborative innovation platforms to strengthen research and the development of sustainable technologies that can be easily maintainable from Africa to continuously improve the competitiveness of the sector, ii) to build the hydrogen energy infrastructure to support H2 production and efficient storage, transport, and refueling facilities; iii) to communicate on the value of green hydrogen and promote its use in the productive sectors; and, iv) the need to establish or improve the legal frameworks for hydrogen to support the whole value chain.
Strengthening the Capacity of African Countries to Design and Implement Policies that Promote the Nexus ...
This baseline assessment study contributes towards promoting the synergies between the pillars of peace and security, humanitarian work, development and human rights in order to accelerate sustainable development across Africa. Notably, the pivotal role of governance for the practical outcomes of policy implementation and service delivery cannot be understated. It provides a baseline assessment of the degree of awareness and capacity of African countries in formulating and implementing coherent and integrated policies on the nexus. It provides extensive literature on the concept and underlying principles and definitions of the peace, security, development and humanitarian linkage or triple nexus tracing its evolution against the background of the escalation of violent conflicts and crises over time including the Grand Bargain and New Way of Working (NWoW).
STEM education and inequality in Africa
This policy brief aims to assess how inequalities in the education sector undermine Africa’s capacity to leverage the potential of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education for sustainable development. It assesses structural problems that limit the impact of education policies and analyses inequality from a triple perspective: income, geographic location (urban/rural divide) and gender. It highlights that for STEM education to become a more significant driver for Africa’s global economic competitiveness, African countries need to address the existing inequalities embedded in the education sector and that undermine the strengthening of the continent's human capital. It proposes recommendations on how to advance and strengthen the implementation of STEM education in Africa by addressing these inequalities.
The Role of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in promoting Africa’s Development
This paper aims at providing an overview of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in Africa and it is the first of a series of three policy papers under the overall title of “the role of IPRs in promoting Africa’s development”. The paper outlines the basic concept of IPRs in selected areas such as health, agriculture and industrialization in which IP could potentially play an important role to promote sustainable development. It examines the importance of IPRs, which could be leveraged as a tool to facilitate Africa’s development through providing incentives to inventors and creators as well as facilitating disclosure of knowledge and the transfer of technology and know-how. IPRs are one of key elements of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), which is an important cross-cutting enabler for the implementation of United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and African Union (AU)’s Agenda 2063.
From residual to worthy: enhancing the value of ODA for Africa’s development
Abstract: The excessive focus of Official Development Aid (ODA) targets on the amount of disbursed assistance, instead on of the real impact of the assistance provided, has prevented ODA from playing the role as enabler of financing for development that was aimed when the 0.7 target was first established. In turn, this has undermined the sustainability of development financing and prevented African countries from mobilizing sufficient funds to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. In order to revert this trend, this brief proposes evaluating ODA by its impact on achieving sustainabil?ity of financing and development efforts.
Financial Integrity for Sustainable Development - Implementation of FACTI Panel Recommendations in Africa
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Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) are a challenge of global dimension that need coordinated actions by the international community. Complementary measures at the national and regional levels in Africa will help reduce IFFs and promote progress toward the Sustainable Development Agenda, given the disproportionate cost of IFFs to Africa’s development.?
This policy paper looks into a set of recommendations by the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (FACTI Panel) that are most pertinent to the African region. It?discusses the progress made by African countries in recent years, as well as the key challenges and gaps in implementation. The recommended policy actions and institutional changes proposed in this paper should be considered within the global setting and will need to be complemented and strengthened by efforts from the international community. Read the report in English and French.
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Factsheet: Ghana and the Credit Rating Agencies
This factsheet on Ghana and credit rating agencies looks at the downgrade of the country’s sovereign ratings and the impact on the economy and debt situation.
In February 2022 Moody’s downgraded Ghana’s rating, citing challenges related to liquidity, high risk of debt default and weak revenue generation, despite the country’s arguments emphasizing its strong economic fundamentals. Ghana expressed reservations about Moody’s rating assessment based on the agency’s technical inaccuracies and omissions of important information, thus reigniting the debate about the credibility of credit rating agencies while raising questions about the robustness of their methodologies and biased opinions, especially towards African countries.
