FATF has acted against Russia, further squeezing it from the international AML/CFT system over its invasion of Ukraine, that as of October 17 had killed 6,306 civilians (UN figures). The global AML body’s latest plenary meeting highlighted the “needless loss of life, suffering and destruction” caused by the invasion, with Russia violating “FATF’s core principles [on] the security, safety and the integrity of the financial system”.…

A lack of reliable data across Africa has weakened policies to improve higher education across the continent, development experts argue. They claim the problem is compromising the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) (1) to leave no one behind in tertiary education by 2030, even though several local data development initiatives are trying to improve the flow of useful statistics.…

INTRODUCTION 

With the textile industry under pressure from consumers, regulators and standards to become more sustainable, companies are looking at all aspects of the supply chain – including upstream to fibre production. Digitalisation has a key role to play here, especially in supplier countries where the use of such technology is weak – such as in Africa.…

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a dedicated report, ‘Money Laundering and the Illegal Wildlife Trade’ in June 2020 (1) and has followed up with further analysis on a topic that is being researched in depth by a wide range of NGOs.…

Concerns continue to be raised about the negative impact of the used-clothing trade with sub-Saharan Africa, hobbling the development of the region’s clothing and textile sector, although some experts warn its removal will not be easy.

According to the most recent UN data, the world’s used clothing exports increased from only USD2.5 billion in 2009 to over USD4.2 billion in 2019, noted Dr Sheng Lu, associate Professor at the Department of Fashion & Apparel Studies, University of Delaware, USA.…

INTRODUCTION 

ACCOUNTING used to be restricted to financially measurable matters of profit and loss; expenditure and revenue; taxes and subsidies; investment and liabilities. But the mathematical and statistical skills underpinning a solid set of books and filed accounts are today increasingly being used to measure the environmental and social sustainability of a product, input, production process and supply chain.…

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 NEED for a proactive effort to improve the teaching and researching of physics in sub-Saharan Africa, as a foundation for critically important scientific work, has been highlighted in a new report from the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and the UK-based Institute of Physics (IOP).…

Malawi, one the world’s largest producer of burley leaf tobacco, is making significant efforts to reduce child labour within its tobacco left sector, but the problem is still endemic.

A key sensitivity is that Malawi’s economy heavily relies on tobacco leaf, which contributes to 52% of the total export value for the country, according to the Malawi ministry of finance 2020 annual economic report.…

Demand for paints and coatings in Kenya is set to recover this year from the impact of Covid-19 epidemic, being driven by the rebound of building construction and other civil engineering works that require use of paints, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has predicted.…