The Africa Hour

About The Africa Hour

A Pan-African show that discusses public policy issues from diverse viewpoints, and breaks down analysis into a context that is easily digestible by listeners. The podcast explores different themes and examines their manifestations in African countries.

Publisher

Africa Policy Research Institute

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Feb 2023

Latest episode

13 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

21 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   13 Aug 2026

   We have the blueprint: How do we industrialise Africa together?

   If we know the ingredients needed to industrialize, who brings them together? Who decides where industries are built, coordinates infrastructure across borders, and creates the conditions for countries to complement rather than compete with one another? Most importantly, who and what keeps the vision alive long enough for it to become reality? In the final episode of Season Two of The Africa Hour, we turn the spotlight on governance as the needle that joins the thread together. Across previous episodes, we explored mineral value chains, manufacturing, skills, energy, and capital. Now, we zoom in on the coordination, leadership, and long-term vision required to translate policy and inputs into an industrious reality. Drawing on voices from policy and governance experts, the episode brings the season to a close. It explores our most critical question: how can Africa transform its raw minerals into thriving, sustainable societies? Guests: Dr. Claude Kabemba (https://www.linkedin.com/in/claude-kabemba-87070147/) is Executive Director at Southern Africa Resource Watch. He is an African policy analyst and thought leader on mining governance, critical minerals, and economic transformation. With more than two decades of experience across Africa, he has worked extensively on resource governance reforms, regional mineral strategies, transparency, community rights, and value-addition policies. His work seeks to position Africa’s mineral wealth as a catalyst for industrialization, regional integration, and inclusive development in the context of the global energy transition. He regularly engages with governments, regional bodies, industry leaders, and international institutions on the future of Africa’s critical minerals sector. Dr. Marit Kitaw (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marit-y-kitaw-ph-d-30153bb3/)is an Economic Affairs Officer leading the minerals sector portfolio at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). An international economist and thought leader in developmental mining, green minerals, and resource governance, she advocates harnessing Africa’s mineral wealth for inclusive structural transformation under the Africa Mining Vision. Her extensive multilateral career includes leadership roles as Interim Director of the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), UNDP, COMESA, and the African Development Bank. She spearheaded Africa’s Green Minerals Strategy and served on the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, regularly advising global policy bodies on sustainable development. Prof. Faizel Ismail (https://www.linkedin.com/in/faizel-ismail-40900798/) is Convener of the AfCFTA Industrial Development Advisory Council and a senior advisor on African trade and development policy. An academic leader and strategist in regional integration and multilateralism, his work leverages international trade and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to drive African industrialization and developmental regionalism. With decades shaping South Africa’s post-apartheid trade relations, he has served as South Africa’s Ambassador to the WTO, Special Envoy for AGOA negotiations, and Director of the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance. He actively engages governments, international bodies, and academic institutions to reform global trade governance. Further readings: Regional integration in Africa (https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2002/04/regional-integration-in-africa_g1gh29ab/9789264194427-en.pdf) by Jorge Braga and Omar Kabbaj Africa Mining Vision (https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/30984-doc-africa_mining_vision_english.pdf) by African Union Africa’s Green Minerals Strategy (https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/44539-doc-AGMS_Final_doc.pdf) by African Minerals Development Centre The African Continental Free Trade Area: Economic and Distributional Effects (https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/1c04980c-dcd8-5bd9-9abc-a028630500db) by World Bank Win win partnership? China, Southern Africa and extractive industries (https://archive.ids.ac.uk/eldis/document/A70503.html) by Garth Shelton and Claude Kabemba South African Mining Companies in Southern Africa (https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/sar-wbook-fa/38852272)by Southern Africa Resource Watch Industrial policy along the mining value chain: a new taxonomy and case studies (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s42214-025-00221-x) by Guendalina Anzolin & Carlo Pietrobelli How can the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfcFTA) help develop regional value chains across Africa? An exploration (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10290-024-00574-0) by Jaime de Melo & Jean-Marc Solleder

2. 

   9 Jul 2026

   We Can Fund the Mine: Why is it so Hard to Finance What Comes Next?

