Business Daily

As India is poised to overtake China as the world's most populous country, we put questions from World Service listeners to the author of 8 Billion and Counting. Dr Jennifer Sciubba explains how the number of humans is growing in some countries, declining in others, how people are moving around the world and why that matters when it comes to money and work. She also discusses the issue of fertility and birth-rate, and it's close links to factors such as government support and childcare.Presenter: Devina Gupta Producers: Helen Thomas and Carmel O'Grady(Image: A mother and child. Credit: Getty Images)

Japan is the world’s fastest ageing country, nearly 30% of Japan’s population is already over 65. Devina Gupta looks into what the ever decreasing workforce means for businesses in Japan. Many companies are pouring resources into developing advanced robots and artificial intelligence to do human work. Mikio Okumura- president of one of Japan’s largest insurance companies - Sompo Holdings, tells us his company has recently started using AI to analyse complex data to predict the health risks of individuals.Many small and medium businesses owners nearing retirement age are also struggling to find successors. Japan’s trade ministry has warned that by 2025 over half a million profitable businesses could close, costing the economy $165 billion. Tsuneo Watanabe, a director of Nihon M&A Center, a company that specializes in finding buyers for such enterprises tells us how they're trying to solve the problem.Producer / presenter: Devina Gupta Image: Senior citizens advertising in Tokyo; Credit: Getty Images

Bisi Adebayo investigates why so many young, highly skilled people leave Nigeria, known in the country as Japa.Bisi hears from journalist Victoria Idowu who re-located to Canada with her family and a teacher in Lagos who is about to pack her bags and move to the UK. We also hear from an expert in employment data Babajide Ogunsanwo who tells us how much this costs Nigeria and Wale Smart an employer who explains how tricky it is to find and retain staff. Presenter / producer: Bisi Adebayo Image: Graduating students of the American University of Nigeria; Credit: Getty Images

Italy’s population has decreased by approximately one million residents in the space of one year and forecasts predict that this is likely to worsen. Hannah Mullane speaks to a mother in Rome about what it’s like to start a family in Italy and a business that’s implementing its own policies to support staff who choose to have children. We take a look at what the government is planning to do to encourage more people to have children and head to the north of Italy to the Bolzano region, the only part of the country where births are increasing to see what they’re doing differently. Presenter/producer: Hannah Mullane Image: Melissa and Cosmo; Credit: Melissa Panarello

Devina Gupta reports on India's growing population and what that means for people living, working and running businesses there. 66 year old Radha Gupta and her daughter Aashima Gupta live in India’s capital city, Delhi. They tell us how population dynamics have changed their lifestyle over the years, and business woman Vineeta Singh tells us how she has capitalised on a growing number of consumers in India and how this is attracting global finance. Presenter / producer: Devina Gupta Image: Kolkata market: Credit: Getty Images

David Reid delves into the debate around the repatriation of problematic art and treasures. He visits one museum in the north-west of England attempting to decolonise its collection by returning thousands of items to the countries and communities they were taken from. In this episode we meet curators like Dr Njabulo Chipangura, from Manchester Museum, who says the best way to guarantee the future of collections is to give parts of them away. Also, Professor Kim A. Wagner from the University of London tells us the story of the skull of Alum Bheg, which he would dearly like to return to India. Is this ultimately the right way to treat problematic artefacts and treasures? Or could this movement end up destroying hard to acquire expertise and render Museums meaningless and economically unviable?Producer/presenter: David Reid(Photo: The skull of Alum Bheg: Credit: Kim Wagner)

Ten years ago this month, in March 2013, Venezuela’s charismatic socialist leader Hugo Chavez died and current president Nicolas Maduro took over.In the decade since, the South American nation suffered an extraordinary economic collapse – the economy shrunk by two thirds, inflation hit six digits, the government chopped 11 zeros off the bank notes, oil production slumped and millions of people fled abroad to escape economic hardship.We talk to Venezuelans who lived through that collapse, from a shopkeeper who went bankrupt to a university professor whose salary in the local currency, bolivars, is worth just 25 US dollars a month.We also ask if the worst is over and what the future holds for this once wealthy nation – a founding member of Opec that sits on some of the world’s largest oil reserves.Producer and presented by Gideon Long Additional reporting: Vanessa Silva in Caracas(Image: A Venezuelan man holding a Chavez/Maduro balloon. Credit: Getty Images)

