Afri-CAN by Pharo Foundation

As aid flows decline, can impact investing help fill the gap in global development? In this episode of the Afri-CAN Podcast we speak with Corina Gardner, CEO of IDP Foundation, and Rob Alhadeff, CEO and Co-Founder of Jackfruit Network, about the future of education finance in Africa. They discuss the role of low-fee private schools in underserved communities, why education receives less impact cap...

In the first episode of Season 4 of the Afri-CAN Podcast, we speak with Paul Ronalds, CEO of Save the Children Global Ventures , about the future of development at a time when global aid has been severely cut. Paul explores how the development sector can move beyond traditional funding models and incorporate markets, impact investment, and financially sustainable approaches to support life-changin...

In this episode, we explore why science is investable, why it matters more than ever in an age of growing scepticism, and how Africa’s young people can be inspired to see science as a creative and powerful force for solving society’s most urgent challenges. The conversation also highlights the new telescope being built in Namibia as part of Sera Markoff’s BlackHolistic ERC Synergy Grant, and what...

In this episode of Afri-CAN, we speak with Rania Sharshr, Director of Climate Action at IOM , about the human story behind climate-driven migration. As climate emergencies become more frequent and more severe, communities around the world are being forced to make impossible choices. But as Rania explains, many people do not want to leave their homes or depend on endless cycles of assistance. They...

What if food security is only half the story? In this episode of Afri-CAN, we sit down with Nassir Katuramu, CEO of Solid’Africa , to explore a question that does not get asked enough: if a country can produce enough food, why do so many people still struggle to access the nutrition their bodies actually need? Solid’Africa is a Rwanda-based organisation focused on ending nutrition insecurity , and...

What does it really take for entrepreneurs in Africa to succeed — and are venture labs part of the answer? In this episode of Afri-CAN , we explore how venture labs can help build stronger startups by giving aspiring founders the space to test ideas, fail fast, learn quickly, and grow with the right support. We also look at what these innovation models still lack, how they compare to accelerators...

What does climate action look like when it starts on the farm? In this episode of Afri-CAN , we speak with Jon Saunders, COO of SunCulture , about how the company is helping smallholder farmers across Africa through affordable solar-powered technology. SunCulture’s model centres on off-grid solar systems designed to improve access to irrigation and farm productivity, while also making that technol...

What helps civilisations flourish — and what causes them to fall behind? In this episode of Afri-CAN , we are joined by Johan Norberg , author of Peak Human , to explore the role of innovation in the rise of the world’s most secure and prosperous societies. Drawing on the ideas behind his work, Johan reflects on how progress happens when people are free to experiment, borrow, combine and improve i...

What really helps young people make the transition from school to work in Africa: technical skills or soft skills? In this episode of Afri-CAN, Wendy Cunningham from the World Bank makes the case for soft skills — or, as she puts it, socio-emotional behavioural skills — as a crucial part of employability and success. She explores how these skills affect earning potential, job opportunities, and bu...

How can Africa scale high quality education that develops the whole child? In this episode, we define quality education as academic rigour plus scientific inquiry, critical thinking, and socio emotional development, producing learners who can engage global issues from a locally grounded perspective. Nafisa Shekhova (Aga Khan Foundation) explores innovations to expand early childhood education for...

How can African education systems support both academic results and the deeper life skills students need to succeed? In Music, Consciousness, and Student Success , we explore how music and consciousness-based learning help develop the “whole child” — strengthening resilience, focus, and long-term outcomes from pre-school to tertiary education. Guests: Kimball Gallagher (Juilliard-trained pianist,...

Water can be life, livelihood – or a trigger for conflict. In this episode of Afri-CAN , we explore how rivers, wetlands and shared basins shape both survival and geopolitics in Africa. Our guests are Edoardo Borgomeo , water management lecturer at the University of Cambridge and award-winning expert on water planning under climate change, and Deng Chol , one of the former “Lost Boys of Sudan”, no...

