The EfD centers are supported financially, through coaching, and through the professional support service network. The most significant Institutional developments in 2025 relate to Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Kenya.

In 2025, EfD could reap the benefits of years of preparatory work when the Research Center for Sustainable Development – EfD Ethiopia – was established at Addis Abeba University under the leadership of Hailu Elias.

The center is located under the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER). With this move from the Policy Studies Institute, which previously hosted EfD Ethiopia, all EfD centers are now firmly based within academic institutions. Researchers from PSI are still active members of the EfD network and have leading roles, among others in the Inclusive Green Economy (IGE) Program.

EfD has been active in Rwanda for a long time through the IGE program and a bilateral PhD program in Environmental Economics. Late in 2025, EfD and the Board of Directors of the University of Rwanda approved the creation the EfD Rwanda center, hosted at the Centre for Research in Environmental Economics, Sustainability and Policy Center in Kigali, under the of College of Business and Economy.

EfD Kenya’s position as a research center was further strengthened when the University Senate approved its establishment under the Faculty of Social Sciences in December 2025.

Preparations for institutional gender dialogues at six Sub-Saharan African centers have progressed, including a call sent out to all researchers. The purpose of the dialogues (with women, men, and the leadership respectively) is to identify and address institutional barriers to women’s academic advancement across. The WinEED (Women in Environmental Economics for Development) project is undertaken in collaboration with Sida’s Gender Helpdesk and will generate center-specific action plans.