{"podcast":{"title":"Focus on Africa","slug":"focus-on-africa-160336","podcast_index_feed_id":160336,"rss_url":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p00gbjvb.rss","website_url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gbjvb","image_url":"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/3000x3000/p0fsb9dq.jpg","author":"BBC","episode_count":996,"summary":"Two essential stories to round off your working day. Explaining the news from Africa. Hosted by Nkechi Ogbonna.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-24T04:18:30.182171+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/focus-on-africa-160336"},"episode":{"title":"Benin and Niger push toward border reopening","slug":"benin-and-niger-push-toward-border-reopening","published_at":"2026-06-23T15:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/focus-on-africa-160336/benin-and-niger-push-toward-border-reopening","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/focus-on-africa-160336","url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ntndrz","audio_url":"http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0ntnbdm.mp3","summary":"Niger has set strict conditions for reopening its border with Benin closed since the July 2023 military takeover. Among them are a new defence agreement, greater transparency over foreign military activities near the border, and the creation of a joint intelligence unit. The conditions were outlined during talks in Cotonou, Benin's commercial capital between a Niger delegation led by Maj Gen Mohamed Toumba, a member of the ruling military junta, and Beninese officials. In The Gambia, the country is grappling with rising temperatures, coastal erosion, erratic rainfall, and growing pressure on communities that depend on agriculture and fisheries all due to climate change Presenter: Nkechi Ogbonna Producers: Ayuba Iliya and Blessing Aderogba Technical Producer: Herbert Masua Senior Producer: Keikantse Shumba Editors: Charles Gitonga and Maryam Abdalla","meta_description":"Niger has set strict conditions for reopening its border with Benin closed since the July 2023 military takeover. Among them are a new defence agreement,…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1379,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/focus-on-africa-160336/episodes/benin-and-niger-push-toward-border-reopening/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/focus-on-africa-160336/benin-and-niger-push-toward-border-reopening.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}