AI chatbots are everywhere at the moment - but how are they being used by business? Business Daily presenter Rick Kelsey heads to one of the world's financial hubs, Canary Wharf in London, to find out how this technology is changing jobs.Sarah Kunst, the managing director of Cleo Capital, which invests in tech companies in San Francisco, tells us how some start-ups are using AI bots to deep search the internet, but also about her concerns with misinformation.Chante Venter is from Wise Move, a removal firm in South Africa. She has recently started using the chatbot for communication with customers and says that it's helping her team enjoy their work more. Rochelle Garrad from Chards, a coin and bullion dealer in Blackpool in the north west of England, talks about how chatbots can create content like blogs and YouTube scripts very quickly, but sometimes less accurately.Producer / presenter: Rick Kelsey Image

Arguably the fastest growing music genre in the world, Afrobeats artists are playing to sold out crowds in the most coveted venues across the globe.What started as an umbrella term in London, UK, to encapsulate pop music of African extraction has become a major force in pop culture.But is Afrobeats able to emerge as a major economic force within the continent and can it leverage on its global appeal to boost other sectors including fashion and the arts?We hear from the pioneers like Abass Tijani, one of the very first DJs to play Afrobeats in UK clubs and Ayo Shonaiya who created the first TV show featuring musicians from Nigeria and Ghana.We also hear from Weird MC and Paul Play Dairo – two artists whose experimentation of sound in the mid-1990s contributed immensely to the growth and appeal of the genre.Produced and presented by Peter MacJob.(Image: Burna Boy performing at the NBA All Star game 2023. Credit: Getty Images)

Antibiotics stopped providing big gains for pharmaceutical companies decades ago, but as bacteria become more resistant to drugs, the world needs new classes of antibiotics to be discovered if we want to prevent the next global health crisis.Dr Tina Joshi, Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology at the University of Plymouth explains that it’s more likely antimicrobial resistance will kill large numbers of human beings before climate change does. Kasim Kutay, CEO of the investment fund Novo Holdings tells us that for big pharma companies, antibiotics are seen as a contribution to society rather than an investment that can provide a profit. How can firms be convinced to invest in an unprofitable product? We hear how Netflix might provide a good model and we explore research in Phages - a bacteria specialised in eating other bacteria. Phages are being championed by some as a potential substitute for antibiotics. One patient in Minnesota tells us Phages saved his life.Presenter / producer: Stefania Gozzer

The hospitality entrepreneur Sarah Willingham has worked extensively across the UK restaurant and bar industry. She also featured as a Dragon on the BBC TV show, Dragon's Den (the UK equivalent of Shark Tank).Sarah took a bet at the height of the coronavirus pandemic that cocktail bars would thrive again - and is now CEO of UK-based hospitality group Nightcap, a rapidly expanding drinks-led investment firm which she started with her husband in 2020. The company has acquired around 20 cocktail and party bars across the country, employing more than 1,000 staff.Sarah talks to Dougal Shaw about the difficulties of entrepreneurship in lockdown, some of the current challenges facing the hospitality industry and about the imposter syndrome she felt earlier in her career.Presenter and producer: Dougal Shaw(Image - Sarah Willingham. Credit: Getty Images)

If you don’t like the way online speech is regulated, can you build your own internet where you make the rules? This is the story of Rumble, the new king of alt-tech. Rumble started as a small video streaming platform, hoping to rival YouTube. Recently, it has become the site of choice for Americans frustrated with YouTube moderation, and moved its headquarters to Florida - hailed by some as the new Silicon Valley. Rumble had been eligible for an economic development incentive grant as part of the move, but the package was scrapped following protests from some locals and Rumble did not receive taxpayer money. Now, the company is seeking to build the infrastructure for an internet ecosystem that is “immune to cancel culture”. In this episode, we trace the company’s journey from Canadian start-up to Floridian big tech challenger, and ask what this means for the future of public debate online.Producer/presenter: Ellie House Additional reporting: Annie Phrommayon Sound mix: James Beard(Photo: Person using phone

Abdullah lives in northern Syria. He is 14, he lost his mother and brothers to the Syrian civil war. For years now Abdullah has been working to feed the rest of his family, and he's just survived one of the world’s most devastating earthquakes. In this episode of Business Daily Ed Butler hears Abdullah's story. Abdullah works at the Harakat Tarhin oil refinery outside Al Bab in north-west Syria. It's a makeshift oil refinery and they make fuel to feed the cars, trucks and heaters on which the region depends.Oil is usually refined in massive industrial buildings, run by multi-national firms, but where Abdullah works it’s cooked in the back yard. He tells us he knows how dangerous his job is but that he has no choice and must carry on working. Presenter / producer: Ed Butler Image: Abdullah; Credit: BBC

