Search Results for: Mauritius

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.…

A comprehensive study of 3,650 students from 55 counties worldwide has indicated that the expansion of online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has not reduced the attraction of moving countries to undertake in-person higher education in foreign universities and colleges.

Indeed, the study, by IDP Connect, part of Australia-based international student recruitment leader IDP Education, showed that 79% of students questioned were only considering overseas on-campus options.…

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has unveiled plans to upgrade its recommendation 24 on transparency and beneficial ownership, stressing how the Pandora papers leaks confirmed the ML vulnerabilities posed by anonymous shell companies and other pro-secrecy arrangements.  In its proposals, FATF wants all countries to ban the issue of bearer shares and establish a beneficial ownership registry, “or use an alternative system that also enables efficient access to beneficial ownership information by competent authorities”.…

AFRICA’s clothing and textile sector has been hit hard by Covid-19, with an emerging production industry being hit by falls in demand and disruption in supply chains. India-based market researchers Mordor Intelligence concluded in a report assessing the African industry’s prospects for 2021-5 that “disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic on global value chains and its impact on African businesses is already evident.”…

Mauritius’ textile and clothing manufacturing sector is expected to witness year-on-year growth of around 18.5% this year (2021) after suffering a severe Covid-19-related contraction of 28.6% in 2020. The National Accounts Estimates released by Statistics Mauritius in June (1) predict robust growth for country’s textile and apparel industry, which accounts for almost 50% of the country’s overall manufacturing.…

Eric Dorchies was appointed Mauritius’ Ciel Textile Ltd’s CEO last July (2020) at a moment when his country’s important clothing and textile sector was struggling hard against the impact of the Covid-19. It has not been an easy start to his job (he was previously the company’s COO) given the risk of the third wave of the virus hitting Europe, the company’s main market.…

The Mauritius clothing and textile sector has been assessing its use of technology to reduce costs and boost efficiency as it mulls how to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic in good shape to compete globally.

Avinash Goburdhun, managing director and owner of Wensum Ltd, a company supplying formal wear to the UK and USA, said: “More emphasis is being laid on the use of technology across the factories, with more lean production and supply chain consolidation to reduce airfreight costs.”…

A new Mauritius government plan designed to pull the country’s manufacturing industry into rude health after being buffeted by Covid-19 has proposed that the clothing and textile sector invests in the latest technology and uses it to leverage local design talent.…

Matthew Lamport could have been an auditor at a big accounting firm in his native Mauritius. However, he chose an academic career at the University of Mauritius, teaching for the past 18 years as a senior lecturer at the university’s finance and accounting department.…

Covid-19 has ripped through the economy of the Indian Ocean country Mauritius, but it has helped island business advisory agency managing director Sheila Ujoodha make her case to clients that risk assessments and contingency planning are important.

The owner of SmarTree Consulting (SCL) since she created the company in 2018, Ujoodha is busy suggesting how businesses can cope with the pandemic, through its services of internal audit, risk assessment and regulatory consulting.…

THE WORLD has become used to large leaks of confidential data from intelligence services and banks, but the latest dump, from the files of the USA’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) may have impacts beyond the unveiling of wrongdoing. Keith Nuthall explains.…

GRAPHENE, a form of carbon, formed into a single layer of atoms arranged in two-dimensional honeycomb lattice, has been hailed as a super-material – highly conductive (heat and power), strong, stable, and absorbent of light and liquid. It is the latter quality that has caught the eye of the petroleum sector, with graphene being used to help clean up oils spills.…

MAJOR European food and drink industry associations have asked the European Union (EU) and Britain to consider agreeing a temporary holding Brexit deal, preserving EU/UK free trade, once the current transitional period involving the UK follows EU rules, expires on December 31.…

THE COVID-19 pandemic has proved a mixed blessing for Hong Kong-based garment supplier Esquel. While export earnings have plummeted, Esquel has pivoted by adding non-medical use face masks to its product line, which it will sell under the company’s own label Determinant – boosting its profile.…

THE CLOTHING and textile industry and government officials within the Indian Ocean archipelago nation of Mauritius, say they are hopeful that a trade deal will be struck with India this year and that it will help build sales and capacity in this important African outsourcing hub.…

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.…

THE FINANCIAL Action Task Force (FATF) has said that Iran’s failure to implement AML/CFT controls means that member countries and their financial institutions should consider taking all the precautions mandated by its guidance for high risk ML states.

