In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Hannah Ryder, CEO of Development Reimagined, to discuss how debt and the high cost of debt servicing are affecting economies in Africa. They unpack the history of African debt, the increased role of private lenders and non-Western countries like China on the continent in recent years and how this diversification of creditors might complicate future debt relief efforts. They examine how reforms of the global financial system along with more coordination among African countries could reduce the debt burden and improve their access to financing. They also assess what options African leaders have to tackle the challenges posed by high debt and debt servicing absent larger structural changes to the global financial system.

This episode of The Horn is produced in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

For more you can read Hannah’s Foreign Policy piece African Lending Needs a Better World Bank, her opinion article in African Business Why are some creditors more preferred than others? and our Africa regional page.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first episode of The Horn’s new season, Alan is joined by Crisis Group’s senior Eastern Africa analyst Omar Mahmood to discuss the escalating regional tensions involving Somalia, Egypt and Ethiopia, the uncertain future of the stabilisation mission ATMIS, which supports Mogadishu in its fight against Al-Shabaab and the presence of the Islamic State in Somalia. They unpack the worsening relations between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa over Ethiopia’s bid for sea access through Somaliland and the diplomatic efforts under way to defuse the tensions. They discuss Somalia’s new defence pact with Egypt and its regional implications. They talk about a possible follow-on mission to ATMIS, which is set to end by December this year, Ethiopia’s military presence in Somalia and Egypt’s increasing security assistance to the country amid regional rivalries. They also discuss the growing significance of the Somali branch of the Islamic State for the group’s global operations, recent developments in Mogadishu’s fight against Al-Shabaab and whether more diplomacy could help to improve relations between Somalia and its neighbours.

For more on the topics discussed in this episode check out our recent briefing, The Islamic State in Somalia: Responding to an Evolving Threat and our Somalia country page.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Horn, Alan talks with writer and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola about the wave of nationwide protests that have swept through Kenya in recent weeks and prospects for the country and the region. They unpack the political and economic factors driving discontent among young people in Kenya, the makeup of the demonstrators and social media’s role in galvanising the protests. They discuss what options Kenya’s President William Ruto has to address the country’s economic woes and its spiralling debt crisis. They also talk about whether demonstrations might spread to other African countries facing structural challenges similar to Kenya’s and what lessons can be learned from how protest movements have played out in Sudan and elsewhere in the region.

For more, check out Nanjala’s article in The Guardian The world is scrambling to understand Kenya’s historic protests – this is what too many are missing, her book Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya and our recent Q&A What is Behind Kenya’s Protest Movement?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.