Environment

Rich in minerals, poor in processing: Africa’s green-energy dilemma

A World Bank study finds African countries mine transition minerals but rarely process them, limiting industrial and economic gains

A high-angle view of a crowded Namirembe Road in downtown Kampala, featuring a dense flow of pedestrians, commuters, and vehicles amidst commercial buildings and advertising billboards.

Pollution

Uganda among world’s most polluted countries as air quality worsens

Uganda ranks eighth globally for air pollution, with Kampala among the world's most polluted capitals and monitoring gaps understating the true scale

Coffee

Ugandan agriculture exports face €2.75bn threat as EU tightens traceability rules

Shared-cost models between buyers and suppliers emerge as Uganda's best hope for meeting EU traceability standards that threaten access to lucrative coffee markets

A herd of cows standing side by side in pens in a barn.

Agricultural production

Factory farming’s African expansion threatens pastoral traditions and climate goals

Africa's traditional pastoral livestock farming, a centuries-old lifeline, is being supplanted as development banks pivot funds towards industrial, mass-scale production

Male student activists holding banners and placards bearing anti-fossil fuel and anti-East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project messages march through the streets of Kampala.

TotalEnergies greenwashing verdict opens new front for African climate litigation

TotalEnergies greenhouse gas emissions are increasing every year, yet in an advertising campaign the company presented itself as a “major player in the energy transition”

A woman sits in a kitchen while someone else tends to a wood-fired, open, three-stone stove behind her.

ESG investing

Burn Manufacturing secures funding from AfDB to expand electric cooking in East and Southern Africa

Burn Manufacturing, the Kenyan producer of clean cookstoves and carbon developer, has secured a $4mn grant from the African Development Bank to roll out electric cooking solutions in Uganda, Kenya, and Zambia

A forest that has been devastated by deforestation, with most of the trees felled and strewn in a lifeless pile under a cloudy sky.

Remarks by BoU Governor at the National Private Sector Engagement Forum on climate finance

Climate change is a present and pressing reality; it is altering rainfall patterns, disrupting food systems, putting pressure on energy supplies, and affecting prices and financial system stability

A river in the city of eThekwini in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. eThekwini is addressing climate risks in the Greater Durban area by restoring rivers and implementing community-led management programmes. In addition to collecting more than 100 tonnes of waste and clearing 98 hectares of invasive species, the nature-based initiative has created more than 1,000 jobs since its launch in 2022.

Why funding nature-based solutions is crucial to tackling climate change and biodiversity loss

Nature-based investments are already profitable and scalable, and could create 395 million jobs by 2030, but receive only 15% of the investment of traditional climate solutions

Final approach to Hong Kong with views of Victoria Harbour and Stonecutters Bridge in the early morning, July 2016

Raising revenue from land: what African cities can learn from Hong Kong’s unique leasehold system

Often cited as a prime example of effective land value, Hong Kong uses a variety of land-based financing models that have proven effective in funding key public projects

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