The political economy of pandemic prevention and preparedness in Africa - Policy Brief 13
The huge costs of the COVID-19 crisis have revealed a global failure to learn lessons from previous health crises, and to invest sufficiently and consistently in the public goods of pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. This health security agenda has been seriously neglected in sub-Saharan Africa, which is in a weak position to respond to the present crisis and future pandemics.
Based on research conducted for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)-funded Tackling Deadly Diseases in Africa Programme (TDDAP), this Policy Brief suggests that the neglect of the health security agenda in sub-Saharan Africa is above all a political economy problem best understood in terms of the political incentives facing leaders, institutionalised power relations and the collective action problems shaping health security systems and international funding. The Policy Brief explores five political economy problems that are found to be particularly undermining of pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, and develops recommendations for addressing each of these.
New briefing paper - The economics and politics of integrating renewables into electricity concessions in Lebanon
In Lebanon, the current crisis has exposed the fragility of Electricité de Zahlé (EDZ’s) model, which relies on both discounted power provided by Electricité de Lebanon (EDL) and subsidized diesel fuel imports to run EDZ’s own power plant, which are both now in short supply. In this policy brief, the team has estimated the savings from a medium-sized Solar PV plant of 63 MW in Zahle area, covering 20% of the demand currently supplied by diesel-based power generation. They also tackled the challenges facing the implementation of utility-scale renewables in Lebanon and what the Government should do to enable such investments in renewables and proceed forward.
Register today! A New Approach to Energy Governance in Development
June 24, 2021 10:00 - 11:30 AM EDT / 15:00 - 16:30 BST
For decades the development community has recognized the problem of poor energy governance, but approaches to improving it have been primarily technocratic. Recent work shows the importance of understanding the political economy of the energy sector when designing interventions and adapting our approach to managing energy sector projects. To tackle the climate crisis and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we need new approaches for improving access to modern, affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy.
In tandem with the release of a white paper and technical brief on this topic, we invite you to join us as leading practitioners explore hurdles to energy reform and put forward a new approach to the design and management of energy sector reform programs.
Latest Political Economy Analysis in Action online training course launched
We are delighted to let you know that The Policy Practice and ODI will run our next Political Economy Analysis in Action online training course from 6 September – 17 December. Please click here to register by 2 July. Our early bird offer expires on 30th May 2021.
Political economy analysis (PEA) is now recognised as essential to the design and adaptive management of development and foreign policy interventions. It is about understanding the contexts in which development and foreign policy happen, the incentives that determine how the relevant actors behave, and drawing well-grounded operational conclusions for policy, strategy, programme design and implementation.
This course will equip participants with the tools and the confidence to undertake a PEA, and to apply it to policy and programmes in a wide range of contexts. It will cover ten sessions over a 15-week period, requiring about 4 hours of study per week (with a mix of self-study, online Study Group discussions and tasks and webinars, supported by an inter-active platform).