This occasional podcast series brings together development experts, academics and thought leaders, as well as public and private sector partners, to discuss trends that are impacting growth and development in Africa. Afronomics was started in 2017 and is now hosted by Andrew Dabalen, the World Bank Chief Economist for Africa. The series spans a wide range of topics from health and education to jobs, infrastructure, debt, and economic challenges and opportunities in Africa.
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Africa’s AI future is not predetermined but will be shaped by the policy choices and partnerships made today. In this episode, Andrew Dabalen speaks with Dr. Chinasa Okolo, a leading expert on AI governance and contributor to the African Union’s AI strategy, about what it will take for Africa to shape its own AI future. The discussion explores the concept of AI sovereignty, highlighting the…
Africa's working-age population is set to surge by over 624 million by 2050 — but are the continent's economies growing fast enough to keep up? In this episode of Afronomics, Andrew Dabalen sits down with Ndiamé Diop, World Bank Regional Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, to explore what it will take to unlock Africa's growth potential. From agricultural transformation and industrial…
In this episode, Andrew Dabalen, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa, speaks with Fred Swaniker, founder of the African Leadership Group, about how Africa’s rapidly growing workforce, expanding tech‑training ecosystem, and new models of education and leadership development are positioning the continent as a global talent engine. The conversation highlights emerging digital opportunities,…
Mission 300 is working to connect 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030, focusing on both access and reliability. In this episode, Andrew Dabalen, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa, talks with Regional Practice Directors Franz Drees-Gross and Erik Fernstrom to share fresh insights into Mission 300, the flagship initiative to connect 300 million people in Africa…
In this episode of Afronomics , host Andrew Dabalen speaks with Dr. Ken Opalo, a leading scholar on African political economy and governance. Opalo, an associate professor at Georgetown University and author of Legislative Development in Africa. Dr. Opalo shares sharp insights on the rise of public protests, the limits of electoral democracy, and the urgent need for African governments to rebuild…
In this episode, Andrew Dabalen, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa, engages in a riveting debate on the current strategy for electrification in Africa with Moussa P. Blimpo, Assistant Professor of Economic Inequality and Societies at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and co-author of the report “ Electricity Access in Sub-Saharan Africa: Uptake,…
Report authors Estelle Koussoube, Senior Economist at the World Bank, and Kehinde Ajayi, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), make the case for investing in adolescent girls’ economic success to transform Africa. The full report, published in 2024, can be accessed here: Pathways to Prosperity for Adolescent Girls in Africa .
Today we are tackling an issue that is on the minds of every African policy maker, and one that has captured international discussions for several years: African Debt. Debt can be an incredibly useful tool for governments when managed transparently and correctly, and when it is used to fund investments that pay off in the long term. It can fill important funding gaps that development assistance…
Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to have contracted by 2.0% in 2020, closer to the lower bound of the forecast in April 2020, and prospects for recovery are strengthening amid actions to contain new waves of the pandemic and speed up vaccine rollouts, according to the World Bank’s biannual economic analysis for the region.
As we close out 2020 and look into 2021, one thing is abundantly clear: the world has changed. There is much to be concerned about against the backdrop of COVID-19, but so much to be proud of and hopeful for across Africa. This episode of Afronomics looks back over the last five decades of crises, successes, and development in Africa to see what lessons can be applied now, as the economic recovery…
The COVID19 pandemic is taking hold in Africa, and countries are dealing with the health and economic impacts that are becoming clearer as the weeks go by. For many export-led economies, there has been a sharp decline in exports and consequently export revenues. The economic effects of the pandemic are projected to be huge. The private sector, especially small businesses, in Africa will be hard…
Timely and relevant knowledge and information sharing can help individuals change behavior, can inform countries’ responses, and can help prevent missteps from being repeated across the world. For African countries that has meant taking what we know from East Asian and European countries that faced COVID-19 a bit earlier and helping figure out what may, or may not, work in places where informality…
The COVID-19 pandemic is having severe public health, economic and social impacts around the world, and Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called this public health emergency a “looming disaster” for the African continent. The Africa CDC has been at the forefront of limiting the health impact of the pandemic, coordinating efforts of member…
The COVID-19 pandemic is only just beginning to take hold in Sub-Saharan Africa, but it is already having a huge impact. The World Bank’s recent Africa’s Pulse report found that COVID-19 is likely to drive Sub-Saharan Africa into its first recession in 25 years, with growth potentially falling as low as negative 5.1% in 2020. The crisis is likely to push millions of households into poverty. Food…
Ten years ago, the world was fighting its way out of a global financial crisis, but prospects were strong for Sub-Saharan Africa to quickly recover. The World Bank started publishing Africa’s Pulse at that time, as a vehicle to help us track these trends and put the economic and development outlook squarely on the agenda for our discussions with African leaders and our partners. Over the last…
