Ghana’s economy—once a model for growth in West Africa, took a turn for the worse in 2012. It’s been getting help from the IMF under a 3-year program known as the Extended Credit Facility. The IMF board has approved another US$116m, and under the arrangement Ghana could receive more than US$900m if all targets are met. In this podcast, Joël Toujas-Bernaté, IMF mission chief for Ghana, says the country is making good progress.

Contributors:

Joël Toujas-Bernaté, IMF Mission Chief for Ghana

While Ethiopia has been experiencing strong growth since the early 2000s, the IMF’s latest review of the country’s economy says low commodity prices and a drought have put growth levels well below 10 percent for the first time in a decade. In this podcast, we speak with Julio Escolano, IMF Mission Chief for Ethiopia, who oversaw the writing of the report.

Contributors:

Julio Escolano, IMF Mission Chief for Ethiopia.

More than 1 million migrants and refugees made their way to Europe last year, 350K from Syria alone. A recent IMF study says people fleeing conflict areas in the Middle-East and North Africa has brought about the biggest refugee crisis since World War 2. In this podcast, the UN’s Kyung-Wha Kang says the 1951 UN convention for refugees is no longer enough.

 Contributors:

Kyung-Wha Kang, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations.

The United Nations estimates the global creative economy in 2011 generated more than $600 billion. In this podcast we speak with Patrick Kabanda, who says a country’s cultural wealth presents a huge development opportunity. Kabanda is author of Music Going for a Song published in the September 2016 edition of Finance & Development Magazine.

Contributors:

Patrick Kabanda, Consultant for the office of the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at the World Bank