This site requires JavaScript to be enabled. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings, or upgrade to a modern browser.

The Editor's Desk - Fri 23 Jan 2026: Musk’s Davos debut, Trump’s pharma squeeze – and Africa’s election farce

Loading player...

In today’s Editor’s Desk, Alec Hogg unpacks Davos’ shifting centre of gravity — from Elon Musk’s surprise debut to Donald Trump’s blunt warning that global pharma pricing is about to change. He then brings it back to home truths: what rising medicine costs could mean for South Africa’s NHI ambitions, and why Uganda’s “election” exposes the ugly reality of power politics in Africa.

23 Jan 5AM English South Africa Investing · Business News

Other recent episodes

BN Edge | Mulder: coalitions, the GNU and the case for an early national election

Eight weeks before the vote, Corné Mulder promised Alec Hogg a surprise. His Freedom Front Plus delivered its best result since 1994, but Mulder was more interested in what came next. He set out a three-party plan to run Gauteng's metros without the ANC, said it could be wrapped up…

10 Nov 11AM 41 min

Sean McLaughlin: View the coalition options in SA's municipalities

In his latest interview with Chris Steyn, Sean McLaughlin, the co-founder of Norsira, takes viewers on a road trip to cities and towns in all the provinces across the country to view the coalition options in a big range of cities and towns in the wake of last week’s Local…

10 Nov 6AM 41 min

Cheaper health insurance can look like a lifeline, but could fall short for a serious claim

Cheaper health insurance can look like a lifeline when the cost of living and the cost of medical aid schemes keep climbing. Medical schemes had an average contribution increase of 8.10% in 2026, and new entrants and current members alike are asking whether health insurance could take the place of…

29 Oct 5AM 19 min

BN Daybreak: Mashaba, Zille weigh in on Joburg standoff - plus Dr Iraj Abedian on the ANC's slide

Coalition talks had barely started, and the two people at the centre of the Joburg question were already telling different stories. Herman Mashaba told Alec Hogg he had phoned DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis with an offer: he and Helen Zille would both step back, the DA would lead Johannesburg and…

9 Nov 11PM 17 min

BN Edge | Dr Iraj Abedian: ANC slides in LGEs, Trump's midterm hiding, and SA's missed oil opportunity

While Namibia drilled its way towards an oil boom, South Africa produced court cases. Economist Iraj Abedian told Alec Hogg that the research needed to change that was finished years ago. He revealed the plan he drew up as a ministerial adviser to turn the Northern Cape into a petrochemical…

9 Nov 9AM 27 min

All episodes