Limitless Africa

Africa has 83,000km of land borders. Many of these borders are a colonial hangover: arbitrarily drawn, ignoring geography, ethnic groups and political entities. But the Pan African dream of iconic presidents like Kwame Nkrumah and Thomas Sankara has yet to materialise. In this week’s episode we ask is it time to rethink red lines on maps? Or do we need to concentrate on dismantling different borde...

It’s easy to get cynical about politics. To say : they’re all the same and things will never change.  But that’s not how you build a better world. In this episode Claude speaks to three young political activists who are trying to make a difference. Busisiwe Seabe , one of the leaders of the Fees Must Fall student protests.   Cheik Fal l, a Senegalese activist and journalist who started a...

FGM refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for cultural or other non-medical reasons. If hearing that makes you feel uncomfortable, just imagine having to go through it. Claude talked to three activists in Guinea, Mali and Kenya about how we can end FGM. Kadiatou Konate is a 20-year-old activist from Conakry Guinea, in West Africa. Kadiatou is...

How can Africa prepare for the century ahead? Can green energy power our future? Claude spoke to three guests who know what they are talking about. Samba Bathily is a Malian entrepreneur specializing in sustainable clean energy and solar solutions. He founded Africa Development Solutions (ADS) and partnered with Akon the American-Senegalese hip-hop artist on the Akon Lighting Africa Initiative. Ol...

Poverty, famine, war, corruption, terrorism, refugees… Is that all that Africa is about? In this episode Claude asks if Africa has an image problem and what we can do about it.   Guests this week include:  Moky Makura who heads up Africa No Filter, a not for profit that seeks to puncture stereotypes about Africa by supporting African storytellers and media platforms.   Nicole Amarti...

About 70,000 scientists, doctors, economists and other skilled professionals emigrate from Africa every year. This is what’s called the brain drain.  They live abroad, not in Africa. Should we convince them to stay at home? And how? Gabriel Curtis a former politician in the Guinean government. Guinea has one of the highest rates of emigration.   Pearl Pillay a youth leader from South Afr...

Africans are known for their hustle - and the facts back it up .  According to research by the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Stanford University, Africa has the highest percentage of entrepreneurs among working-age adults of any continent in the world. But sadly, we’re not all Tony Elumelu or Elon Musk… We asked three guests: how can we teach Africans to be better entrepreneurs?  Rebecca E...

As a region, Africa accounts for around 20% of US aid. In fact, development projects throughout the continent depend on this money. But some argue that there is little evidence that aid produces economic growth. Instead they say aid encourages a culture of dependency and corruption.  This week on #LimitlessAfrica we ask an aid worker, an activist and an economist: Does aid create more problem...

Many diaspora Africans are choosing to return to the continent. They’re keen to seize opportunities back home. Many of these returnees - known as ‘repats’ - are highly educated and skilled. But do repats’ foreign university degrees and western world CV’s give them an advantage? Or does adjusting to life back home have its own difficulties? Join our host Claude Grunitzky and his guests: Rebecca Eno...

One of the worst things you can say to an African parent is: I don’t want to be a doctor, lawyer or accountant. I want to be an artist! In Africa, being an artist doesn’t carry the same prestige as other professions. But musicians, painters, filmmakers, and designers all have a huge influence on the way the world sees Africa. In this episode, Claude Grunitzky talks to an investor in the creative i...

Yoweri Museveni has run Uganda since 1986. Paul Biya has been president in Cameroon for nearly forty years. Paul Kagame could rule Rwanda till 2034 because many Rwandans voted for and continue to vote for him. In Africa, the question of term limits is contentious. Should we force presidents to leave office? We invited these guests on the podcast to help figure it out:    Evan Lieberman i...

In this episode, we’re talking about billion dollar companies in Africa: unicorns. Tech people use the word 'unicorn' to describe startups with valuations of over a billion dollars. In 2020, there were over 500 unicorns worldwide. But only seven of these were African.  So, what are we doing wrong? Or what we can do more right? How can we raise more African unicorns? To find out our host asked...

The ‘family’ and ‘tribe’ have traditionally been seen as a fundamental way of organising African societies. But they can also be a source of conflict. Unscrupulous leaders can stoke tensions or focus resources on select groups.  In this week’s episode Claude asks three guests from south, east and west Africa how to stop ethnic interests influencing politics in Africa. Is the idea of ethnic gr...

Fake news is a big problem in Africa. It can sway elections in Nigeria. Stoke up ethnic hatred in Ethiopia. Bolster business interests in South Africa. Censorship isn’t the answer as it can play into the hands of repressive regimes. So how can Africans stop the spread of false and misleading information and yet still encourage free speech? To try and figure this out, Claude is joined by three exce...

According to the latest figures from UNESCO, 52 million girls are not in school in Africa. Four million girls will never step into a classroom. They won’t be able to read or write, they won’t be able to understand medical prescriptions, safety instructions or help their children with homework.   That’s why women’s education is often at the forefront of development work in Africa. But the UN a...

Historically Africans have not been well represented in international institutions. This is a problem: these organizations are key to tackling things like climate change and Covid-19. But with a Nigerian leading the World Trade Organization and an Ethiopian heading the World Health Organization, that could be changing.  But is this happening fast enough? How can Africans make sure their voice...

Andela, Jumia, Flutterwave - these are just a few of the African tech startups now worth over a billion US dollars. Foreign money is flowing in. Some people are getting rich. We ask our three contributors whether these tech startups will create significant employment on the continent.   Maya Horgan Famodu is a Nigerian-American venture capitalist. She is the founder and managing director of I...

Welcome to Limitless, the new podcast series that looks at African solutions to African problems. We'll be asking the big questions: How do you stop ethnic interests influencing politics? How do we stop fake news spreading on the continent? Do repats have an unfair advantage? And we’re not looking for simple answers. Just as Africa’s potential is limitless, so are the possible solutions to any cha...