The private sector’s role in development has seen a renaissance, with donors reassessing their strategies and development finance institutions positioned increasingly as central actors. But stakeholders need to increase coordination to maximise their impact

Against the backdrop of rising prices for hydrocarbon-based energy sources, a growing number of African countries are looking to renewable energy to address the region’s severe power shortage

The same family and political party have ruled Togo for the past 44 years. In 2005 president Faure Gnassingbé, the English speaking son of president-for-life Gnassingbé Eyadema, was elected in controversial circumstances upon his father’s death.

After many years of political isolation, there are hopes that moves towards a more open political sphere could improve Togo’s international relations

On the back of economic reforms, Togo’s once closed economy is starting toattract a growing number of international investors

Microfinance is touted as a way of lifting people out of poverty, yet its benefits are often assumed rather than proven and new economic trials are putting these claims to the test

Plans to create a “Grand Free Trade Area” covering half of Africa could mark an important step towards strengthening the continent’s international competitiveness, but some suggest it may be overambitious

As food prices remain at all time highs, the link between phosphate rock production and global food security may play an important role in avoiding future food crises

Debate is raging about the volume of global phosphate rock reserves, with some arguing production could ‘peak’ within decades

Africa may only have limited exposure to the clean development mechanism, but with the scheme under threat, what does the future of carbon trading hold for the continent?

The microcredit industry in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is facing a crisis, which analysts say could have knock on effects for microfinance institutions worldwide

The US has talked up the strategic role of its foreign assistance, but the operational realities within USAID suggest that development is still a junior partner in the “3D” approach

Tackling neglected tropical diseases could help achieve several of the Millennium Development Goals, but greater awareness and a comprehensive funding strategy is needed

The large scale of Indian corporate forays into Africa masks a relatively small and parochial diplomatic approach from New Delhi. However, the impact of the new wave of investors should not be dismissed

South Sudan is likely to become Africa’s newest country in a January referendum, but the differing approaches between development bodies and the private sector towards its many challenges are becoming clear

The Seoul summit of the G20 has ended without any appreciable resolution of the so-called “currency wars”, and its failure to create a meaningful development agenda undermines the evolution of the grouping as a successor to the G8

The UK’s development agency, Dfid, is to reorient itself to be better able to promote private sector development in low-income countries, and will drastically reform its investment arm, CDC Group

With his tendency to resort to drawing diagrams with every explanation, Hans Rosling, professor of international health at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the chairman of the Gapminder Foundation, appears to think through every challenge visually.

High prices for grain this summer have prompted fears of a fresh food crisis, but the conditions do not appear right for a repeat of 2008

Maize surpluses are exerting pressure through the value chain as farmers fall victim to diminished prices and states come under strain to reconcile affordability with sustainability

The MDGs are often dismissed as idealistic and impractical. However, shifts in geopolitics and the global economy are undermining the dominance of ideology in international institutions, changes which seem to put the MDGs at the heart of a new approach to global development

Co-operatives have a long history in Africa, and after a period of decline in the 1990s are on the rise again, proving especially popular among rural farmers, who are able to group together to share costs and seek out new markets. However, despite this growth and their popularity with foreign donors, the sector remains vulnerable

Brazil is actively sharing its experience in agriculture with Africa, and there are hopes that this might be a critical contribution towards realising the continent’s elusive ‘green revolution’

Africa’s urbanisation must be understood and managed to prevent growing inequalities from becoming a source of conflict, according to Anna Tibaijuka, under-secretary-general of the United Nations and executive director of urban development body UN Habitat.

Quiet streets greeted the African Development Bank’s return to Abidjan, its former headquarters, this May for its 45th annual meetings. The bank left in 2003, precipitated by the deteriorating security situation in the city as Côte d’Ivoire slid into civil war. Today it occupies three buildings in Tunis – a “Temporary Relocation Agency” that has begun to seem less and less temporary. Its dislocation has been frustrating for bank staff and for international partners, but with elections in Côte d’Ivoire repeatedly postponed an imminent return has seemed unlikely.