Media is one of the few industries that impact the lives of every person. Publications frame our values; they curate our tastes and inform our thinking. Yet despite the powerful role that media plays in everyday life, the industry, in Africa, is more reliant on grants and personal funding than investments. This scarcity of funding options has doomed many papers and platforms—leading to an unprecedented shuttering of media outlets in the wake of COVID-19 and further illuminating the ever-widening gap in providing relevant and reliable information that meets the needs of Africa’s young and upwardly mobile, digital-first population.

Across Africa, football fits somewhere neatly between passion and obsession. As the region’s most popular sport, it is a mirror for the region’s hopes and aspirations -- a reflection of the wealth of talent on the continent, as well as the challenges that even the brightest stars often face in gaining the respect and accolades they deserve in global fora. But despite the odds, many African-born players —from Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o to Liberian President George Weah — have made their mark on Europe’s premier soccer leagues.

Gone are the days of Africa’s single story. In large part, due to social media. Hundreds of millions of users across the continent have turned to tools like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to re-shape their narrative on their own terms. Brands have started to take notice and are increasingly expanding their marketing spend beyond traditional channels like radio or television to tap into opportunities to engage consumers online directly. Among the pioneers shaping how brands connect with consumers is Yanfo Hackman, an entrepreneur who has his finger on the pulse of digital advertising, marketing and communications in Ghana.

Consumers are used to getting what they want when they want it; no questions asked. But COVID-19 has exposed the complex realities of the trillion-dollar logistics industry–and how we’re all at its mercy, whether we like it or not. The pandemic has also accelerated the push to digitize this shockingly manual sector. In Africa, home to the highest shipping costs in the world, these shifts are long overdue. And one woman, Miishe Addy, is determined to shape the trajectory of the supply chain revolution at this historic inflexion point. Her company Jetstream Africa enables people doing business in the fastest-growing economies in the world to see and control their cross-border supply chains.

Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Niger. The steady uptick in coups across Africa in the last year has raised alarm bells in the international community. After nearly two decades of progress and peace, recent gains seem to be eroding. What forces are driving the rise of these grasps for power? These aren’t your grandfather’s coups, after all. With knowledge of social media and growing transnational ties to autocratic regimes with deep pockets, today’s coup leaders have a different set of tools at their disposal. In this episode of Afro-Catalyst featuring Remi Adekoya, a political analyst and Associate Lecturer at York University, we unpack the dangers of states’ failure to deliver development, the psychology of powerful elites as well as how to renew faith in democracy in the world’s youngest, fastest-growing population.

Stephanie Busari is an award-winning journalist who currently serves as Supervising Editor of CNN’s Africa coverage. In this capacity, the British-Nigerian storyteller has pioneered hard-hitting investigations exploring topics such as human rights and the long-term impact of trauma — which have earned her international acclaim. Busari’s brave coverage of the missing Chibok school girls resulted in a Gracie Award in 2017 and she was an instrumental part of the team that won a Peabody Award in 2015 for CNN's coverage of the missing schoolgirls. In 2020, she was selected as a Yale World Fellow. In this episode, Busari reflects on her return to Nigeria as an opportunity for personal growth, unlearning cultural biases and drawing inspiration from talented Africans who have achieved extraordinary things with limited resources.

Constraint breeds innovation. Africa's development challenges have catapulted the region to become the global leader in financial technology. Now those constraints are leading the continent to become a pioneer in the future of education. Over the last 15 years, Ghanaian-born education entrepreneur has launched the African Leadership Group (ALG), a formidable set of institutions from the renowned African Leadership Academy (ALA) to the African Leadership University (ALU). But when the pandemic halted ALG's momentum, Swaniker was forced to pivot and re-imagine the organizational structure entirely. Within months, his team unveiled a bold new business model to better support its mission of creating the next generation of African leaders. In this episode, the former McKinsey executive, who has been listed among Time’s Most Influential People, opens up about ALG's unique approach to education. Not only has it helped graduates to land jobs with some of the world’s top companies, but it’s also attracted global attention for its practical approach to learning and leadership that turns traditional education on its head. Swaniker also shares personal lessons in navigating risk and why Africa must “think global” in order not to get left behind.