The following policy brief seeks to draw linkages between China’s second Africa policy paper and the declarations of the Johannesburg summit. It asks what the FOCAC summit managed to achieve before asking what the way forward is in terms of China-Africa relations.

Major hydro power projects, such as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Ethiopia, invite enquiry into the potential to increase the generation, transmission and distribution of power, how best to finance these infrastructures and how to balance them with the call for a sustainable development approach.

The large number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Great Lakes region poses immense challenges to peace-building processes within the countries affected, as well as in that entire conflict system. An influx of refugees impacts peace and security, citizenship considerations, as well as cross-border and ethnic conflicts.

This research reported on the targeting approaches used in social protection interventions for the livelihood of the most vulnerable children. It was revealed in the findings that the majority of the interventions targeted orphans living in poor households, children living on the streets, labourers, and those living with very old caretakers.

The authors of this paper assess the tax revenue performance in Sub Saharan Africa and propose policies to support the development of linkages between agricultural and industrial sectors while emphasizing the need to unlock the potentially large contributions of the informal sector with a view of widening the tax base.

Universities in Africa have a crucial role to play in addressing emerging socio-economic challenges facing Africa. However, efforts to establish universities as dominant knowledge and innovation hubs for the productive sector is being hampered by a number of critical factors.

What socioeconomic, political and cultural factors constrain or favour gender-sensitive approaches in the context of climate compatible development, and the ability of men and women to tackle climate-related risks in urban contexts? This report outlines lessons from a Kenyan case study.

South Africa’s upcoming fourth democratic local government elections will be a test for many groups: the long-ruling but troubled African National Congress (ANC), opposition parties and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) caught between court orders and logistical realities.

The most recent kidnapping events of Ethiopian citizens by Eritrean forces, and an Ethiopian military containment as a reprisal to its action, reflect foreign policy actions of the two countries in recent years. A political compromise is necessary to make sustainable peace between the two nations possible and to normalize their relations.

Since South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy in 1994, the government’s development plans have focused on redressing racial inequalities in socioeconomic outcomes.