Beyond Debt: Africa's Economic Reset is a podcast series from TrustAfrica about African debt and how the continent pays for its development. Two episodes are on TrustAfrica's YouTube channel: one in English from 16 September and one in French from 30 September.
TrustAfrica, which describes itself as "an independent philanthropy rooted on the continent", announced the series in a LinkedIn post on 9 September, describing it as "a new podcast series exploring the deeper questions around Africa's debt, development and economic agency." It said it would bring together "policymakers, economists, civil society leaders, practitioners and young voices", with episodes every other Wednesday at 14:00 CAT, streaming on YouTube.
What has been released
The first episode, uploaded on 16 September and 32 minutes long, is a conversation in English with Briggs Bomba, TrustAfrica's programmes director, on why Africa's debt position matters now. In it, Bomba says "at least 22 African countries" are in debt distress or on the verge of it. That figure is his own statement in the conversation.
The second episode, uploaded on 30 September, runs to nearly 39 minutes and is in French. Its description reads "Beyond Debt: Rethinking Senegal and Africa's Economic Future with Dr Chérif Salif Sy". The host introduces Sy as a Senegalese intellectual, teacher and researcher, and a former technical adviser to a Senegalese president.
A fortnightly Wednesday schedule from 16 September would have put a third episode on 14 October. TrustAfrica's channel listed no third Beyond Debt episode on the morning of 15 October.
Where it sits
TrustAfrica says the series "builds on the Stop the Bleeding Campaign and speaks directly to the aspirations of the Common African Position on Debt". The announcement names only TrustAfrica's YouTube channel as the place to watch. It does not mention Spotify, Apple Podcasts or an audio feed.
Why it matters
Beyond Debt is a foundation using a video podcast to explain economic policy, with one of its first two episodes in French. For African podcasters covering money and governance, it is an example of an organisation publishing its campaign work as a podcast series. The descriptions here come from TrustAfrica and its own episodes. On 15 October the channel showed 141 views for the first episode and 522 for the second.