This paper explores the factors enabling or inhibiting transatlantic cooperation, before outlining the priorities, partners and platforms for European and US engagement on and in the Indo-Pacific.
The regulation of cross-border data flows has come to the fore fairly recently possibly impacting international trade, economic development and other non-economic issues such as protecting the privacy of the individuals who interact within the digital and data economies. In the African context, negotiations on an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Digital Trade Protocol, i.e., within the AfCFTA framework for establishing a single market on the African continent, are currently underway.
This study report wants to inform policy and practice in migration and health and ultimately improve health outcomes for different migrant and refugee groups in Africa. It provides a scoping review of available literature at the international, continental, and regional levels, as well as in 15 African countries.
Trade in goods has slowed markedly since the global financial crisis (GFC), but there is no deglobalisation: most countries have seen increased international integration across nearly all goods, services and factor markets. Despite some dramatic instances, protectionism has largely been kept at bay and trade in goods remains quite free, perhaps freer than it was before the GFC. The proliferation and deepening of free trade agreements have contributed to this outcome.
There will be large short-term costs and long-term economic gains from Ukrainian immigration in Europe. The best way to help Ukraine, and to moderate the likely outflow of its people, will be to assist in the country’s reconstruction, and not to place artificial impediments to the immigration of individuals who have already suffered greatly.
Amid a renewed Global Power competition, Africa’s abundance of natural resources, its exponential demographic development, and the current expansion of militant Islamist groups in the region, increases its strategic importance and pushes the continent to the center stage of international relations. This brief explores Africa’s position in this changing global context and examines major actors’ presence in, and stance towards, Africa on the global arena.
The report evidences a deterioration in relations stemming from fault lines that have emerged since 2020; among them, the inequitable responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and the failure to deliver on climate finance, that have highlighted the clear economic and power imbalances between our two continents. However, it further argues that despite, or indeed because of, the shift in global geopolitics, a strong Africa-Europe partnership remains the most effective way to resolve the interconnected crises of inflation, energy access, food insecurity and climate change.
On the outset of the COP27, it is befitting to reflect upon contemporary climate adaptation and mitigation policies, from a southern and African point of view. Indeed, climate change is one of the stickiest policy problems of the 21st century, because it is inherently a global and multidimensional problem entailing a bundle of policy features.
This brief argues for a pan-African food security initiative that would: 1). encourage free trade in food products between African countries; 2). promote multi-country regional investments in infrastructure to enhance agricultural productivity and resilience to climate change; 3). support public-private partnerships to establish fertilizer factories across the continent; 4). create an African council responsible for coordinating and encouraging agricultural research and development; and 5). support a facility that would ensure vulnerable African countries can finance food imports in times of crisis.
Global food systems organizations are working to address some of the critical issues facing populations’ access to food and nutrition. The second annual Global Food 50/50 Report assesses whether and how such organizations are integrating gender and equality considerations in their work.
Coverage of African countries in African media not only serves to inform readers what is happening on the continent but may also shape perspectives about the continent and countries therein. The review found that coverage of African countries was poor in terms of overall numbers. A closer look reveals some countries’ media include great amounts of stories and others almost none.
This report investigates news and content about business in Africa and the impact of perceptions about Africa as a business and investment destination. It also identifies information and news gaps that offer alternative framing for business in Africa.
Digital technologies have had a huge impact on governance around the globe. While increasing access to communication technologies has made it easier for citizens to mobilise politically, it also presents security risks. Social media platforms, for instance, are increasingly used to amplify and disseminate hate speech and incite violence.
On 15 November 2022, the world’s population is projected to reach 8 billion people, having grown by 1 billion since 2010. This is a remarkable milestone given that the human population numbered under 1 billion for millennia until around 1800, and that it took more than 100 years to grow from 1 to 2 billion. By comparison, the increase of the world’s population over the last century has been quite rapid.
The present report presents world population estimates from 1950 to the present for 237 countries or areas, underpinned by analyses of historical demographic trends. The 2022 revision also presents population projections to the year 2100 that reflect a range of plausible outcomes at the global, regional and national levels. For the first time, the estimates and projections are presented in one-year intervals of age and time instead of the five-year intervals used previously.
Innovation is crucial for resilient and sustainable economic growth. Economic growth, which can be captured by the total output produced in an economy, is driven by capital, labor, and total factor productivity. Innovation can be created within ecosystems through the dynamic interactions of entrepreneurs, researchers and policy makers.
The quality of the current climate change education is in question. 70% of the youth surveyed say that they cannot explain climate change, or can only explain its broad principles, or do not know anything about it, putting into question the quality of climate change education in our schools today. The younger the respondents, the higher the level of satisfaction of their learning experiences on climate change education.
Over the past decade, hundreds of youth leadership initiatives have been established globally with the mission of grooming a new generation of leaders. This paper examines this largely unstudied and rapidly expanding leadership pipeline based on an ongoing study, which has collected data on 277 programmes that: target African youth, offer educational training or professional development, and have goals of cultivating leaders who will contribute to African development; and interviewed and surveyed 240 youth participants.
Climate change poses a major threat to long-term development objectives, especially poverty reduction, and accelerated emission reductions are needed, particularly in high-income and other high-emitting countries. Reducing emissions can be done without comprising development: taken together, CCDR low-carbon development strategies reduce emissions by 70%, without significant impact on growth, provided that policies are well designed and financing is available. Financing needs average 1.4% of GDP, a manageable amount with appropriate private sector involvement. But in lower-income countries, financing needs can exceed 5%, which will require more support from high-income countries, including increased concessional resources.
Global financial stability risks have increased amid a series of cascading shocks. Chapter 1 analyzes the policy response of central banks to high inflation, the risks of a disorderly tightening of financial conditions, and debt distress among emerging and frontier markets. Chapter 2 examines how to narrow the climate financing gap in emerging market and developing economies. Chapter 3 analyzes the contributions of open-end investment funds to fragilities in asset markets.