Last month’s devastating earthquake didn’t just claim thousands of Turkish lives, it ravaged northern Syria as well. International help for that region has struggled to get through. In this episode of Business Daily Ed Butler looks at how the region is battling to pick up the pieces, and whether local business-people are helping or simply profiting from the crisis.Amnat Soueif, a mother of two, tells Ed how she's providing for her children. Elizabeth Tsurkov, a senior fellow at the New Lines Institute, tells us about conversations she's having with families in the region about their trauma.Abu Amer runs a vegetable stall in the Idlib area - he tells us how commodity prices have been affected by the earthquake and Bassam Abu Muhammad, a blacksmith, tells us that since the earthquake he's moved into making and selling tents.Presenter / producer: Ed Butler Image: A displaced Syrian child; Credit: Getty images

Without being able to see clearly, people in low and middle income countries can find it difficult to secure a job or support their family. Globally around one billion people need to wear glasses but do not have access to them. We look at what’s being done to help. Producer / presenter: Sam Fenwick(Image: Ankit Sharma; Credit: Ankit Sharma)

Ahead of the Oscars, Business Daily goes behind the scenes of a celebrity gifting suite. Before the ceremony and the parties, celebrities are often invited to hotel suites, usually close to where the awards ceremony will happen. The rooms are filled with skincare products, makeup, jewellery, clothes, shoes, bags, you name it. Celebrities can take the gifts away for free - all companies want in return is a superstar endorsement.In this episode entertainment reporter KJ Matthews finds out how this business actually works with Nathalie Dubois who has been running these suites for almost 20 years.We also hear from Nthenya Mwendwa, a designer from Kenya who's bracelet bag was recently chose by a celebrity at a gifting suite and worn on the red carpet. Hear what that photos and the exposure has done for her small business. Presenter: KJ Matthews Producer: Carmel O'Grady Image: Sharon Stone at a gifting suite in Cannes: Credit: Nathalie Dubois

We follow in the footsteps of a Viking Saint who's legacy is bringing visitors and their cash to remote areas from Sweden and Norway.More and more people are choosing to go on modern day pilgrimages, we walk part of the world's most northern pilgrimage trail to find out how businesses on the route are benefitting. Producer / presenter: Robert Walker (Image: People walking on grassland. Credit: Getty Images)

Oscar Bilayin Kudor runs a business in Ghana producing cassava flour. He wants to grow his business but traditional banks are reluctant to lend him the money to buy expensive machinery. 1.4 billion people around the world people can't get access to formal banking. Two thirds of them live in low and middle income countries. One of Ghana’s largest banks, Absa Bank thinks it has a solution. It’s giving small businesses grants to help them access formal banking facilities. Having a bank account makes it easier for households to budget and businesses are more likely to thrive. In this episode we also look at how digital banks are helping more people get bank accounts and why access to banking is key to empowering women. Producer/Presenter: Sam Fenwick Image: Oscar Bilayin Kudor; Credit: Oscar Bilayin Kudor

The digital health market is growing rapidly - in 2021 the sector was valued at 195 billion US dollars.Companies offer apps and devices to monitor our vital statistics, our activity, our nutrition, our hormones. And those apps collect a lot of data about us.Presenter Marie Keyworth visits Web Summit, a large tech conference in Lisbon, to find out what is happening to this information.And asks how consumers can get the most out of health apps whilst feeling comfortable about data privacy...Plus Marie explores the aftermath of the Roe v Wade ruling which raised concerns that law enforcement officials could subpoena abortion-related data from data companies and women's health apps, to use in a prosecution.Eirini Rapti, the founder of the menstrual cycle tracking app Inne tells Marie how her company responded to Roe v Wade, and the impact it might have on international growth.Russell Glass, the CEO of Headspace Health which started as a mindfulness app, says they follow robust privacy and security rules, but a

How much better off are the better looking? A growing body of research seems to confirm that life is simply easier and more lucrative for attractive people. Labour economist Daniel Hamermesh has been studying this for years and says beautiful people do get paid more, have less difficulty securing bank loans and are typically offered more jobs, opportunities and perks.South African fashion model Marike tells us very candidly how her looks means she often gets things for free - meals, experiences, perks. She also talks about the role social media advertising plays in this. She says you can make millions of dollars through social media if you are pretty.We also hear from author Emily Lauren Dick about how unconscious bias around attractiveness and particularly weight can impact recruitment or promotion opportunities in the workplace. Producer/presenter: Deborah Weitzmann(Photo: South African fashion model Marike: Credit: Marike)