Impact investment is booming, and up to half of it now targets environmental goals. But how do fisheries in Africa and other developing regions actually access that capital?  In this Afri-CAN episode, we dig into the blue economy with Kaspar Baumann, Partner at impact-investment firm Clarmondial, and Amanda Lejbowicz, Fisheries Sustainability Expert at the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). They ex...

What happens when environmental sustainability and economic development pull in different directions, and what if they don’t have to?  In this Afri-CAN episode, we sit down with Aziliz Le Rouzo, Researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) leading the  Amplifying Stories of Agroecology Practices and Principles (ASAPP)  project, and Nhilce Esquivel, Research Fellow and Climate Resilience...

When a university degree can increase someone’s income many times over, who should carry the risk of paying for it – the student, the state, or society as a whole?  In this episode of Afri-CAN, we explore how Income Share Agreements (ISAs) are changing access to higher education in Africa. Instead of taking on traditional debt, students commit to paying back a small percentage of their income  onl...

What does it mean to rebuild an economy almost from scratch? In this episode, we travel to Somaliland, a country that emerged from civil war with its private sector in ruins and has had to reinvent its institutions, markets and businesses largely on its own. We speak with Hana Kaise, Co-founder and General Partner of Bilow Capital, and Ahmed Ali Mohamed, Co-founder of Bilow Capital, serial entrepr...

We live in an age of information overload, where producing research and “impact evidence” has become a priority, but turning all this knowledge into something that genuinely informs the choices of policy makers remains a major challenge.  In this episode, we look at evidence synthesis, which is the disciplined process of bringing many studies together and analysing them to see what the overall evi...

What if artificial intelligence could help us understand water in a way that transforms whole communities?  In this episode, we explore how Pharo Foundation is working with AI, computer vision, and geospatial data to rethink what it means to measure and manage water in Somaliland. We look at why access to water is so central to education, agriculture and livelihoods, and how better information can...

What if we could see poverty from space and respond to it faster and more fairly?  In this episode, we explore the new frontier of geospatial AI and Earth observation: the science and craft of observing our planet from space and turning those images into insight. From jagged coastlines and dense forests to changing seasons and expanding cities, satellites are quietly capturing the patterns of life...

Across Africa, low cost housing is too often treated as a numbers game. But this episode leans into a different vision: design that is practical and low cost, yet still protective, dignified and rooted in local life. Drawing from work with Ghana’s Ga communities along the West African coast, we explore how thoughtful choices can help increase safety, strengthen communities, and confront everyday e...

Across the world, small and medium enterprises carry the greatest financial risk, even when they are the least able to absorb it. What if finance could be rebalanced to make opportunity fairer for everyone? In this episode, we explore how rethinking foreign exchange (FX) risk and moving it from local entrepreneurs to global markets could unlock billions for sustainable projects in developing econo...

Africa holds some of the world’s most fertile land, yet more than 340 million people face hunger and over 80% of staple food is still imported. Why has a continent with so much potential struggled to feed itself, and what will it take to change that? In this episode, we explore whether agriculture can drive Africa’s next economic transformation. Joining us are Dr Linda Davis, Founder and CEO of Gi...

Good teaching means something different to everyone, and in this episode we ask our guests what constitutes good teaching to them, how to systematise it, and how it can be scaled up. We are delighted to be joined by two teaching experts in this episode. The first is Dr. Fay Hodza, the Global Senior Director of Programmes at PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools). PEAS believe that every youn...

In this episode we continue under our ‘scaling-up’ theme and explore the work of Street Child, an organisation which supports children's safety and education in low-resource environments and emergencies across 25+ countries in Eastern Europe, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.  We examine their Early Childhood Education programme in Moldova and how it was turned into a national priority. The...

Welcome back! Season 2 of Afri-CAN is starting on the theme of what it takes to scale up good ideas in development. In this episode, we will concentrate on the policy environment and how one can create a platform which resonates with policy makers and obtain the funding that follows from that. Specifically, this episode looks at Education in the context of decreased development funding globally, a...