"From the 326 programmes mapped, most of the financial commitments are concentrated in just a few countries and regions, with Zambia, Nigeria and Mozambique alone absorbing more than60% of all mapped funding. This concentration reflects donors' preference for countries identified as reform priorities, but it also exposes a widening support gap for fragile states in Central Africa and parts of the Sahel. Funding remains largely centred on: democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression; capacity building and training. Emerging themes (which remain under-resourced compared to global trends) include: disinformation & media literacy; digital innovation & media sustainability; investigative journalism. Under-funded areas are: safety of journalists; digital rights; gender and media. Thematically, support prioritises democracy, media freedom, and capacity-building, which together represent more than half of all projects. While there is a growing recognition of issues such as disinformation, digital innovation and investigative journalism, these remain underfunded compared to global trends. Safety of journalists, digital rights, and gender-focused media support are critically under resourced, despite worsening risks in these sub-sectors. The exit of USAID - which previously accounted for roughly a quarter of media assistance funding in this mapping will create significant and uneven gaps across Sub-Saharan Africa, most acutely undermining democracy-linked media support and professional capacity-building, while further marginalising emerging thematic areas such as media sustainability, information integrity and investigative journalism." (Page 5-6)