Flying has never been easier. Airlines are competing to offer cheaper fares and more routes across Europe, North America and Asia. But while connections to and from Africa have expanded, travelling within the continent remains difficult and expensive.

On this week's Next Africa podcast, Ghana-based reporter Bilal Qureshi discusses his latest feature on why intra-African air travel continues to lag behind the rest of the world. Bloomberg Global Aviation Editor Benedikt Kammel also explains the challenges facing Africa's fragmented aviation sector — and what it will take to make flying across the continent easier and more affordable.

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The man who helped turn Morocco into a World Cup contender is now being urged to take on an even bigger challenge: becoming the country’s next prime minister.

On this week’s Next Africa podcast, we examine the Atlas Lions’ impressive run at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and why two political parties are courting Fouzi Lekjaa to lead them into the next election.

Jennifer Zabasajja speaks with Bloomberg North Africa reporter Souhail Karam about football’s growing influence in Moroccan politics, the controversy over the billions being spent to co-host the 2030 World Cup, and whether sporting success can translate into political capital. We also hear from former Morocco international footballer Hassan Kachloul on what the Atlas Lions’ historic campaign has meant to fans back home.

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Thousands of people joined anti-migrant protests in South Africa on Tuesday, watched over by a massive police contingent that was deployed to prevent violence and intimidation. The rallies, which marked the culmination of weeks of protests that have displaced thousands of mainly African expatriates, were mostly peaceful bar a few isolated incidents.

In this week’s Next Africa Podcast, Bloomberg’s Ntando Thukwana gives the latest update on this week’s protests and then Jennifer Zabasajja speaks to Professor Loren Landau, a senior researcher at Witwatersrand University’s African Centre for Migration & Society on the impact these protests could have on the regional economy and South Africa’s standing in the continent.

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The Iran war has put billions of dollars in remittances at risk as conflict disrupts the incomes of migrant workers across the Gulf. For many African economies, where money sent home helps pay for food, healthcare and education, a prolonged slowdown could weigh on growth well beyond the battlefield.

On this week's episode, Jennifer Zabasajja speaks with Bloomberg's Prinesha Naidoo about her reporting on the disruption to remittance flows and what's at stake as the ceasefire and peace talks take shape. She is also joined by Onafriq Managing Director Rachel Balsham, who explains where the company is seeing the sharpest declines in cross-border money transfers.

Read Bloomberg’s latest report on Remittances here, and subscribe to the Next Africa Newsletter for more stories from the region

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An El Niño weather pattern forming in the Pacific Ocean is expected to bring hotter, drier weather to much of east and southern Africa while increasing flood risks in parts of West Africa, stoking fears of another difficult spell for the continent’s farmers.

On this week’s episode, Jennifer Zabasajja talks to Bloomberg weather reporter Lauren Rosenthal about how El Niño is shaping up, and to soft commodities reporter Mumbi Gitau about what it could mean for Africa’s crops, food supplies and rural economies.

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Ethiopia’s ruling party has established a commanding lead in preliminary election results, leaving Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on track to secure another five-year term.

On this week’s episode, Tiwa Adebayo speaks with Bloomberg Senior East Africa Reporter Simon Marks and Ethiopia Reporter Fasika Tadesse about why the election outcome was rarely in doubt, the political and security risks that persist, and what Abiy’s renewed mandate means for the Horn of Africa and Ethiopia’s international partners.

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Here's a bonus episode from another Bloomberg podcast we think listeners to Next Africa might enjoy

Could Africa’s long-misunderstood population boom become its greatest economic advantage? Economist and author Joe Studwell joins host Merryn Somerset Webb to discuss his book, How Africa Works: Success and Failure on the World's Last Developmental Frontier. He argues that rising population density is already transforming the continent by creating deeper markets, boosting agricultural productivity, supporting urbanization and making manufacturing more viable. While governance, debt and commodity dependence remain risks, he sees a more diverse, locally driven growth story emerging across Africa.

Find more episodes from Merryn Talks Money here

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The 2014-16 Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone triggered one of the most severe health-related economic shocks in modern African history. While the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains a serious concern, analysts expect its economic impact to be far more contained.

On today’s Next Africa podcast, Bloomberg Economics Africa Economist Yvonne Mhango joins Jennifer Zabasajja to discuss her latest research on the outbreak, why the West African epidemic dealt such a heavy blow to growth, what makes the situation in Congo different, and the key risks policymakers and investors should still be watching.

You can read Yvonne’s analysis on Bloomberg Economic Insights, and for more stories from across the continent, subscribe to the Next Africa newsletter.

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African startups are rewriting their funding playbook as the global artificial intelligence boom channels venture capital toward the US, leaving founders across emerging markets scrambling for capital.

As Bloomberg publishes its 2026 list of 25 African Startups to Watch, Bloomberg Senior Technology Reporter Loni Prinsloo joins the podcast to discuss the state of the continent’s startup ecosystem. We also speak to Tendekayi Katsiga, co-founder of Deaftronics, the solar-powered hearing aid company featured on this year’s list, about building a business in a tougher funding environment.

You can read the full African Startups to Watch list on Bloomberg.com, and subscribe to the Next Africa newsletter for more stories from across the continent.

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An Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which has already killed more than 130 people, may have been spreading for months, according to the World Health Organization.

On this week’s episode of the Next Africa Podcast, Jennifer Zabasajja is joined by healthcare reporter Janice Kew and Congo Country Director for the Danish Refugee Council, Caitlin Brady who is on the ground in Goma. They discuss how this Ebola outbreak compares with previous ones, the impact of aid cuts and how serious the crisis could get. 

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