Available in full colour (English)
More information on this topic is available in the panel discussion on Credit rating agencies, fiscal space and fragility in Africa and the policy paper on Eurobonds, debt sustainability in Africa and credit rating agencies.
Stronger States for Increased Stability: Digitalization of Public Service Delivery for Peace and Security in Africa
The weak presence of the State – including the delivery of public services – is a key contributing driver to instability and violent conflict in Africa. Indeed, a direct line can be drawn between deficiencies and chronic under-capacity in public service delivery on the continent and continued conflict and instability. While service delivery is not the only determinant of State legitimacy, it is a primary way by which many citizens directly encounter the State and shapes their overall perception of it. In this regard, service delivery can affect the risk of violence, in that it affects State legitimacy.
This Advocacy Brief was developed to supplement the United Nations Secretary-General’s biennial report on the review of the implementation of commitments made towards Africa’s development (A/75/950), section E “Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies by silencing the guns in Africa”, and the United Nations Secretary-General’s report on the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa (A/75/917-S/2021/562).
Available in full colour(Arabic, English, Spanish, French, Portugese, Russian and Chinese)
Eurobonds, Debt Sustainability in Africa and Credit Rating Agencies
This policy paper assesses the role of Credit Rating Agencies on the cost of borrowing on the international capital markets for African countries and the impact of downgrading on selected African countries that have issued Eurobonds. This has resulted in billions of dollars being lost to fiscal space and service delivery to those most in need.
It analyses the shift in Africa’s debt structure towards an increased share of private financing and the associated risks and opportunities, with a particular focus on Eurobonds. The paper also examines the rising concerns about Africa’s debt sustainability, especially in relation to the upcoming Eurobonds wall of maturities and the risk of debt default.
It assesses the performance of the investment of debt proceeds in infrastructure development and the relationship between public expenditure, governance, and borrowing and underscores the responsibility of African Countries to change their reality by owning their narrative and changing the perception. In conclusion, it provides recommendations to maximize financing opportunities and sustain future access to international capital markets as African countries emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and build forward better. Read the policy paper in English.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as an Enabler for Development and Peace
Strong evidence suggests that Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) can be important determinants of a country’s economic development and contribute to peace and security. The Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), through its Africa Knowledge Network Working Group for STEM produced this policy paper to illustrate the role of STEM education in enabling development and peace in Africa.
The paper highlights that STEM education is critical for creatively developing solutions and innovations that Africa needs for sustainable development. It examines the current status of STEM in Africa and notes that although there has been progress in access and quality of STEM Education, with significant examples of good practices and impacts, visible outputs from scientific productivity and knowledge systems are still below acceptable levels. This underscores the need for a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to promote STEM education in order to record significant development in Africa. The policy paper also explores how existing frameworks and strategies in promoting science, technology, innovation (STI) and STEM education are being implemented at policy and grassroots levels to support the implementation of the African Union Agenda 2063 and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. Read the policy paper in English.
Policy Brief: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
Established in 2018 and operationalized in January 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) holds great potential for promoting Africa’s inclusive growth and sustainable development. The trade agreement creates a market of 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion. A year after the AfCFTA’s operationalization, this policy brief looks at progress, challenges and status of implementation. It also makes recommendations for Africa to fully benefit from the agreement.
Available in full colour (Arabic, English, French, Portugese, Russian, Spanish and Chinese)
Read about the authors, Gilberto António and Hussein El-Shaar.
Study: Intensifying the fight against corruption and money laundering in Africa
Illicit financial flows (IFFs) cost Africa around US$88.6 billion per year. They have hamstrung progress and created poverty, insecurity and financial challenges which today impede implementing the 2030 缅北禁地Agenda for Sustainable Development and the AU Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. IFFs have also driven the African continent towards indebtedness, in addition to eroding funds that could be used for services such as education, health care and infrastructure.
This study focuses on one form of IFF, namely corruption and the resultant money laundering. It describes and analyzes the symbiotic relationship between corruption and money laundering and how they mutually reinforce an IFF ecosystem inclined towards draining resources needed for development. It further proposes measures to enhance the effectiveness of the fight against corruption and money laundering.
