Forget the negative reports, Africa’s 900 million consumers offers the continent enough power to give China and India a run for their money, Vijay Mahajan, author of “Africa Rising: How 900 Million Consumers Offer More Than You Think” and marketing professor at University of Austin in Texas reckons, and shares his thoughts in this podcast/interview.

Femi Kuti, the oldest son of late Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, talks about the release of his first album in seven years, Day By Day, opening for the Dave Matthews Band in his up-coming US tour.

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Photo credit: Time Out Chicago

Small loans to families affected by HIV and AIDS in Togo are making entrepreneurs out of victims and improving the lives of their children. Fid Thompson reports via VOA.

A public-private venture with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is being used to test a potential malaria vaccine. The collaboration may provide a viable business model for developing drugs for poor countries. Megan Williams of American Public Media reports, take a listen below.

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Podcast series: Monday was the 15th anniversary of the start of the Rwanda genocide. The incident triggered about 100 days of violence, which killed more than a half million Tutsi and moderate Hutu. Rakiya Omaar, one of human rights activists heavily involved in the aftermath of the genocide reflects. take a listen.

A new International Monetary Fund study indicates the global financial crisis is likely to have a major impact on low-income countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The fund identified 26 low-income countries – 14 in Africa – that it regards as especially vulnerable to the lower export prices that have accompanied the global economic slowdown.

As farmers and international agricultural organizations began initiating plans specifically for East African growers to sell more of the fruit to European buyers, a leading trade lawyer has doubts the strategies will work. Take a listen »

The fans of the late Miriam Makeba will soon be able to remember ‘Mama Afrika’ by listening to her last CD. “Miriam Makeba: The Legend” is a compilation album, featuring the well known performer’s most beloved songs. The 14-track CD was released just 3 weeks before her death in Italy on November 2008.

In 2008, the rule of law played a prominent role in a number of African countries and is expected to do so in the New Year as well, according to David Crane, former chief prosecutor of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone and a Syracuse University College of Law professor.

Business in Africa Podcast Series: Can Private Investors and Entrepreneurs Transform the Continent?
“The most blatant fact about Africa is that despite a vast amount of natural resources, we have very little to show for it,” Eric Kacou — the managing and regional director for Africa at OTF Group, a U.S.-based consulting firm — said at [...]