by Isi Esene

The subject of poverty is one that has refused to go away from time immemorial, but the menace has been all the more incongruous and paradoxical with the astronomical rise in the number of the rich in the world.

In this interview anchored by BBC’s Zeinab Badawi, a distinguished panel of discussants made up of former British prime minister Tony Blair, Oby Ezekwesili, former World Bank vice president for Africa and former Nigerian education minister, Vandana Shiva, a scientist and grassroots activist from India and the South African author Moeletsi Mbeki, discuss this unrelenting subject of global poverty.

In her contribution, Ezekwesili posited that “we must focus on the fact that there must be better distribution of the benefit of growth… if the poor are stuck in pernicious poverty the society sows a seed for its implosion.”

According to Shiva, she is understandably worried that “poverty is being created in the presence of affluence.”

Please listen to the programme here and watch the sessions which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa here.