   Cement is a system enabler - the essential foundation shaping the world around us. From houses and offices to roads and highways, it is the superstructure of urban society and key for renewable energy infrastructure. Across Africa, vast limestone reserves are being transformed into cement, to meet surging local demand and close the continent’s infrastructure gap. Despite the mineral abundance and market demand, developing the capacity to support this industrial  transformation faces systemic constraints. In this fifth episode of The Africa Hour Season 2, we explore capital finance: what it takes to fund the transition from raw extraction to high-value goods - competitively and at scale. In conversation with industry and policy experts, we analyse the structural challenges underlying the financial architecture of the cement industry and industrialization more broadly across Africa. We examine Nigeria’s pioneering cement industry, a success story of self-sufficiency, to draw out the critical insights and policy lessons it offers for starter industries elsewhere on the continent. Guests: Ebipere Clark (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebipere-clark-565286/) is a seasoned consultant specializing in capital markets, energy and infrastructure sectors, climate action policy and finance. He is the Managing Partner at Frontier-Alpha LLP. His expertise in energy transitions, climate finance, and infrastructure development is supported by his pivotal role in the 2013 Nigeria electricity market privatization and commercialization. Ebipere’s work focuses on integrating climate action into national development plans and legislation and on shaping policies for sustainable economic growth. He regularly advises governments, development institutions, and think tanks on energy, infrastructure, and climate financing and strategies. Karabo Mokgonyana (https://www.linkedin.com/in/karabo-mokgonyana/)is an international trade lawyer and development practitioner specializing in climate and energy diplomacy. As the Energy Co-Lead at Power Shift Africa, she steers the organisation’s energy programme and its Just Transition strategy. Mokgonyana leads diplomacy and public finance engagement with governments, diplomats, and multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, IMF, and African Development Bank. Her portfolio includes managing continent-wide campaigns, authoring policy briefs on critical energy transition minerals, and advancing development-justice frameworks to secure equitable investment pathways for the African green economy. Further readings: Africa’s Industrialisation Index 2025 (https://www.afdb.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/africa_industrialisation_index_2025_en-pdf5.pdf) by AfD Africa's Manufacturing Puzzle: Evidence from Tanzanian and Ethiopian Firms (https://academic.oup.com/wber/article-abstract/39/2/308/7731247?redirectedFrom=fulltext) by Xinshen Diao et al. Effect of financial deepening and institutional factors on industrial value added: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa (https://onlineacademicpress.com/index.php/IJAEFA/article/view/1955) by Ogundajo Oyeyemi et al. Industrialization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Seizing Opportunities in Global Value Chains (https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/publication/industrialization-in-subsaharan-africa-seizing-opportunities-in-global-value-chains) by World Bank A country-platform playbook for scaling adaptation finance (https://afripoli.org/a-country-platform-playbook-for-scaling-adaptation-finance)by Ebipere Clark World Bank’s New Minerals Strategy Could Make or Break Africa (https://www.powershiftafrica.org/in-the-news/africa-mining-indaba-how-world-banks-new-minerals-strategy-could-make-or-break-africanbsp) by Karabo Mokgonyana Strategic industrial policy for sustainable development in Africa: the case of cement manufacturing (https://afripoli.org/strategic-industrial-policy-for-sustainable-development-in-africa-the-case-of-cement-manufacturing?utm_source=chatgpt.com) by Michael Odijie The Foreign Exchange Constraint at the Heart of Development Finance (https://afripoli.org/the-foreign-exchange-constraint-at-the-heart-of-development-finance) by Ebipere Clark Civil Society, Diaspora, and Philanthropy Commit to Drive Africa’s New Financial Architecture (https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/press-releases/civil-society-diaspora-and-philanthropy-commit-drive-africas-new-financial-architecture-93126) by AfDB The Transformative Power of Digital Remittances in Africa (https://www.un.org/osaa/en/news/digital-remittances-africa) by Liwaaddine Fliss

3. 

   11 Jun 2026

   We Have the Bauxite: Why Don't We Have the Power to Smelt It?

