While the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is a shadow of its former self in the Middle East, it has spawned global affiliates and is still very much in business, posing ongoing terrorist financing threats.

At the peak of its power as a self-declared Islamic Caliphate in 2015, ISIS controlled around a third of Syria’s territory and 40%of Iraq, with some 7.7 million people under its rule.…

Higher education institutions are being warned they could be a target for money laundering, with fees being financed by the proceeds of crime, including corruption, which might also buy property, cars and other items for students.

The problem has been highlighted in a series of reports.…

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.

Nigeria’s National University Commission (NUC) has moved ahead with a major expansion of Nigeria’s private higher education sector, granting provisional licenses to 20 new private universities. The approval brings the number of private universities in Nigeria to 99, increasing the country’s overall university tally to 197.…

AFRICA is commonly hailed as the world’s next big focus of economic growth, but for the civil aviation industry, this prospect will require significant investment in new intra-African routes and related airport and ATC infrastructure. It will also require governments to remove immigration barriers preventing African air travellers flying to other countries on their home continent.…

NORTH Africa is a region where care for appearance, grooming and personal hygiene is integral to its cultural DNA, so while personal care product majors have a strong presence, it is maybe no surprise that local beauty manufacturers continue to bubble up with fresh ideas and products that capture the imagination of consumers.…

Brands delivering natural skin care, hair and colour cosmetics items are responding to the growing sophistication of consumers in West Africa who are increasingly looking to purchase natural products. Businesses in the region’s beauty sector say quality levels are improving, with manufacturing executives telling Soap Perfumery & Cosmetics (SPC) at the Beauty West Africa Conference, in Lagos, on November 18-20 (2019), that local products are improving, with aromas and textures becoming more sophisticated, and products being delivered in increasingly eye-catching packaging.…

A 2011 oil deal at the centre of a huge corporate fraud and corruption trial currently underway in a Milan court would see Nigeria lose nearly USD6 billion if it is not overturned, according to a report from Global Witness. Quoting claims made in the case, ‘Take the Future’ alleges that Italy’s partly state-owned Eni and Anglo-Dutch Shell knew that much of the USD1.1 billion they paid for a license to explore OPL 245 (oil prospecting licence) an offshore oil field in the Niger delta, ended up in the pockets government officials and did not end up in Nigerian state coffers, according to emails uncovered during the investigation.…

THE PERCEPTION of beauty and hence the design and supply of personal care products is slowly changing in sub-Saharan Africa as its increasingly wealthy middle class consumers take a more personalised approach to how they look. The region has a widely diversified consumer-base, whose varied tastes are pushing brands to rethink personalising cosmetics and personal care products like never before. …

As he took in the fourth Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week (ASFW) in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa last week, Kenneth K Han, managing director of Shints ETP Garment Plc, said he is optimistic over the country’s potential in the textile and apparel sector, despite many challenges.…