Ethiopia has inaugurated Africa’s biggest hydroelectric dam, a colossal feat of engineering that could power homes and industries across East Africa. But the dam is also deepening a years-long dispute with Egypt and Sudan over the flow of the Nile.

On this week’s episode of the next African Podcast, Jennifer is joined by Bloomberg’s Ethiopia Reporter Fasika Tadesse and our Cairo based reporter Tarek El-Tablaway to discuss what Ethiopia hopes the dam will achieve economically and how downstream neighbours Egypt and Sudan may respond.

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Botswana became one of the richest countries in Africa because it's the world's biggest producer of diamonds by value -- but with lab-grown gems soaring in popularity, the sparsely-populated desert nation is facing a social and economic existential crisis

President Boko has pledged to diversify the economy away from its over-reliance on a single resource, but the changes may have come too late.

On this week’s episode, Bloomberg’s Matthew Hill and Botswana-based reporter Mbongeni Mguni join Jennifer Zabasajja to discuss their latest reporting from the region, and what the impact of the diamond slump looks like on the ground in Botswana.

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It’s the summer festival season, and while Europe and North America are seeing declining sales and smaller tours - Africa’s festival scene is on an upward trend.

Eswatini’s Bushfire Festival, and Tanzania’s Sauti Za Busara are growing, bringing jobs, tourism and support for Africa’s music industry.

On this week’s episode, Tiwa Adebayo speaks to Maputo based correspondent Tavares Cebola, who’s been reporting on the summer festival season. They discuss whether the African music industry is able to capitalise on its global popularity and how the region's growing younger middle class are fueling the festival industry.

Jennifer Zabasajja will return next week.

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