Podcast: Go Far, Go Together

Welcome to Go Far, Go Together;  the podcast from the Mastercard Foundation highlighting the issues we are trying to solve and the partners we work with.

Go Far, Go Together provides listeners with the perspectives of people advancing global development theory and practice: authors, business leaders, development professionals, entrepreneurs, students, staff of the Foundation and our partners, all of whom are active in education, financial inclusion, and youth livelihoods.

Our primary focus is Africa, but we explore best practices—and smart responses—to development challenges, wherever they may be found.

Go Far, Go Together is hosted by Roger Morier.

Episode 10:

In this episode, a conversation with Ann Miles, Director of Financial Inclusion at the Mastercard Foundation. Our fifth annual Symposium on Financial Inclusion (SoFI) takes places November 8-9, this year in Accra, Ghana. Ann looks back at the previous four Symposia and the discussions about how banks and other financial services providers need to focus more on clients in order to drive financial inclusion. There’s been considerable progress but, in a constantly changing world, more needs to be done. Follow on social media: #SoFI2017

Episode 9:

In this episode, meet Ngoni Mugwisi, a 24-year old Mastercard Foundation Scholar who has just started work on his PhD in Engineering Science as a Rhodes Scholar. For Ngoni, it’s a long and winding way from the small school he attended in rural Zimbabwe to the halls of Oxford University. The connection between the two worlds is found in a few words: the importance of electric lighting for education. Also in this episode, a conversation with Leesa Shrader, head of the AgriFin Accelerate program at Mercy Corps. Supported by the Mastercard Foundation, the program is a $25 million bet that the lives of one million smallholder farmers in three African countries can be improved by using mobile technology in a smart way. It’s also a peek into the future of financial inclusion.

Episode 8:

In this episode, you’ll hear a conversation with Brandon Edwards, one of the world’s leading figures in Human Centered Design. He’s been working in rural Tanzania with our partner Mercy Corps to understand better the needs and wants of smallholder farmers when it comes to financial services. How is HCD able to do that, and what lessons can we learn as we think about other development initiatives?

Episode #7

Yasmina McCarty, Head of the Mobile for Development unit at GSMA, the industry association, says more people in developing countries have greater access to more mobile phones than ever before. The question becomes: how can that improve their lives, especially for women, poor people, and rural families?

Sandi Roberts is Program Manager at the Smallholder Development Unit of AgDevCo. She’s on the front lines in Africa, working with agribusinesses to help improve their operations so that they, in turn, can create jobs, improve food security, and boost the prosperity of the millions of smallholder farmers they work with. In this interview, Sandi Roberts explains how helping agribusinesses in Africa can help smallholder farmers produce more and increase their incomes.

Episode #6

In this episode, a conversation with Francis Arinaitwe, a young farmer from Uganda who is angry. He wants people making policy to pay more attention to younger farmers across the continent. If Africa is to make careers in agriculture more attractive to young people looking for a livelihood, this message will have to be heard.

What does it take for young people looking for work to get ready for the labour markets they are about to enter? Not that much, says Maryana Iskander, CEO of the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator in South Africa. But job-seekers need to better understand the world of work, and employers need to better know what they’re looking for.

Episode #5

In this episode, Tricia Williams, co-author of ” Invisible Lives: Understanding Youth Livelihoods in Ghana and Uganda,” looks between the lines of this path-breaking report. In her view, the international development community may need a major rethink of its programs promoting employment for young people.

Also, listen to an interview with Willy Foote, visionary founder and CEO of Root Capital. In northern Senegal to visit agricultural projects, Foote explains his company’s philosophy on impact investing, and the role it plays in development finance.

Episode #4

Listen to a conversation with Ritah Arishaba and Alpha Ngwenya, two MasterCard Foundation Scholars studying at Arizona State University in Phoenix. They’re among more than 22,500 talented young people from Africa who have received a full scholarship to attend secondary school or university. Ritah and Alpha, however, are getting an education beyond the classroom: they’ve founded a charity in the Phoenix area, Strong Women, Strong Love, that is teaching them life lessons they’ll also take back to Africa.

Episode #3

This episode features a conversation with Prabhat Labh, a Program Manager at the Foundation who has just left to become the CEO of Grameen Foundation India. In his five years at the Foundation, Prabhat worked primarily on advancing financial inclusion, in particular by developing savings groups in Africa. In addition to the interview with him, you can explore a blog he wrote in 2015 or see his LinkedIn profile for insights on related topics.

Episode #2

Young. Rural. African. Woman. Four titles that Laetitia Mukungu proudly carries, inspiring others to dream big.

Meet Laetitia Mukungu, founder of the Africa Rabbit Centre, and icon of young African agripreneurship. Laetitia has been recognized for her creativity, ambition and determination to make a difference in the lives of rural women and young people. Rabbit stew, anyone? Read Laetitia’s blog from Young Africa Works 2017.

The Fund for Rural Prosperity: New, smart ideas to move money to Africa’s smallholder farmers

The road to prosperity in Africa passes through the continent’s farms, but smallholder farmers need a lot of capital to raise their productivity. Wambui Chege is Manager of The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity – she talks about how the Fund operates and what it’s achieved so far.

Episode #1

Digital Finance:   What M-Pesa can teach the rest of the world

Chris Locke, Founder of Caribou Digital, surveys digital financial inclusion in Africa. He looks back to the advent of M-Pesa and the revolution in digital financing that it has spawned. He also speculates about an Africa without cash.

Young Africa Works: Youth are leadi ng agricultural transformation

Meredith Lee, Deputy Director of Youth Livelihoods at The MasterCard Foundation, looks ahead to the Young Africa Works 2017 summit .