Share Sounds presented by Juliette Foster

Sub-Saharan Africa is on course for weak economic growth by the end of the year - according to recent IMF figures. Regional GDP in 2015 was 3.5%, the lowest in fifteen years although it could shrink to 3% by the end of the year. The sharp fall in commodity prices hasn't helped especially for countries like Nigeria and Angola, which make their wealth from exporting oil. In contrast, oil-importing countries like Ivory Coast, Kenya and Senegal have seen their GDP rise by 5% or more thanks to infrastructure investment and strong private consumption. So what are Sub-Saharan Africa's prospects? Does the overall weakness prove the area's recent growth momentum has stalled? Alemayehu Geda is Professor of Economics at the University of Addis Ababa and he joined Share Radio's Juliette Foster in the studio along with Professor John Weeks, Share Radio's regular economics commentator.

Storyteller and financial journalist Chris Bishop speaks to Share Radio's Alex Clark, taking you across the continent of Africa from his desk in Johannesburg for the major stories of the week. On today's programme: Pravin Gordhan lives on. Fraud charges brought against the South African finance minister have been dropped, with the rand rallying on the news. Chris and Alex discuss whether this backtrack indicates political ambition lay behind the charges. Also on the show: a wage deal brings peace for South Africa's platinum industry. And leadership at Africa' largest food retailer is underoging a shake-up. For more of Chris's stories, check out last week’s episode: https://audioboom.com/posts/5199379-conversations-from-africa-gordhan-s-shadow

Investment Perspectives teams up with the FT Money Editor Claer Barratt to talk Serious Money - the personal finance and investment highlights of her FT Money section. On this edition, Claer and Share Radio's Juliette Foster look at Investment Trusts and why they're suddenly very hip. For more of Claer’s personal finance musings, head over to the Serious Money audioBoom page: https://audioboom.com/channel/shareradio-seriousmoney

Ian Forrest, Investment Research Analyst at the Share Centre, reviews this week's stock market activity with Share Radio's Juliette Foster. They take a look back at BT, Lloyds, and Whitbread from this week, as well as looking ahead to Shell, Morrisons, and Paddy Power Betfair.

This is My Portfolio with Lord Lee, our weekly look at investment decisions from the perspective of both the investor and the invested side by side. As ever, our investor is weekly FT columnist Lord John Lee. He is also author of the book 'How to Make a Million Slowly: My Guiding Principles from a Lifetime of Successful Investing'. This week, our invested is Daemmon Reeve, CEO of Treatt - a company Lord Lee has invested in. He joined Lord Lee and Share Radio's Juliette Foster in the studio. If you are interested in this sector, do check out some of our older interviews here: https://audioboom.com/channel/shareradio-smallcapinvestors

When does the irrational exuberance of markets lead to asset price bubbles? A question pondered by Dr. Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, in December 1996. But the phrase "irrational exuberance" - a polite way of warning that the markets were in danger of overheating - turned out to rather be prescient. This was after all the dotcom era when anything with dotcom behind its name - no matter how flawed the business plan - was a licence to print money. When the tech bubble eventually burst investors took heavy losses while Greenspan looked for a way through the morass. The markets gradually picked up, money flowed in and the public felt rich: Alan Greenspan had worked his magic and restored America's Feel Good factor. When he retired in 2006 he was lauded as a genius, a tough act to follow...yet when the global financial crisis erupted, the fault lines were traced back to him. The hero was now a villain! So why did it go wrong? Sebastian Mallaby is a journalist and author of the book 'The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan'. He joined Share Radio's Juliette Foster in the studio.

The situation for many African countries has been buffered by the dramatic fall in commodity prices or China's economic slowdown. For example Nigeria, which draws the bulk of its wealth from oil revenue, has seen its economy slip into recession following the drop in the price of crude. The irony is that nearly a decade ago many Sub Saharan African countries were thriving as developed economies wrestled with the fallout of the 2008 global financial crisis. So why have African countries fallen off the rails and what do they need to do to get back on track? Doctor Howard Stein is a Professor in Afro American and African Studies at the University of Michigan. He joined Share Radio's Juliette Foster in the studio with Professor John Weeks, Share Radio's regular economics commentator.

Our Responsible Investment Show aims to help investors understand the complexities of being involved, to disprove some of the common misconceptions, and to raise attention to the pressing investment issues of our time. On this episode: Share Radio's Juliette Foster tackles cyber-crime with Thomas Fitzgerald, Associate Fund Manager at Eden Tree Investment Management. And Share Radio's Alex Clark investigates how renewable energy has fared in the last year with Paolo Frankl, Head of the International Energy Agency's Renewables Division.

Want to keep up with the latest earnings updates from the States? We join Chris Hill and the Motley Fool Radio Show team here on Share Radio - direct from Washington DC each Monday at 2 o'clock for news, views and analysis of US stock markets. On today's episode: Microsoft profits outdo expectations, pizza & donuts, and Chris speaks to Roger Lowenstein about his new book 'America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve'

Storyteller and financial journalist Chris Bishop speaks to Share Radio's Alex Clark to take you across the continent of Africa from his desk in Johannesburg. On today's programme: Pravin Gordhan prepares to deliver his mid-term budget for South Africa under the shadow of court summons. If the possibility of fraud charges for a Finance Minister weren't enough, the African National Congress elites are also facing resignation calls from the ruling party's Chief Whip. Also on the show: Chris and Alex return to the Congo's constitutional crisis. And Chris tells the story of South Africa's illegal gold miners. For more stories from Chris, check out last week’s episode: https://audioboom.com/posts/5172593-conversations-from-africa-gordhan-faces-fraud-charges