This study is produced by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) within its mandate to support analytical work in improving coherence and coordination of the 缅北禁地System support to Africa and to facilitate intergovernmental deliberations on Africa
Available in full colour (English)
Read about the author: Lyla Latif
Biennial report on the review of the implementation of commitments made towards Africa’s development
The fourth biennial report of the Secretary-General was prepared against the backdrop of the sixth year of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the global call for action by the Secretary-General to accelerate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as eight years of implementation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want through its first 10-year implementation plan (2014–2023). The report reviews the implementation of commitments made by Africa’s traditional, new and emerging development partners, as well as African countries themselves. Those commitments, which are anchored in the principles of mutual accountability and partnerships, arise, inter alia, from major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields. This publication is available in EN.
Previous Reports
Policy Brief: Africa and Food Security
This policy brief builds on a conversation on Food Security and Famine Prevention in Africa. The ideas in this policy brief have been informed by the authors' ongoing research and experience in their individual capacities and as a contribution to the Knowledge Network of the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), which was launched on 29 June 2021. The OSAA Knowledge Network creates a platform for the Office to engage with academics, experts and think tanks through a win-win partnership, and seeks to bring visibility to the work of the experts on the global arena. Products from the Knowledge Network, such as this policy brief, will be used to enhance the Office's advocacy on African priorities, as articulated in the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Available in full colour (English)
Read about the authors: Professor Logan Cochrane, Professor Melisew Dejene Lemma, Dr. Nathanael Ojong, Dr. Alex O. Awiti and Ms. Winnie Sambu.
Secretary-General's Report on the New Partnership for Africa's Development
This report (A/75/918) is prepared in response to General Assembly resolution A/74/301 requesting the Secretary-General to submit on an annual basis a comprehensive and action-oriented report on the implementation of the resolution, based on the provision of inputs from Governments, organizations of the United Nations system and other stakeholders in the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The present report, which was prepared by the Offce of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), reviews progress in the implementation of four key NEPAD’s priorities that are fundamental to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and the Africa Union Agenda 2063. These are: regional integration; infrastructure development; industrialization; and health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Report of the Secretary General on the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa
This report is prepared by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) in response to the General Assembly resolution 74/302 requesting the Secretary-General to monitor and report on an annual basis on persistent and emerging challenges to the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa. Other departments, offices, agencies, funds and programmes of the 缅北禁地system contributed to the report through the Inter-Departmental Task Force on African Affairs (IDTFAA). In implementing this mandate, OSAA also engaged with a broad range of stakeholders, including Member States, nongovernmental and civil society organizations, the private sector, academia, women and youth groups. This report is available in: EN
Previous Reports
2019 2018 2017 2015 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1998
Policy Brief: Impact of COVID-19 in Africa
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a dramatic effect on economies and various sections of society in Africa. Economies, livelihoods, health, social services and development have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Vulnerable groups are among the worst affected, particularly informal workers, young people, women, persons with disabilities, refugees and migrants. Written in the early days of the pandemic, this policy brief takes a snapshot of immediate impacts of the pandemic on health, economies, peace, security, human rights and humanitarian assistance in Africa. It outlines response measures currently being taken by African and external stakeholders and provides recommendations to protect gains in the fight against the pandemic and maximise opportunities in the recovery for a more inclusive and sustainable future as countries emerge from this crisis.
Mapping Study of the Conflict Prevention Capabilities of African Regional Economic Communities
This publication assesses the conflict prevention capabilities of the African Regional Economic Communities (RECs), with an aim to raise global awareness and mobilize international support for efforts being made the RECs in enhancing their institutional capacities to better assist their Member States in preventing conflict and sustaining peace. Specifically, the publication maps: (i) the geopolitical context that informs the work of the RECs on conflict prevention, (ii) the existing organizational structure of each REC, as well as their institutional mandates, policies, structures, tools, strategies and programmes, partnerships and resources for conflict prevention, (iii) their current challenges, gaps and capacity needs, covering both operational and structural dimensions, and (iv) entry points and opportunities for strengthening the institutional capacities of the RECs on conflict prevention. Seven of Africa’s eight RECs are covered in the publication, which was based on a study that utilized a combination of methods – namely: one-on-one in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, desk review of internal documents and an expert group meeting involving the representatives of the RECs and other experts from African regional organizations, civil society and development partners.