The Trouble with Africa is a major a new book on Africa calling for new approaches in the spending of development aid. It came out in the States last month and it’s coming out in the UK in July (though you can buy the US edition on Amazon.co.uk). The book is an inside look at international development and how - the author says - it has failed Africa. It aims to suggest concrete steps which Africans and the world can take to liberate talent and enterprise on the continent.

In our latest podcast, I talk with its author, Robert Calderisi, who has worked on Africa since 1975, mostly at the World Bank, where he held a variety of senior positions including Chief of the Bank’s Regional Mission in Western Africa based in the Ivory Coast (1991-94). He also served as the Bank’s international spokesman on Africa (1997-2000) and Country Director for Central Africa (2000-2002), where he was deeply involved in defending and supervising the controversial Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline.

The discussion covers issues such as aid conditionality, the Millennium Challenge Account, the role of the IMF, and more.

Running time: 6m33s