Show Notes
Sub-Saharan Africa is holding its own despite a deteriorating global trade and aid landscape. The latest outlook projects growth to remain steady at 4.1 percent this year with a modest pickup in 2026. While the region has once again proven its resilience, what will it take to realize its full potential? IMF Economist Athene Laws helps pull together the biannual Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. In this podcast, she says removing barriers to private firm growth is crucial for providing the jobs needed by the region's young and rapidly expanding labor force. Transcript: https://bit.ly/4i7F6vt Read the full report at IMF.org
More from IMF Podcasts
Recent geopolitical shocks have changed the nature of international trade and left regional organizations to tighten their economic ties. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), one of the world's most effective blocs, is now intensifying integration among its members to mitigate the effects of global fragmentation. Ben Bland is the director of the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House. In this podcast, he says concentrations of economic power across the region are complicating matters. Read the article in Finance & Development IMF.org/fandd
While much of the big technological innovations of the past decade have emerged from the United States and China, innovation happens everywhere. The Swiss train system, for instance, has run entirely on renewable energy since the early 1960s. Why do so many prominent tech leaders now choose to live in Canada? Mehran Gul is the author of The New Geography of Innovation. In this podcast, he says the obsessive focus on Silicon Valley has obscured significant innovative models being developed in other countries.
Manufacturing and industrialization have long been the development strategy for many countries in Asia. But while the approach has spurred growth and lifted millions out of poverty, most jobs remain in the untraded services sector. In this podcast, Dani Rodrik says that making employment in traditional, domestic services like food, hospitality, and gig work more productive will lead to a more inclusive growth model. Rodrik is Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School and co-directs its Reimagining the Economy program.
Today's South Korean economy is a far cry from what Ha-Joon Chang was born into. But growing up, he witnessed the remarkable transformation of a largely agrarian society into an industrial powerhouse, albeit under a military dictatorship. In this podcast, the economist and best-selling author describes living through South Korea's "economic miracle" like riding a time machine. Transcript: https://bit.ly/4gEDPfl Read the article in Finance & Development: IMF.org/FANDD
Asia has been the poster child for moving farm workers into urban manufacturing jobs to increase productivity, but is that model still the growth path? In this podcast, IMF Asia and Pacific Department head Krishna Srinivasan discusses his Finance & Development article, "Asia's New Growth Model," based on a forthcoming book.