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, Reliability, and Complementary Factors for Economic Impact” in the Africa Development Forum series, a joint book series by the World Bank and Agence française de développement (AFD). So, which should come first: household electrification, including for hard-to-reach rural families, or electricity for businesses that create jobs? The answer may have far-reaching implications.

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 and domestic resource mobilization cannot. But several countries have found themselves in a vicious cycle of debt, effectively mortgaging their people’s futures by agreeing to riskier and less transparent terms that hold their fiscal space hostage. Civil society groups in many places have rightly become increasingly vocal in opposition to borrowing for large projects, advocating for more prudent spending and greater transparency. Host Albert Zeufack, Chief Economist for Africa at the World Bank, discusses this and more with Carmen Reinhart, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist and an expert on global debt.