On the eve of the 2022 World Cup Final Sam Fenwick speaks to former professional footballer, Patrice Evra. He made more than 80 appearances for the French national side including captaining his team in the 2010 World Cup which took place in South Africa.

Evra became a multimillionaire playing for teams like Monaco, Manchester United, Juventus and Marseille. He grew up in a poor part of Paris and talks about how this helped motivate him to succeed.

He reflects on player salaries and tells us about what’s he’s doing to make a living since retiring from football in the summer of 2019.

Presenter / producer: Sam Fenwick Image: Patrice Evra playing for Manchester United in 2014; Credit: Getty

Franziska Trautmann and Max Steitz decided to start a recycling project in New Orleans after realising the city sent all its glass to landfill. Now their social enterprise Glass Half Full diverts hundreds of tonnes from landfill and is using the material to help shore up Louisiana’s eroding coastline.

Franziska tells us how they are expanding the project and we hear from one of their first business customers. We also find out why gaps in the recycling system mean the city’s waste glass can’t easily be turned back into new bottles.

Producer/presenter: James Graham

(Photo: Franziska Trautman and Max Steitz at their base in New Orleans. Credit: Glass Half Full)

In this episode of Business Daily we get on board The Ocean Viking, a migrant rescue boat operated by the non-governmental organisations SOS Méditerranée and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

The boat has recently been at the centre of a diplomatic row having been denied permission to dock by the Italian authorities and instead having to travel to France so those onboard could disembark. The BBC's Frey Lindsay spoke to some of the migrants and crew on the boat over the last few weeks.

We’ll also hear from the former mayor of Lampedusa, Giusi Nicolini, on why she thinks European states should cooperate much more to deal with this kind of migration. Sophie Beau and Xavier Lauth of SOS Méditerranée also explain why politics, diplomatic rows, higher prices and compassion fatigue are all increasing the financial pressures on their operations.

Producer / presenter: Frey Lindsay Image: Crew on the Ocean Viking; Credit: Getty

Confederation of African Football, CAF, with the backing of FIFA, has launched a new Super League aimed at injecting much-needed funds to clubs on the continent. CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe promised that the tournament, due to start in 2023, would financially transform African football with $100 million on offer in prize money alone. But, as Ivana Davidovic finds out, there are more questions than answers for many involved in the game on the continent.

The owner of Cape Town City, John Comitis, says that they are in the dark about how the new competition would work in practice and that South African Premier Soccer League, where they were the runners-up last season, would be badly affected by the new Super League.

Nigerian football journalist and the former member of the dissolved FIFA Task Force Against Racism, Osasu Obayiuwana is worried that there are no clear plans where the money would come from for the Super League nor how teams could travel regularly across the vast continent. He also warns that a big problem would be the lack of interest in pan-African club tournaments from broadcasters and sponsors, as it is difficult for many Africans to regularly follow on TV what is happening in football leagues across the continent.

However, the legendary South African striker, UEFA Champions League winner and the current Manchester United first team coach Benni McCarthy believes that the Super League would boost standards across Africa, helping young players compete with the best from around the world.

Produced and presented by Ivana Davidovic

(Image: Mohamed el-Shenawy holds the winner's trophy after the CAF Super Cup Final between El Ahly and Raja Casablanca at Al Rayyan Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on December 22, 2021. Photo credit: Mohammed Dabbous/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Theo Leggett meets Nico Rosberg, who found fame and fortune in the fossil-fuelled world of F1, but is now reinventing himself as a champion of green technology. As a driver he reached the pinnacle of world motorsport, taking the F1 title in the final race of 2016, and then retired just days afterwards.

Nico tells Theo just what it takes to become a world champion in the white heat of motorsport and how those skills are now being used on a new mission, to protect the planet.

Presenter/producer: Theo Leggett

(Photo: Nico Rosberg of Germany and Mercedes GP celebrates after securing the F1 World Drivers Championship during the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix. Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

How do you clean the world's oceans of plastic? 10 years ago, when he was just 18, Dutchman Boyan Slat thought he knew how to do it, and set out his vision at TED talk.

The journey from theory to reality has proved difficult, but he is now extracting plastic from the Pacific and a number of rivers around the world. We speak to Boyan about the scale of the task at hand. Is it even an achievable goal? How is he raising enough money? What does he make of the accusation he’s helping multi-nationals ‘greenwash’ their reputations by taking sponsorship cash?

