The Africa Program Podcast
Unfiltered. Unapologetic. Insightful.
Dizolele Advisory | Reliable Sources, Trusted Analysis
THE PODCAST
THE ADDED VALUE
THE HOST
THE PODCAST
The Africa Program Podcast is the signature audio and video series from Dizolele Advisory — your gateway to sharp, unfiltered conversations about the forces and dynamics shaping Africa today.
Hosted by Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, the program brings in policymakers, business leaders, academics, journalists, and cultural voices for in-depth discussions on politics, governance, security, and the ideas defining Africa’s next chapter. This is not another news recap.
It’s a space for strategic insight — where data meets lived experience, and analysis meets candor.
THE ADDED VALUE
Africa’s story is too often told from an outside perspective, not with Africans. This podcast flips that script — providing a platform rooted in African agency and evidence-based storytelling.
You’ll gain:
– Context-rich analysis of current affairs, elections, and economic trends.
– Firsthand insights from African experts, reformers, and thought leaders.
– Deep dives into geopolitics, climate, technology, and regional integration.
– Practical lessons for policymakers, investors, and citizens shaping the continent’s future.
THE HOST
Mvemba Phezo Dizolele is the Founder and Managing Director of Dizolele Advisory.
A seasoned policy analyst, writer, and broadcaster, he has advised Fortune 500 companies, multilateral institutions, and non-governmental organizations on governance, security, and development issues across the continent. A former senior fellow and director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), he brings depth, balance, and authenticity to global conversations on Africa’s future.
Suggestions or guest ideas? Email podcast[@]dizolele.com.
The episodes
Unfiltered. Unapologetic. Insightful.
Welcome to The Africa Program, your essential podcast for fearless conversations and sharp analysis on everything Africa. Tune in for thought-provoking dialogue with changemakers, thinkers, writers, and leaders from Africa and beyond. Whether you’re seeking context, challenge, or clarity, The Africa Program delivers unfiltered insights and unapologetic truths.
Hosted by Mvemba Phezo Dizolele — storyteller, analyst, and founder of Dizolele Advisory — this show connects the dots across the continent’s political shifts, artistic movements, economic transformations, and security dynamics. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts — and join the conversation at www.Dizolele.com.
Sanctions have become a default instrument of foreign policy. From Sudan and Zimbabwe to Russia, Cuba, and Iran, they are often the first response to crisis. But do sanctions actually change behavior, or do they simply signal that something has been done?
In this episode of The Africa Program Podcast, Mvemba Phezo Dizolele speaks with Brad Brooks-Rubin, partner at Arc Torus and former senior advisor in the U.S. State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination, to unpack how modern sanctions regimes work and why they so often fall short of their stated goals.
Brooks-Rubin traces the evolution of sanctions from broad countrywide embargoes to targeted measures aimed at individuals, companies, and financial networks. He argues that sanctions are not behavior-change tools but behavior-disruption tools, designed to create leverage for diplomacy. Without a clear policy objective and the political will to target enablers, sanctions risk becoming a substitute for strategy.
The conversation explores case studies from Zimbabwe, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Iran, and Cuba, examining the role of financial systems, conflict minerals, outside enablers, and global power politics. It also addresses a persistent question: when sanctions are lifted, why do economies often fail to rebound?
A candid and wide-ranging discussion on leverage, diplomacy, political will, and the limits of economic pressure in Africa and beyond.