Global conflicts from the Middle East to Ukraine are reshaping how investors assess risk — and challenging perceptions about Africa.

On today’s Next Africa podcast, Tiwa Adebayo, in for Jennifer Zabasajja, speaks with Zain Latif, founder of TLG Capital, about why he believes the continent is increasingly being seen as a more resilient investment destination. He explains why sectors with steady, defensive returns are drawing interest even as global volatility rises. Plus, Emerging Markets reporter Ray Ndlovu discusses why Africa is starting to look more attractive to investors.

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Lesotho’s abundant water has become one of the kingdom’s most strategic revenue streams. Its landmark deal to provide water for neighboring South Africa underscores the growing importance of water diplomacy across a continent increasingly strained by scarcity.

In this episode of the Next Africa Podcast, Jennifer Zabasajja speaks with Bloomberg’s Andre-Pierre du Plessis about Lesotho’s push to modernize its four-decade-old water agreement for the 21st century, and then speaks with Olivier Cogels, Professor Emeritus of UCLouvain, and advisor to governments across Africa and Asia, to explore how water-sharing deals can adapt to mounting pressure from climate change and rising demand.

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The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is causing turmoil in energy markets, and is also hitting the price and supply of crucial fertilizers.

On this week’s episode Bloomberg’s Agnieszka de Sousa and René Vollgraaff join Jennifer Zabasajja to discuss why the Strait of Hormuz is so crucial to fertilizer supplies, and how energy shortages and rising costs could have far reaching effects on Africa’s farmers and the price of food

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After becoming the first UN member to recognise the breakaway territory of Somaliland, Israel is now quietly planning for a potential base at the mouth of the Red Sea from which to strike one of the Iran’s last proxies still operating at full strength: the Houthis of Yemen.

On this episode of the Next Africa podcast, Jennifer Zabsajja is joined by Bloomberg’s Simon Marks and our Israel bureau chief Ethan Bronner to discuss why Somaliland is strategically important to to Israel, what Israeli military presence on the horn of Africa could look like, and what impact it could have across the region.

You can read Simon Mark’s reporting from Somaliland here and for more stories from the region, subscribe to the Next Africa newsletter here.

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US Lawmakers have called on Nigeria to repeal Sharia law in the country’s north as they probe US President Donald Trump’s unfounded allegations of Christian persecution in the country. This follows previous unfounded claims from the US administration of a white genocide in South Africa. On this week's episode of the Next Africa Podcast Jennifer Zabasajja talks to Bloomberg's Deputy Managing Editor for the Middle East and Africa Neil Munshi and our South Africa government reporter S’thembile Cele about how Nigerian Christians and White South Africans have become a big issue in Washington DC and what impact it’s having on US African relations.

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Oil and gas supply routes are coming under pressure as the conflict in Iran intensifies, bringing fears of an energy price shock that could hit many African economies.

On this week’s episode, Bloomberg’s Energy Reporter Stephen Stapczynski and Bloomberg Economics Africa Economist Yvonne Mhango join Jennifer Zabasajja to discuss what’s happening to energy prices, and which countries in Africa are most exposed to an oil price shock.

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Cocoa’s stunning rise and its equally remarkable slump are beginning to shake up the longstanding way of doing business in West Africa, the region that supplies the bulk of the world’s beans.

On this week’s episode of the Next Africa Podcast, Bloomberg softcommodities reporter Mumbi Gitau joins Jennifer Zabasajja to discuss why cocoa prices have seen such a dramatic fall, how it’s changing the way cocoa regulators have to operate and why it’s leaving farmers in the world’s biggest cocoa producing countries worried.

You can read Mumbi Gitau’s reporting on cocoa here, and for more stories from the region, subscribe to the Next Africa newsletter here.

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Ethiopia and Eritrea are deploying troops and military equipment to the northern Tigray region, according to regional diplomats, raising the risk of renewed conflict in the Horn of Africa.

On this week’s episode of the Next Africa podcast, Jennifer Zabasajja is joined by Bloomberg’s Simon Marks and Professor Kjetil Tronvoll from Oslo New University College to discuss how tensions have been rising over recent weeks, how likely a conflict could now be, and what repercussions of wider war in the Horn of Africa could look like.

You can read Simon’s latest report here, and for more stories from the region, subscribe to the Next Africa newsletter here

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