Kenyans and Nigerians have recently taken to the streets to express frustration about a rising cost of living and their governments' response to inescapable economic pressures. Young people have played a prominent driving force in both countries, as they leverage social media and decentralised organisation to ensure their voices are heard.

In this episode, Charlie Robertson, a leading emerging and frontier markets specialist, looks at the factors that contributed to the demonstrations and explores the governments' medium term policy options in light of the current reality.

We also discuss the meaning and implication of Africa's "demographic dividend" and Charlie draws from the themes explored in his latest book, The Time Travelling Economist. The book outlines three centuries of economic development and highlights the education, energy and demographic lessons for frontier markets in Asia and Africa in the coming 50 years.

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted systemic weaknesses in the health systems across many African countries, and has triggered a change.

This podcast episode explores the digital health landscape in Kenya with Dr. Daniella Munene, Head of External Affairs at Africa Health Business. She has extensive experience in the health sector as a practitioner, policy advisor and advocate for Universal Health Coverage.

We discuss the interplay between the government and private sector, the state of the health workforce and the role that digital health services can play in democratising access to affordable healthcare in Kenya.

Furthermore, Daniella provides incisive advice to investors and start-ups considering entering this nascent, but important sector.

2023 will see Nigeria, the continent's most populous nation, hold elections alongside eSwatini, the last absolute monarchy on the continent. The two countries could not be more different, but they share something in common - a growing young population. Much has been said about Africa's "demographic dividend" and its potential to change Africa's trajectory. However, there has been little discussion about how that potential can be realised.

In this episode, we focus on creating change through the ballot box and how Africa's demographics have and will continue to shape results at the polls. We talk to Jonathan Moakes, a leading expert in strategy, communications, campaign design and campaign management. He is currently a Director at Sabi Strategy.

Jonathan shares his thoughts on how election campaigns in Africa have changed over the past two decades and which upcoming elections he’ll be watching closely. He analyses the impact of the demographic dividend on election campaigns, and we look at what the private sector can learn from the changing electoral landscape.