The African Business Podcast

In this episode we speak to Jeremy Awori, Group CEO of Ecobank, ahead of the bank's 38th General Assembly meeting. We cover the themes shaping Ecobank and African banking today, their three-year growth roadmap, renewed goals, culture in times of change, technology as a leapfrog engine, and the role of development finance institutions in unlocking Africa's growth potential. 

In this episode we speak to Dr Sherif Ayoub, Head of the African Carbon Markets Initiative about his work scaling up the market for carbon credits in Africa to create jobs and prosperity. We also hear from project developers KOKO Networks, about how these projects actually take place on the ground in Africa. 

In this episode we speak to Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, about her role at the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures. We discuss how to advocate for capital to support biodiversity protection and climate action.     

In this episode we speak to Kurtis Lockhart about chartered cities and whether they can deliver broad based prosperity in Africa and further afield.   Credits Host and executive producer: Dr Desné Masie  Co-producer: Peter Doerrie  Research: Angus Chapman  Digital Editor: Charles Dietz  Design: Jason Venkatasamy  Music: Corporate Uplifting Chill by MusicLFiles: https://filmmusic.io/song/6298-corporate-uplifting-chill Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode we track the journey of a carbon credit. Taking us from Kenya to Geneva, Washington DC, London and finally, Yorkshire, we unpack what's going on under the hood of the carbon trading industry and explore the implications for Africa.

In this episode we speak to the publisher of African Business magazine, Omar Ben Yedder, who has just come back from Davos 2023 in Klosters, Switzerland. The first in-person gathering in three years, the famous international forum as always, provided invaluable insights and networking opportunities to those who attended. Omar chats to us about his main reflections from WEF including the global macroeconomic forecast, the trade, demographic and industrialisation opportunities for Africa. China meanwhile signalled at the World Economic Forum that it is for business once more following its 'Zero-Covid policy' against the backdrop of substantial economic and political resources flowing to the conflict in Ukraine. He also caught up with Calvo Mawela, CEO of Multichoice SA, and Prof Mthuli Ncube, Minister for Finance and Economic Development of Zimbabwe. Mawela tells Omar all about Multichoice's phenomenal expansion on the African continent, and Mcube talks us through the monetary and fiscal policy priorities for Zimbabwe.    Credits Host and executive producer: Dr Desné Masie  Co-producer: Peter Doerrie  Research: Angus Chapman  Digital Editor: Charles Dietz  Design: Jason Venkatasamy  Music: Corporate Uplifting Chill by MusicLFiles: https://filmmusic.io/song/6298-corporate-uplifting-chill Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode we speak to Daniel Yu, a 32-year-old Californian entrepreneur now based in Zanzibar. He is the founder and CEO of Wasoko, a supply chain and distribution company established in 2015 to respond to the challenges faced by small and micro-business across Africa in managing stock levels. Having just raised $125 million in Series B venture capital funding from Tiger and Avenir, Wasoko is now valued at $625 million, and has its sights set on eliminating the inefficiencies plaguing Africa's enormous, dynamic, so-called 'informal' retail economy.   A humble innovator, Daniel has learned Swahili in order to better service his customers in east Africa. Wasoko's network now spans 75,000 businesses across six African countries, but the plan is to become – in Daniel's words – the 'operating system' for commerce across urban Africa. For Daniel, this growth must be coupled with a broader positive impact; to improve overall conditions in the communities in which they operate is core to Wasoko's mission. Alive to the possibilities of the technology sector for the continent, Daniel has worked with the authorities on Zanzibar to turn the island into an innovation hub. He still sees substantial deficits in the regulatory and operational frameworks structuring the innovation environment in Africa, and worries that these will fall short of the continent's wealth of skills, creativity and entrepreneurial talent.   Read more Digitalising African retail The informal sector is the future of African work Africa bucking the global VC trend An MIT framework for innovation ecosystem policy   Credits Host and executive producer: Dr Desné Masie Co-producer: Peter Doerrie Research: Angus Chapman Digital Editor: Charles Dietz Design: Jason Venkatasamy Music: Corporate Uplifting Chill by MusicLFiles Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

