The World Economic Forum’s Responsible Mineral Development Initiative (RMDI) was launched in 2010 to explore the views, priorities and concerns of key stakeholders on mineral development.
Livelihoods, poverty reduction efforts and economic growth in Africa are highly dependent on the quality and availability of natural resources, and are thus extremely vulnerable to degradation of those resources and to climate change. Development efforts hence need to equally embrace economic, social and environmental sustainability as emphasized in the recently adopted ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ as well as ‘Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want’. Several countries have made notable progress since 2005 through their partnership with the Poverty-Environment Initiative of UNDP and UN Environment.
This policy brief summarizes the first attempt to estimate the cost of this so-called “gender gap” in agricultural productivity in Rwanda. It is based on a technical analysis using farms identified as being managed by females or by males and then identifies the various production factors which contributed most to the gender gap in agricultural productivity. The policy brief builds on work by the UN Women Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, the United Nations Development Programme–United Nations Environment Programme Poverty-Environment Initiative, and the World Bank (UN Women, UNDP-UNEP PEI, and World Bank, 2015).
The objective of the present assessment is to determine to what extent the Rubaya green village demonstration project has been successful in raising the well-being of the beneficiaries while, at the same time, ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources and social cohesion. The project efficiency was determined to be high, leading to benefits surpassing the costs by 15% to 35%. The potential net benefits to Rwanda, the report found, justify the replication of the Rubaya green village demonstration project and to make the case for the Government and development partners to invest in the widespread replication of the project.
The Climate Technology Program Brief: Crowdfunding for Green Businesses - Lessons from East African Startups tries to better understand crowdfunding’s potential and limitation by interviewing a number of East African entrepreneurs who were early adopters of this new fundraising mechanism.
Low energy supply, complete with shortages, high costs and poor access, remains major impediments to Africa’s social and economic progress. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 commits to fast-tracking modern, efficient, reliable and cost effective renewable energy for all households, businesses, industries and institutions. To support this, in 2016, the African Development Bank approved its New Deal on Energy for Africa, which aspires to achieving universal access to energy by 2025, using the latest off-grid and technology solutions. This atlas illustrates the incredible transformation ahead.
Universal access requires large financial investments. By some estimates, Africa needs $43-55 billion per year until 2030-2040, compared to current energy investments of about $8-9.2 billion. To achieve closing that gap, an improved understanding of energy availability, distribution and limitations is one of many crucial needs. In response, the African Development Bank, Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa, worked with UN Environment and produced this Atlas of Africa Energy Resources.