The informal sector across Africa makes up nearly 83% of employment. However, in spite of its size, there is a general lack of engagement with the sector, from both government and private corporates.     Today we speak to Prince Nwadeyi, co-founder of Setana Capital, to understand why this lack of engagement exists and what Setana is doing to resolve the challenge of financing and working capital with MSME’s in the informal sector.  Join the conversation on: Twitter - @BrenthurstF / Facebook - @BrenthurstFoundation / Instagram - @brenthurstfoundation   ..read more

In this episode, Marie-Noelle Nwokolo chats with Ikenna Nzewi, co-founder and CEO of Releaf,  an agriculture technology company that develops hardware and software solutions to drive the industrialisation of food processing in Africa, starting with oil palm in Nigeria. Key to their operations is to innovate ways to reduce costs, increase value, and improve farmer revenues by ensuring and broadening market access. Join the conversation on: Twitter - @BrenthurstF / Facebook - @BrenthurstFoundation / Instagram - @brenthurstfoundation ..read more

Join the conversation on: Twitter - @BrenthurstF / Facebook - @BrenthurstFoundation / Instagram - @brenthurstfoundation ..read more

In this week’s episode, Marie-Noelle sits with Mona Iddrisu, Head of Youth #Employment and Skills at ACET. They discuss the demand and supply-side challenges of skilling and employing youth in Ghana and across the continent, and the kinds of policy changes required to address the challenge in the face of a burgeoning youth population.  Join the conversation on: Twitter - @BrenthurstF / Facebook - @BrenthurstFoundation / Instagram - @brenthurstfoundation ..read more

In this week’s episode, Marie-Noelle chats with Prince Nwadeyi, co-founder of iSpani, on what it means to have and exert agency and the work required for Africa’s youth in taking the reins of leadership. Join the conversation on: Twitter - @BrenthurstF / Facebook - @BrenthurstFoundation / Instagram - @brenthurstfoundation ..read more

The impact of COVID-19 in South Africa, by existing data, has been the most severe on the African continent. South Africa, which accounted for 38.1% of total COVID-19 infections in Africa as of March 2022, is home to approximately 2.9 to 4.2 million migrants, the highest in intra-Africa migration. However, most of the interventions instituted by government to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic excluded or were not accessible to non-nationals. This defeats the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) mantra of “leaving no one behind” and the fact that “nobody is safe until ev ..read more

This week we bring you the second half of our conversation with Guinea's former finance minister, Malado Kaba, who sat down with Marie-Noelle to impart some of the wisdom she has gained over her years in office.  The pair covered an array of topics, from Covid-19, to gender parity across the continent, and even some advice for those coming up in the world of international development.  Join the conversation on: Twitter - @BrenthurstF / Facebook - @BrenthurstFoundation / Instagram - @brenthurstfoundation ..read more

Africa’s arable land has increase by 52% in 20 years, so why do a large portion of the continent’s population still live in poverty?    This week, Marie-Noelle and Isabelle Tsakok of the Policy Center for the New South dissect the importance of agricultural transformation to help development, uncovering the possible impacts of climate change and government involvement, or lack thereof, in the process.    Join the conversation on: Twitter - @BrenthurstF / Facebook - @BrenthurstFoundation / Instagram - @brenthurstfoundation ..read more

From economics and ebola to coups and the challenges of leadership, this episode features Marie-Noelle in conversation with former President of Sierra Leone, H.E Ernest Bai Koroma.  It’s THE in-depth look at President Koroma’s impact on the history of Sierra Leone and his insights on what it takes to make the right choices and run a country. Join the conversation on: Twitter - @BrenthurstF / Facebook - @BrenthurstFoundation / Instagram - @brenthurstfoundation ..read more

Is China’s presence in Africa a positive one? What more can Africa do to increase the benefits received from a China-Africa relationship? Has Africa’s relationship with China changed over time? This podcast answers all these questions, and many more, giving us a different viewpoint on the relationship which the Asian super-power has with the African Continent. Join the conversation on: Twitter - @BrenthurstF / Facebook - @BrenthurstFoundation / Instagram - @brenthurstfoundation ..read more