It’s a year of big elections in Africa. In South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda to name a few. But in some of those countries, the opposition is weak or non-existent. And the election result isn’t in doubt. So should young people bother voting? We asked three activists working for democracy this very question. No surprise - they don’t all agree.

Yanga Malotana is a project officer for the Democracy Development Program in South Africa.

Oliver Barker-Vormawor founded the #FixTheCountry movement a non-partisan movement advocating for good governance in Ghana.

Seth Karamage is a development economist specialising in peacebuilding and good governance in Rwanda.

The views expressed in this episode belong to their speakers. Limitless Africa and its sponsors do not support any of the candidates or parties discussed in the episode.

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Africans are known for their hustle – and the data proves it.

According to research by the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Stanford University, Africa has the highest percentage of entrepreneurs among working-age adults of any continent in the world.

But sadly, we’re not all Tony Elumelu or Elon Musk… We asked three guests: how can we teach Africans to be better entrepreneurs?

Rebecca Enonchong is a Cameroonian entrepreneur with technology businesses in the US, UK, Canada, as well as many African countries. She’s known on Twitter as @africatechie where she tweets tech insights to her 140 thousand followers.

Professor Bitange Ndemo may teach entrepreneurship at the University of Nairobi but he has some reservations about whether the subject can be taught.

Thami Pooe founded a social enterprise called Tshimong which teaches young South Africans to debate. But he also found that it helps them learn soft skills vital for entrepreneurship.

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As a region, Africa accounts for around 20% of US aid. In fact, development projects throughout the continent depend on this money.

But some argue that there is little evidence that aid produces economic growth. Instead they say aid encourages a culture of dependency and corruption.

This week on #LimitlessAfrica we ask an aid worker, an activist and an economist: Does aid create more problems than it solves?

Mutemi Wa Kiama an activist from Nairobi, Kenya known for campaigning against aid in the shape of international loans. He thinks aid loans create spiralling debt which only benefits those in power.

Pedro Matos has worked for the World Food Programme in Africa and Asia for over a decade, and has a slightly different point of view. Matos was part of the team which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020. He now works in Sudan, delivering food and assistance to over six million people.

Albert Honlonkou is the Director of the National University of Applied Economics and Management in Benin. In this episode Honlonkou is interviewed by journalist Rachida Houssou

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As James Brown once put it, it’s a man’s world. But in this episode we talk to three women who don’t think that’s true. And they’re proving it by doing the most in male-dominated industries. 

What challenges do they face? How do they make their voices heard in their place of work? And what are the positives of being one of the only women in those industries?

Linda Mabhena-Olagunju runs a wholly African female-owned independent power producer, and operates one of Africa's largest wind farms.  

DJ Elly is one of Angola’s biggest DJs. 

Kah Walla, politician and entrepreneur, was the first woman to stand for president in Cameroon in 2011.

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When it comes to gay rights on the continent, Africans are conflicted. In Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania and many other countries, it’s illegal. But in South Africa, Cape Verde, Angola, Gabon, being gay is not a crime. 

Many think that being gay is un-African. In this episode we asked our guests the question: Can LGBT rights ever be part of African values?

Kat Kai Kol-Kes is a performance artist, musician, writer and activist. She is known for being the first public figure from Botswana to openly identify as a trans. 

Va-Bene Fiatsi is a trans performance artist from Ghana who explores gender fluidity. Right now, the Ghanaian parliament is considering enacting anti-gay legislation which could lead to up to 10 years in jail. As an activist, Fiatsi is on the frontlines actively opposing it.

Sheba Akpokli from Togo works as a lawyer in Canada and is a strong advocate for LGBTIAQ+ people. 

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Across Africa, young entrepreneurs are making their dreams happen in challenging circumstances. Here three very different young Africans explain how they made their first million.

Maya Horgan Famodu is an American-Nigerian venture capitalist, originally from Minnesota in the US. She has a VC firm called Ingressive Capital. Her latest fund is worth $50m. She’s invested in some of the biggest startups in Africa.

Moulaye Tabouré is the Malian CEO and founder of ANKA, an online sales platform for African fashion and crafts based in Cote d’Ivoire. The company has raised $6.2 million in its series A funding although it has since announced it is closing its marketplace. 

Moutagna Keita is a Guinean-born inventor and successful businessman. He studied at Harvard University and worked in America. He came back to Guinea to launch his portable ultrasound machine.

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Souleymane Bachir Diagne is one of the foremost scholars of Islamic and African philosophy. Currently a professor at Columbia University in New York, he remains deeply connected to the continent and to his home country Senegal. Before moving to the US, he taught in the humanities department at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar for 20 years. 

During our conversation, he gave illuminating historical context to the democratic crisis in Senegal. He explained why Senegalese democracy is so resilient. This interview was recorded before the election so forgive us for not discussing the result. 

We also talked about the situation in Israel and Gaza and the relationship between Jews, and Muslims. We also discussed the wedge this conflict has driven between the black and Jewish communities. And we talked a lot about the concept of Ubuntu, the idea of a common humanity, and how that idea can help us frame our attitude towards the current conflict in the Middle East.

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Novuyo Rosa Tshuma is an award-winning Zimbabwean novelist who teaches at the acclaimed Iowa Writers Workshop in the US, like many literary icons before her. And she's only 36 years old. 

Her debut novel House of Stone is set during the Gukahurundi massacres that took place immediately after Zimbabwean independence and remain shrouded in secrecy.  Her second novel Digging Stars also received glowing reviews. It deals with an equally uncomfortable history. She charts the similarities between the reserves allocated to native Americans in the US and those allocated to indigenous people in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

This is a must listen for anyone interested in African fiction, interested in reading it of course but also interested in how it is produced. Novuyo gives us a peek behind the scenes of some of the most prestigious writing institutions in the US, telling us what it's like to be a young African woman professor there. She's equally clear-sighted about the situation in Zimbabwe and what it's like to come back home with your partner when you are queer.

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Many diaspora Africans are choosing to return to the continent. These ‘repats’ - as they’re often known - are keen to seize new opportunities. But they also return to give back - building businesses, families and fulfilling lives on the continent. In this episode, three repats tell us how and why they moved to Ghana, Cape Verde and Cote d’Ivoire.

Joli Moniz left New York for Cape Verde to set up a tourism business called A Vontade Tours. She helps other repats settle into their new life.

Paola Ndengue is originally from Cameroon though she spent most of her life in France. She runs a popular newsletter on media and the creative industries in Africa called Africa Digest. 

Abdul Abdullah is a Ghanaian American cultural entrepreneur and founder of the AfroFutures Festival, a music and culture festival based in Accra. He grew up in the Bronx but now does business in Ghana.

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Extended episode: Mmeli Hlanze and Sizo Hlophe are part of the team behind Antidote Music - an independent record label and music consultancy company based in Eswatini. In business since 2012, Antidote Music is now one of the most established labels in the country. They focus on Eswatini electronic music.

Music from Nigeria and South Africa is taking over the mainstream, you can’t deny it, but what about the other rich cultural influences on the continent? In this episode, Claude talks to those who are fighting to get their sound heard and asks them which African artists are going to blow up this year.

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