   Aluminum is omnipresent, from beverage cans to the cars we drive. It is also at the heart of the global green energy transition, serving as a key input for clean technologies. But while aluminum powers this transition, producing it is incredibly energy-intensive. In this episode of The Africa Hour, we explore the critical role of energy in transforming minerals into high-value goods. Turning bauxite into aluminum requires refining and smelting processes that are famously power-hungry. In West Africa, Guinea is a global bauxite powerhouse, holding the world’s largest reserves. Despite this dominance, Guinea remains a raw commodity exporter. In neighboring Ghana, a country with more modest reserves, a coordinated national effort is underway to build a fully integrated aluminum value chain. While energy infrastructure remains a bottleneck across Africa, the bauxite sector offers a glimpse of what is possible. In this episode, we look at where early signs of this industrial momentum are taking shape. Guests: Dr. Edem Amegashie-Duvon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/edem-amegashie-duvon-766528b/) is the Commercial and Trading Director at the state-backed Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC), driving the development of a globally competitive integrated aluminum industry. An expert in international trade and commodities, he previously spent over two decades in leadership roles with the Ghana Cocoa Board and the Cocoa Marketing Company, including serving as Deputy Managing Director and London Manager. Today, he leverages this deep expertise to elevate Ghana’s strategic mineral value chains and maximize local economic impact. Sekinat Ojeniyi (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sekinat-ojeniyi/) is a strategic communications and advocacy professional and Senior Consultant at Africa Practice. She advises Development Finance Institutions, philanthropic foundations, and financial services organizations on reputation management, stakeholder engagement, and narrative development across Africa. Passionate about economic transformation, Sekinat focuses her work on shaping vital conversations around infrastructure, energy access, regional integration, trade, and investment. Ultimately, she aims to drive inclusive growth, support sustainable development, and improve outcomes for the continent's most underserved populations. Charles Ofori (https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-g-ofori-97bb6460/) is the policy lead for Climate Change and Energy Transition at the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP). He spearheads research and advocacy across the extractive and power sectors, focusing on critical minerals, methane emissions, the solar PV value chain, and clean cooking. His extensive project expertise spans natural gas dynamics, local labor absorption, and gender-responsive budgeting in mining communities. Charles’ primary research interests revolve around risk mitigation and investment decisions for utility and small-scale renewable energy technologies across Africa. Further readings: World Energy Outlook 2025 (https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2025/current-policies-scenario#abstract) by IEA Electricity Regulatory Index for Africa 2024 (https://africa-energy-portal.org/sites/default/files/2025-06/ERI_2024_REPORT_AFDB_ENG_Updated.pdf) by  African Development Bank Industrial Development Report 2026 (https://www.unido.org/sites/default/files/unido-publications/2025-11/UNIDO%20IDR26.pdf) by UNIDO Evaluation of the Proposed Integrated Aluminium Industry and the $2 Billion Chinese Barter Deal (https://acep.africa/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Evaluation-Of-The-Proposed-Integrated-Aluminium-Industry-And-the-2-Billion-Chinese-Barter-Deal.pdf) by Benjamin Boakye and Charles Ofori for ACEP A Real Options Approach to Investment Timing Decisions in Utility-scale Renewable Energy in Ghana (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360544221016145)by Charles Ofori et al. Industrialisation in Africa: The Role of Energy Transition (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030142152400291X) by Bruno Nkoa and Arnaud Fonguen-Kong-Ngoh Energy Development and Industrialization: Evidence from Africa (https://www.emerald.com/ijesm/article-abstract/19/3/497/1240836/Energy-development-and-industrialization-evidence) by Admasu Maruta Industrial development in Africa: The role of energy price volatility (https://artefacts-discovery.researcher.life/full_text/DA-2/f0/f0280d4403a23000a215cf1aecc4ff06/full_text/2f95afe3ef0a3e3796de54a0cdb99c8a.pdf) by Chimere O. Iheonu et al. Dancing on the grid: Electricity crises, energy vulnerability, and manufacturing jobs in South Africa (https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v202y2025ics0301421525000412.html) by Gideon Ndubuisi et al. Advancing sustainable industrial development in Africa: the role of institutional quality and renewable energy (https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/endesu/v28y2026i2d10.1007_s10668-024-05170-8.html) by Musibau Babatunde and Joshua Afolabi Green Industrial Policy and Industrialisation in Africa (https://www.uj.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/sarchi-wp2024-02-oqubay-green-industrial-policy-final.pdf)by Arkebe Oqubay

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