The CGD Podcast

Javier speaks with Natasha Loder from The Economist and John Burn-Murdoch from The Financial Times about keeping pace with the demand for information during the Covid-19 pandemic, confronting the flood of misinformation and disinformation, and lessons learned on reporting during health emergencies.

To kick off Season 2 of Lagos to Mombasa, Gyude reflects on the intricacies of climate change and development in Africa and explores how space-based technologies can help. Temidayo Oniosun of Space in Africa and Rose Croshier from CGD join Gyude to discuss the intersections of space technology with extreme weather events, agriculture and food security, and regional capacity and preparedness.

How can we ensure that medical countermeasures—such as diagnostics and vaccines—are ready to go at local, national, and global levels when the next pandemic emerges? Amanda Glassman speaks with Dr. Amadou Alpha Sall of Institut Pasteur of Dakar and Dr. Rachel Glennerster of the University of Chicago about lessons learned during COVID-19 and opportunities for future preparedness.

When Nigerian voters head to the polls on Saturday to elect the country’s next president, all of Africa—and beyond—will be watching. CGD's Gyude Moore sits down with Amaka Anku, head of the Eurasia Group's Africa practice, to discuss the advantages and challenges of the leading candidates, the role of Nigeria’s substantial youth population, and what this election might mean not just for Nigeria and for Africa but for democracy itself.

Malin Grape, Sweden’s Ambassador of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), joins Javier Guzman to discuss Sweden’s track record on AMR, the outlook and priorities for its EU presidency, and initial reflections on Sweden’s innovative program for purchasing antimicrobials.

Dr. Yi-Chun Lo of Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control and National Taiwan University Hospital joins Javier Guzman to discuss Taiwan’s COVID-19 experience and broader pandemic preparedness and response efforts. Together, they discuss the lessons Taiwan learned from previous outbreaks like SARS, successes and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the Taiwan model could be applied in other settings to better prepare the world for the next health emergency.

In this bonus episode of Lagos to Mombasa, Gyude invites two experts who were on the ground in Sharm El Sheikh for COP27—the UN’s annual conference on climate—to report back with their observations and takeaways: Faten Aggad of the African Climate Foundation and Ian Mitchell of CGD. Together they discuss the trajectory of climate finance across Africa, including loss and damage payments to most-affected countries; the complexities of accounting for emissions and consumption levels; and what the next steps might look like for African policymakers and activists.

How does public heath surveillance work, and how can it be done better? Amanda Glassman tackles these questions with Dr. Oliver Morgan of the WHO and Dr. Theo Vos of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Together, they examine the successes and limitations of public health surveillance during COVID-19; the infrastructure, incentives, and investments needed to strengthen capacity; and ways to ensure higher quality and more representative tracking of existing and emerging disease threats.

CGD's Masood Ahmed speaks with Rémy Rioux of Agence Française de Développement about the fifth annual Development Leaders Conference, the perfect storm of crises facing development agencies, and how new ways of thinking and financing can help them achieve their goals. 

On this episode of Pandemic Proof, Dr. Ayoade Alakija, the World Health Organization’s Special Envoy for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) and co-chair of the African Union’s African Vaccine Delivery Alliance, joins Javier Guzman to discuss global cooperation during health emergencies. Together they reflect on the role of ACT-A in facilitating the development of and equitable access to medical countermeasures during the COVID-19 pandemic; highlight advantages and disadvantages of regional initiatives; and call for a truly representative global health system.