Search Results for: South Africa

USA government human rights investigators and human trafficking victims in Myanmar have told Fraud Intelligence of how a lawless town on the border with Thailand has become a forced labour hub, where kidnap victims must take part in phone or cyber scams, or face violence, torture or even death.…

Increasing concerns that Europe is being left behind in artificial intelligence (AI) studies and applications have promoted a call for urgent and practical action by the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities. https://www.the-guild.eu/about/ This group of 22 universities from 16 European countries has released a detailed position paper as the new European Commission, which takes office on December 1, considers how to strengthen Europe’s AI position.…

The Biden administration’s September 6 (2024) decision to renew the suspension of Ethiopia from membership of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which once granted the Horn of Africa duty-free access to the USA, is forcing Africa’s second most populous country to look east for alternative textile and clothing investment and export sales.…

Nigeria’s paint and coating industry and its key construction sector partner are at a crossroads, balancing economic pressures with regulatory demands, in a simultaneous push for growth and sustainability. Recent developments highlight the complex landscape facing manufacturers, regulators and consumers alike in Africa’s most populous country (with 230 million people). …

Brazil, the world’s fifth largest country by size, with 60% of the planet’s rainforest, is investing in research to become an important bioplastics player, using its abundant natural resources. However, legislative obstacles are hindering its progress.

And there is plenty of room for improvement.…

Niger’s military government is insisting it has maintained higher education services despite international sanctions imposed on the west African country since the coup d’état of last July (2023). This has ruptured relations with western and some neighbouring countries, prompting concerns that Nigerien students might struggle to continue their studies abroad.…

Despite mainland China tightly restricting buying, selling, mining and holding of crypto-currency in 2021 (1), private holdings and peer-to-peer transactions remain legal and so the country remains a major crypto centre – and hence a virtual currency ML risk. Its largest autonomous special administrative region (SAR) Hong Kong is also pushing ahead with a fully legal and regulated crypto sector, with AML/CFT controls being rolled out.…

Lying on CVs, fraudulent qualifications, ‘polygamous’ home-based working with unauthorised sidelines, and insider threats to companies from such hiring fraudsters, are occurring more frequently in job applications. In countries that suffered higher inflation post-Covid 19, the resulting ‘cost of living’ crisis is considered a motivator such sharp practices, while qualification fraud is being enabled by the relative ease of digitally altering confirmation documents, compared to hard copy originals.…

Tanzania is now Africa’s second-largest raw tobacco producer after Zimbabwe, according to the country’s agriculture minister Hussein Bashe and plans are underway to increase production and leaf processing capacity by encouraging more small-scale farmers to engage in contractual tobacco commercial farming.…

Universities in Somalia are facing heightened alerts as the country’s security situation continues to deteriorate. While Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab has been pushed away from controlling large swathes of Somalia, especially in the country’s south, over the past 12 years, it has recently increased terror attacks.…