Business and Government

While CBDCs hold tremendous potential in closing the financial inclusion gap in LAC, they will also encounter many roadblocks generated by cultural, social, and economic determinants. Central banks and other authorities will be tasked with no less than integrating the vulnerable and marginalized into the financial system.  Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) have recently taken […]

On 23 December 2021, Emmanuel Macron and Mario Draghi published an open letter calling for a reform of European fiscal rules. This was welcome political weight on a sensitive issue, which was to be discussed by member states at the technical level this year. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February has transfixed the […]

Our team discussed with Pedro Francke, former Minister of Finance of Peru. His designation was described by the Guardian as a “relief in Peru as moderate is made finance minister”.

Mandla Isaacs is an Edward Mason Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he is currently pursuing a Mid-Career Master’s in Public Administration, Public Policy and Management. He hails from South Africa. In this #APJChat, he speaks with the APJ’s Lead Interview Editor, Noah Asfaw, about his journey to Harvard, his perspectives on public service […]

APJ Online Editor Shambhavi Singh speaks with Soud Hyder, Founder of Chap-chap Go, about his transition to building his company and advice for other African entrepreneurs interested in digital entrepreneurship, on this edition of the #APJChat

In this #APJChat, Africa Policy Journal Editor-In-Chief Ada Ezeokoli speaks with Claude Grunitzky, CEO and Managing Partner of The Equity Alliance Fund, and Founder of TRUE Africa, about his journey as a serial entrepreneur, and what he hopes to contribute to building Africa’s future.

In this Africa Policy Journal Fireside Chat, Public Policy and African Studies Lecturer, Prof. Zoe Marks of the Harvard Kennedy School, explores the role of agriculture, technology, and entrepreneurship in harnessing the potential of Africa’s young people, in conversation with Right Honourable Dr. Saulos Chilima, Vice President of the Republic of Malawi. Dr. Chilima has […]

Colombians were enraged. On May 1st, 2021, amid the third wave of covid-19 cases, a national protest took place where more than 300.000 people blocked roads and cities for more than 50 days. Violence and death sprang on the streets, polarization on social media proved a cracked society, road blockages paralyzed the private sector, and […]

The economic challenges of COVID-19 have hit women hard. Job losses and childcare responsibilities disproportionately affect women.1 These circumstances are pushing a quarter of working women to consider quitting or working less.2 In a recent Deloitte global survey, 60 percent of working women questioned whether fighting for a promotion or raise would pay off.3 This […]

It is hard to overlook how unequitable the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines has been. The number of doses administered in the wealthier world has far outpaced the vaccination rates in the poorer nations. While people in the wealthy nations are gearing up for their summer vacation – all fully vaccinated, the poor regions of […]

In 2005, Pope John Paul II died, Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League, and the Dow Jones had not yet broken 11,000. It was also the year in which then Prime Minister Gordon Brown started a radical experiment to provide every child born in the U.K. with a long-term tax-free savings account or “baby bonds.” […]

One of the accepted horrors of the pandemic is that Latinx populations sustain a disproportionately high burden of COVID-19. Take the city of San Antonio and surrounding Bexar county, for example, whose population is 60.7% Latinx.1 Of the COVID-19 cases and deaths where race/ethnicity was identified in the medical report, 75% of cases and 65% […]