Business Daily

Latest Episodes:

Business Weekly: 22/08/2020 Aug 22, 2020

Show notes

Protests have continued in the former Soviet country of Belarus this week and workers have started to strike. How will that affect the struggle for reform and what does it mean for the future of the economy? We hear from businesses there trying to plan for the future. We also hear how women have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Some analysts say the fight for gender equality has been put back 50 years. In Beirut, business owners are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives and livelihoods, following the explosion which tore through their city. They tell us their stories. Plus, how does a socially distanced concert work? We hear from the organisers of the first of these new type of gigs in the UK. Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Will TikTok find a US buyer? Aug 21, 2020

Show notes

President Trump has given the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok a deadline to sell off its US operations, or else he will have it shut down in the country. Microsoft and Oracle have been rumoured to be interested.

Russell Brandom of tech site The Verge tells Ed Butler that the extent of what's on offer is over-hyped. But Jason Davis, associate professor of entrepreneurship at Insead says a US-only version of the app would still have considerable merit. In any case, Sandra Wachter, associate professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, says the threat President Trump thinks TikTok represents won't go away simply by shaving off its US operations.

Producer: Edwin Lane

(Picture Credit: Getty Images.)

Sudan: Dealing with Covid and Sanctions Aug 20, 2020

Show notes

Efforts to get healthcare and support materials into Sudan to assist their battle against Coroniavirus are being impeded by sanctions on the country. Although many sanctions have been lifted, Sudan is still listed as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States, meaning many companies are barred from dealing with the country. Dr Husain Abuakar, head of the emergency department at Omdurman Teaching Hospital in Khartoum, tells us how they've had to make do without vital medical equipment, and his concerns about a second wave. Meanwhile, Dr Sara Abdelgalil of the Sudanese Doctors Union explains how difficult it is for her and other diaspora Sudanese healthcare workers to support their colleagues in Sudan, financially as well as in terms of information-sharing. And Madeleine Crowther from the UK-based charity Waging Peace explains how Sudan ended up on the state sponsor of terrorism list to begin with and why it might soon be off it.

Producer: Frey Lindsay.

(Picture: A man wearing a face mask in Khartoum. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Breaking the silence in Belarus Aug 19, 2020

Show notes

President Lukashenko has remained defiant in the face of growing protests at his disputed re-election, threatening striking workers with being fired, in a stand-off that could last a long time.

Even state broadcasters are raising their voices, as former state TV presenter Dmitry Kohno explains. Ed Butler hears from two leaders in Belarus’ burgeoning tech sector, who worry both for the sector’s continued growth, and their own safety. And economists Anders Aslund and Sergei Guriev question whether Belarus can ever compete as a market economy, or move away from its reliance on Russia.

Producer: Frey Lindsay

(Picture: Protesters stage a rally in Independence Square, Minsk; Credit: Getty Images)

African women and Covid Aug 18, 2020

Show notes

Coronavirus has impacted economies in every corner of the globe but there’s a fear it’s hitting women’s economic opportunities hardest. Tamasin Ford explores how women in Africa are affected. Lisa Kolovich is an economist at the IMF which is warning the pandemic threatens to roll back gains in women’s economic opportunities despite decades of progress. South African feminist and activist Shamillah Wilson says women’s voices are not being heard at policy level. And Tennen B Dalieh, a government worker and a feminist in Liberia says women and girls are bearing the brunt of the country's second pandemic in a decade.

Coronavirus: A disaster for feminism? Aug 17, 2020

Show notes

The impact of the pandemic on gender inequality. Tamasin Ford speaks to Lauren Currie, CEO of Stride and founder of Upfront - organisations focused on getting women’s voices heard - and Gill Whitty Collins, author of Why Men Win at Work, about how the strains of the pandemic have disproportionately affected women. Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo, New Zealand’s equal opportunities commissioner, explains why having more women at the table when policy decisions are made is part of the solution.

(Photo: A woman works from home while caring for a child, Credit: Getty Images)

Business Weekly: 15/08/2020 Aug 15, 2020

Show notes

In this week’s programme we’ll be looking at the family rift in Syria which threatens yet more turmoil for the war-torn country. Just why is the country’s richest man defying his cousin - the President? Is there still a free press in Hong Kong - and if not, what does that mean for its status as a financial centre? That’s one of the questions we’ll be trying to answer after the media tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai was arrested. We’ll also be examining the UK’s latest GDP figures, which saw the country fall into the first recession since the financial crisis. Why has the G7 nation suffered a bigger fall than any other major economy? Plus, we’ll be chatting to a couple of millionaires who tell us how they are far more frugal than we might imagine. Presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Destruction and corruption in Beirut Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

The businesses hoping to rebuild after Beirut's port explosion. Tamasin Ford speaks to Aline Kamakian, whose restaurant and office were both destroyed in the disaster, and to Joumana Saddi Chaya, managing partner at PSLab, a design company, who was also caught in the blast. Julien Courson, head of the Lebanese Transparency Association, explains why corruption remains such a persistent problem in Lebanese life and business, before and after the disaster. The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams tells us the strange tale of the ship that delivered the explosive cargo to Beirut's port, and the failures that allowed it to stay there for so long.

Producer: Edwin Lane

(Photo: Smoke rises above wrecked buildings at Beirut's port a day after the devastating explosion. Credit: Getty Images)

Does online networking work? Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

Conferences during Covid-19: Jane Wakefield explores the challenges that big international events have faced this year in moving events online.

She speaks to Paddy Cosgrave, chief executive of the giant technology event Web Summit, and Chris Anderson from TED. Plus social scientist Elizabeth Dunn explains why there is true “magic” in meeting face-to-face.

Producer: Sarah Treanor

(Picture: Woman on a laptop with a headache; Credit: Getty Images)

US evictions crisis? Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

Millions of Americans face loss of benefits and eviction, threatening to push the US into a deepening recession, after Congress failed to extend the Cares Act.

Ed Butler speaks to Maryland resident Sifu about her eviction by an aggressive landlord, while Alieza Durana of the Eviction Lab at Princeton University explains the broader impact of the lapsing legislation on tenants throughout the country.

Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute think tank gives his free-market take on the effectiveness of the Cares Act and President Trump’s intervention to keep some level of benefits going. Plus Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi says the political deadlock in Washington risks economic depression.

(Picture: Banners against eviction in Washington DC; Credit: Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)