Business Daily Folgen

The economic costs of school closures amidst the pandemic could be huge. 2 billion school days have been missed so far around the world, and millions more are to come. Experts are warning of a lost generation with many children losing key skills to earn their way out of poverty. Even in the rich world, this cohort could see their future incomes fall considerably. So are governments paying enough attention? Does education have to be the trade off for public health and the economy in the pandemic? We hear from Stefania Giannini Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO who tells us that disadvantaged children will suffer the most, whilst Dr Randa Grob Zakhary, CEO, Insights for Education says that different countries have taken different approaches to education during the pandemic with starkly different results. Nisha Ligon is the co-founder of Ubongo, Africa’s biggest EdTech non-profit, who has had a busy year filling the demand for home learning in African countries with limited access to modern technology. Plus educational economist Eric Hanushek, a fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University has been crunching the numbers on the impact on GDP and personal earnings for the current cohort of school children being locked out of school.(Image: School gates with closed sign. Credit: Press Association)

Is there a new piracy crisis afflicting Africa's shipping lanes? And should the merchant ships in the region now be armed? Four men boarded a Turkish-crewed container ship out at sea in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa on Saturday - they killed a crew member and took 15 hostages. Robert Peters, a senior analyst for west Africa at Ambrey, a company which boasts the largest number of maritime security personnel in ports across the globe, tells Ed Butler what happened. Ed also speaks to Munro Anderson, who works for Dryad Global, another security firm that specialises in shipping in the area who says he doesn't think the Nigerian government is doing enough to stop kidnappings in the region. But Amy Jadesimi who is the MD of Ladol, a free trade area within Nigeria's largest port in Lagos, says they are doing quite a good job. And Professor Anja Shortland is a lecturer in political economy at Kings College London. She's also written a book, Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business, in which she analyses how the problem of piracy around the east African coast off Somalia was effectively contained. Ed asks her if there are lessons to be learnt from that experience.(Photo: Nigerian special forces sail to intercept pirates as part of an operation in 2019, Credit: Getty Images)

Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Africa’s oldest and largest wildlife park. Since 1925, it’s been home to some of the last mountain gorillas on earth. But it’s also home to armed militia groups and an ongoing battle for natural resources. The park’s rangers regularly put their lives on the line protecting the precious wildlife and the Congolese communities who live within the park’s boundaries. Two weeks ago, six rangers were killed. Emmanuel De Merode, the park’s director – who also happens to be a Belgian prince – tells us his extraordinary story. Despite huge challenges he remains optimistic that renewable energy and job creation can help steer the region’s next generation of Congolese away from a cycle of violence that has caused so much damage.(Photo: A mountain gorilla in Virunga National Park. Credit: Thierry Falise for Getty)Presenter: Vivienne Nunis Producer: Sarah Treanor