Presenter/producer: James Graham Image: Boyan Slat on a plastic-strewn beach in Honduras (Credit: The Ocean Cleanup)

Many communities in Pakistan were completely destroyed when vast areas of the country were hit by catastrophic flooding this summer. 33 million people were affected and in this episode of Business Daily we hear from three of them. Bilawal, Sassi and Abdul Majeed all lost everything in the floods and are now trying to rebuild their lives. We also hear from the charities and business leaders attempting to help rebuild communities, including Jemima Goldsmith, former wife of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and current UK ambassador for UNICEF.

Presenter / producer: Emb Hashmi

Image: Flood-hit families in Sindh province, Pakistan October 2022; Credit: Getty

From search engines to chatbots to driverless taxis – artificial intelligence is increasingly a part of our daily lives. But is it always ethical? In this episode, Katie Barnfield explores some of the moral questions raised by new developments in smart technology. Leading researcher Dr Kate Crawford tells us about the powerful AI art software that reinforces gender stereotypes. We’ll hear from Bloomberg technology columnist Parmy Olson about the eyebrow raising conversation she had with Meta’s new chatbot. As driverless 'robotaxis' become more popular in China and the US, we’ll look at the difficult moral choices involved in their design. And how would you feel about AI that can read your emotions? We’ll hear why some companies have decided it’s a step too far. Presenter/ producer: Katie Barnfield

(Image: Robot using AI. Credit: Getty)

Middlemen are intermediaries who facilitate business interactions for a commission, but in Africa their role is more complex. Africa's middlemen divide opinion on whether they are predatory rent-seekers or invisible but ever present cultural brokers who are actually crucial to the economy.

We hear from local businessman Bola Omololu - based in Abeokuta, southwest Nigeria, and Tony Alabi an architect also based in Nigeria, in the commercial capital of Lagos. They share their experiences of interacting with middlemen.

Cocoa farmer Dimeji Green holds middlemen directly responsible for the dire conditions of farmers in the multi-billion pounds industry whilst Josephine Favre of the African association of vertical farming thinks middlemen are actually necessary for the economy to thrive.

Presenter / producer: Peter MacJob Image: Bolarinwa Omololu; Credit: Bolarinwa Omololu

About 1.5 million fans, a little more than half the population of Qatar, are expected to arrive in the tiny Gulf state for the 2022 World Cup.

Two weeks before the start of tournament, Sam Fenwick speaks to fans about how much they are willing to spend to support their team and hopefully watch them lift the iconic trophy.

There are concerns that fans have been priced out of attending this year’s tournament. The Ghanaian government is subsidising some ticket prices. It will be the first time many Welsh fans have had the opportunity to see their team in a World Cup, they last qualified in 1958. Around 3,000 are expected to travel for the group stages of the competition. Many have spent thousands of dollars on flights, accommodation and tickets. Argentina fans are also spending big to see Lionel Messi line up for his country in a World Cup, possibly for the very last time.

Presenter / producer: Sam Fenwick Image: Welsh football fans; Credit: BBC

How easy is it for a woman to start and run a business in Qatar?

In the past few years, there have been changes to the constitution and laws which have made it easier for women to work and run businesses.

We ask whether that’s filtered down to 'street level' or whether cultural constraints still restrict women.

We visit a project in Doha where Qatari women have set up a business in a cultural centre, and Sheikha Mayes bint Hamad bin Mohamed bin Jabr al-Thani explains the important role women can play in Qatar's economy.

Rothna Begum, senior women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch explains how things have changed for women in Qatar - and what barriers and challenges still remain.

Presenter and producer: Sam Fenwick

(Image: Women walking through Doha. Credit: Getty)

Will a boost in visitors for the Qatar World Cup lead to more visitors in the long run?

Qatar has spent over $220bn on preparations for the football World Cup, and there are hopes the tournament will draw visitors for years to come.

We take a tour of Doha, looking at the dow boats and some of the common tourist sites that fans will experience, and hear from Berthold Trenkel, COO of Visit Qatar.

We also hear from economists who think the strategy of hosting a “mega-event” such as this can be a gamble.

Plus Oman Air, which is going to be putting on dozens of extra flights so that fans can commute in for matches, tell us how that matches up with a ‘climate friendly’ World Cup.

Producer/presenter: Hannah Bewley

(Image: Dow boats in Doha. Credit: Getty)