Indonesia’s drive to require pharmaceutical products to be halal-certified is gathering pace, but the country’s pharma industry’s reliance on imported raw materials for medicines is impeding progress, officials and industry players say.  

In October, Indonesia issued a government regulation requiring pharmaceutical products to be certified halal by 2029 for over-the-counter drugs and 2034 for prescription medicines.…

The halal food market and industry in Kenya, east Africa’s economic hub, is growing, say experts, although reforms in regulation and certification are needed to underpin the sustainability of this growth.

As elsewhere, said Eugene Jernigan, director of International Trade Policy and Development at the Action Green for Trade and Sustainable Development (AGTSD) organisation, that serves small businesses in Kenya, Covid-19 hit food service sales in Kenya, and that included halal outlets.…

Halal experts and animal welfare activists around the world are seeking common ground on how to keep and slaughter animals in the most humane ways possible. Halal certification systems that forbid pre-slaughter stunning as haram is becoming an increasingly acute issue for countries with strong animal welfare culture traditions and growing Muslim populations.…

Decentralised finance – DeFi for short -is a growing variety of blockchain-based financial services, such as loans and insurance, that can operate without central control from an intermediary. While some say DeFi will democratise finance and liberate the under-banked, it is also an increasing area of interest for anti-money laundering (AML) authorities, who rely on the existence of intermediaries to enforce AML procedures.…

Australia’s development of biofuel and bioenergy production and consumption has been hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic and some diversion of effort into researching and manufacturing renewable hydrogen in the past few years. However, this is about to change with the Australian government working on a Bioenergy Roadmap, which, as Petroleum Review went to press, was about to be released.…

Madagascar’s textile and clothing sector is recovering from the heavy toll taken by the Covid-19 pandemic, initially causing the loss of 11,384 jobs according to government figures released in September 2020, reflecting a steep loss in output. According to Madagascar business association the Groupement des Entreprises Franches et Partenaires, this initially resulted in a drop of 47% in apparel turnover in an island nation whose economy was already under pressure before being hit by a Covid-19-led recession.…

The Kenyan government is being urged to strengthen the country’s backward linkages in clothing and textile production to ease poorer Kenyans’ reliance on imports of commercial second-hand clothing, factory and shop rejects.
Phyllis Wakiaga, chief executive officer at the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM),  stressed to just-style how the textile, apparel and cotton sub-sector has been identified as a key priority, with the potential for high growth and economic impact.…

The executive director of the Chamber of the Textile and Apparel Industry, of El Salvador (CAMTEX – Cámara de la Industria Textil) has told Just Style how her manufacturing hub is seizing market opportunities growing as Covid-19 ebbs.

Patricia Figueroa, who has been in her job since 2015, also highlighted the challenges the Salvadoran clothing and textile industry will tackle in 2021-22, with CAMTEX’s help.…

Sub-Saharan Africa has natural resources that aids the development of renewable energy, it has lots of sun, plentiful wind, and much potentially sustainable biomass. With the development of small-scale affordable renewable energy technologies, such systems have been promoted by major aid agencies keen to prevent deforestation and excessive reliance on fossil fuels, that – even where they are plentiful, have not usually led to widespread economic development.

The Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated a revision of the island’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Law, partly to help paint and coatings manufacturers maintain access to the European Union (EU) market. The reform will take account of the EU’s planned Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which may levy duties on products the EU deems have been made with excess carbon emissions.…