Communist-ruled Cuba is better known for its bureaucracy than its entrepreneurs. But recent changes to legislation have opened-up opportunities for private business in certain sectors, particularly in manufacturing. Ed Augustin reports from Havana.

#Cuba #PrivateBusiness #CubaEconomy

In the last decade, Djibouti has grown to be one of Africa's major hubs for Islamic banking. The country wants to boost the sector by tapping into Turkish expertise. At the Bosphorus Summit held this week, Djibouti's central bank signed a pact with Turkish banks to increase the transfer of knowledge and skills in Islamic finance. We spoke to Malik Garad, who's the Head of Banking Supervision at the Central Bank of Djibouti and asked him about what his government hopes to achieve with the deal.

#Djibouti #IslamicBanking #Turkey

The United Nations is reminding governments that the climate crisis remains a major threat to billions of people. That's after a new report by the UN Environment Programme and the University of Oxford found global heating has become an after-thought, as countries spend trillions of dollars to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Paolo Montecillo reports.

Progress is being made in the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin launched the next phase of the Akkuyu facility in southern Turkey. When complete, the power station is expected to meet up to 10-percent of the country's energy needs, and help domestic industries boost their output. Mobin Nasir gave us the latest from the construction site of the Akkuyu facility.

#Turkey #NuclearPower #Energy

Finding a job in Jordan is getting harder than ever. The World Bank says lockdowns, trade disruptions, and the suspension of international travel are having a sizable impact on the kingdom's economy. Government figures show women are disproportionately affected. But one entrepreneur hopes to make a difference. Tayyibe Aydın has her story.

#Jordan #TradeDisruptions #FinancialIndependence

Some of the world's most powerful financial and economic organisations are now run by women. These new leaders have defied centuries of discrimination to reach the pinnacle of their professions. But research shows they are exceptions to the rule, with glass ceilings elsewhere still firmly in place in most industries.

#WomenInLeadership #GenderRoles #GlassCeiling

Female-run enterprises have been steadily growing all over the world. They contribute to household incomes and growth of national economies. Yet, women are still heavily disadvantaged by social and time constraints that limit their ability to expand their businesses. Many aspiring business owners face gender bias when seeking capital. But as Laila Humairah reports, investing in women-run businesses is proving to be a wise financial move. One of Turkey's leading entrepreneurs, who's also empowering women to take charge of their finances is Ozlem Denizmen. She's the founder and CEO of the financial literacy app, Moneye, and spoke to us from Istanbul.

#WomenInBusiness #Fintech #Turkey

The International Labour Organization says women are paid less than their male peers across most regions of the world. On average, women earn about three-quarters of what men make in similar jobs and experts warn the coronavirus pandemic may only make matters worse. The UK, Australia and the EU are among the governments trying to reduce gender pay gaps, but as Sibel Karkus reports, progress is painstakingly slow. For more on this, gender equality consultant, Julie Scanlon joined us from Newcastle in the UK.

#FairPay #WomenAthletes #InternationalLabourOrganization

Wherever you are in the world, 360 dollars will typically get you a significant amount of food. But at one fancy restaurant in Tunisia, it'll get you only one pizza. Natasha Hussain has more.

#Tunisia #Pizza #Foodies

If you boil down all the principles of running a business to just one, it's got to be: You have to make money to stay open. But because of the pandemic, that's just not happening for some businesses. One of the sectors that's struggling is childcare. Two-thirds of London's nurseries in the British capital risk closure in the next year and that could have a ripple effect on working parents, as Natalie Powell reports.

#UKnurseries #Pandemic #Lockdowns