British International Investments (BII), the UK's official development finance agency, was the first organisation of its kind when it was founded in 1948. It remains at the forefront of international development finance, particularly for Africa, where it deploys 70% of its $2-$4 billion of new capital every year. CEO Nick O'Donohoe is a pioneer of impact investing, coming to BII following stints in investment banking and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and having co-founded Big Society Capital, the world's first social investment bank. He explains how BII fits into the UK's foreign policy in the context of Brexit and a shrinking foreign aid and development budget.   He discusses priorities, illustrating how infrastructure and technology are key to enabling Africa to exploit its enormous entrepreneurial potential. He also touches on climate change, outlining how BII's commitment to achieving net zero across its both portfolio and transactions will drive its engagement with the continent's clean energy transition.   The podcast takes a philosophical turn, with Nick and Desné tackling the big questions of development, finance and investment. What does it mean to be developed? What is the 'right' kind of private sector? Must investments be large to be transformational? They finish with a discussion of social impact, gender and green bonds. Nick sees huge progress in this space. Recalling the 1990s, and even into the 2000s, he argues that there has been an explosion in awareness of how investment can materially change development outcomes.      Read more The next ten years of impact investment Africa's changing role in UK foreign policy What do we really know about Africa's informal economy? Explaining green bonds   Credits Host and executive producer: Dr Desné Masie Co-producer: Peter Doerrie Research: Angus Chapman Digital Editor: Charles Dietz  Design: Jason Venkatasamy Music: Corporate Uplifting Chill by MusicLFiles Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Since General Electric was founded by Thomas Edison almost a century and a half ago, the power business has changed a lot. Vuyelwa Mahanyele, regional sales director for GE's gas business in Southern and East Africa, has seen this change up close. She tells us how decarbonisation became the overarching theme for both the company and the region, and steps through the financial, technical and policy aspects of making it a reality. Achieving the trilemma of affordable, reliable and sustainable power in Africa remains a serious challenge. Mahanyele suggests that a combination of gas and renewables can do much of the heavy lifting. She places it in the context of the continent's economic trajectory, arguing that better, cleaner power with revitalised generation and transmission infrastructure can drive a real economic acceleration, as it has across the world. Mahanyele outlines the rapidly shifting technological frontier, exploring the technical and economic feasibility of innovations such as hydrogen, carbon capture and storage and next-generation gas power.    She finishes with a discussion of the local and international factors – technology, investment, skills and policy – that can make large-scale transformation possible at the country, regional and international levels.   Read more: General Electric: Accelerating South Africa's energy transition IISD: Exploring the case for gas-fired power in South Africa Africa's natural gas - necessary evil or economic saviour? The many colours of hydrogen explained The challenge of energy access in Africa   Credits Host and executive producer: Dr Desné Masie Co-producer: Peter Doerrie Digital Editor: Charles Dietz  Design: Jason Venkatasamy Music: Corporate Uplifting Chill by MusicLFiles Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Few people understand issues of international trade, development and environment as well as Pascal Lamy. Following eight years as Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Pascal now serves on the board of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation; one of Africa's most influential civil society organisations. He joins us following the release of the Foundation's 2022 Governance Forum report, which aims to make Africa's case in the global climate change debate ahead of COP27 in Egypt in November. Framing it as a race between demography and economy, Pascal wants to see Africa's development needs prioritised in the global response to climate change. Africa is prepared to fight for its position, he says, and highlights south-south solidarity as a countervailing force against the US, China, EU and other heavyweights. Natural gas is set to be a flashpoint at COP27. Despite claims that foreign ownership, frothy export markets, high prices and poor infrastructure make it unlikely that gas will be a development panacea for Africa, Pascal insists that the continent's prodigious reserves should be exploited. Africa is already a large positive for the global climate ledger, and Pascal outlines further opportunities for the continent to support global climate solutions. Governance will be key, he says, explaining the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's work on governance monitoring, assessment and improvement. We conclude with a discussion of the global trade environment. Pascal offers his thoughts on Africa's place within the global trade system, assesses the implementation of the AfCFTA, and explains how Africa can secure greater benefits from trade in the future. Read more: Making Africa's Case in the Global Climate Debate: the 2022 Ibrahim Governance Forum report IC Intelligence on Africa's energy transition Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Africa can play a leading role in the fight against climate change What you need to know about the African Continental Free Trade Area Why trade matters for African development Credits Host: Angus Chapman Co-producers: Peter Doerrie, Dr Desné Masie Digital Editor: Charles Dietz Design: Jason Venkatasamy Music: Corporate Uplifting Chill by MusicLFiles Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/