Its February 19-21 plenary said that Iran still needed to remove an exemption for controls on designated terror groups’ financing when such organisations are “attempting to end foreign occupation, colonialism and racism” – which is taken to include groups opposing Israel.…

THE MALAYSIAN government has issued a Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIB) Framework, which tells financial institutions of importance to Malaysia’s wider economy to hold minimum levels of reserves to protect themselves against troubled times. Mandatory ‘higher loss absorbency’ (HLA) requirements for listed systemic banks, ranging between 0.5% to 1.0% of risk-weighted assets, will come into force from January 31, 2021.…

The US-China trade war that has been hindering commerce since 2018 has hit the Chinese clothing and textile export sector severely, but companies that have invested in manufacturing sites outside China have been better protected, Esquel CEO John Cheh has told just-style.…

COMPANIES using offshore tax jurisdictions need to assess whether their strategies can be branded unethical, as well as illegal, causing them reputational as well as financial damage. They need to assess whether the risk is worth taking. Poorna Rodrigo reports.

The series of data dumps, such as the Panama Papers, and the recent Mauritius Leaks have continued to tarnish the reputation of offshore tax havens, but experts stress that properly used, a positive case can be made for offshore tax policies.…

THE GOVERNMENTS of Mauritius and Madagascar are intensifying their efforts to improve cooperation between the respective textile and clothing sectors of these Indian Ocean island states.

Mauritius officials stressed to just-style how nine major Mauritian textile and clothing enterprises have set up production units in Madagascar, helping boost the economy of this relatively less developed country.…

Just four months before Italy’s much-anticipated Formula One (F1) Grand Prix was set to roar through the Monza racetrack on September 6-8, (2019), a major arrest involving money laundering within FI was made in Dubai. Luigi Provini was handcuffed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emirate and placed on a direct flight to Rome, for questioning by Italy’s Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza – GdF).…

Gosego Motsamai, the new managing partner and country manager at KPMG Botswana, has blazed a trail by being the first woman to secure such a post in a Big Four firm within this dynamic emerging market country.

With 23 years’ experience, Motsamai still brims with passion for the profession and often works late into the evening to ensure deadlines are met, a tidy habit she has developed from her early days as an accountant.…

It is hard to avoid either a cosmetics store or an advertisement for one in Chinese cities today. A mind-boggling wave of new retailers set up by investment firms to cash in on the cosmetics and personal care boom are eagerly seeking franchisees around the country.…

IN its trade war against China, the Trump administration in the USA has added tariffs on a wide range of upstream textile inputs and fashion-related consumer products, raising the spectre of fraudulent rerouting of Chinese textile-garment products through neighbouring regions, notably south-east Asia.…

CORRUPTION saps economic competition that drives productivity improvements and grows emerging market economies – this is a key reason behind the establishment of the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre (CAACC). Another is the established link between the perception of risk from corrupt practices in a country and foreign economic investment.…

OECD SAYS 49 JURISDICTIONS WILL AUTOMATICALLY EXCHANGE TAX INFORMATION THIS YEAR

THE IDENTITY of 49 jurisdictions that will automatically exchange tax information in 2017 under a global standard has been revealed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD).…

DATA has been released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) that shows how African governments collect less tax as a proportion of their countries’ wealth than in Latin America and the Caribbean. Africa’s average 2015 tax-to-GDP ratio was 19.1%; compared to 22.8% in Latin America/Caribbean and 34.3% for the 35 richer countries within the OECD.…

THE MAURITIUS textile and clothing industry is facing tough times, with exports falling amidst unfavourable currency shifts. Clothing and textile exports by value to all destinations fell by 9% in 2016, according to the Mauritius Export Association (MEXA), which has noted such sales declines have been happening for the last five years in key export markets.…

SOUTH AFRICA MULLS REMOVING OVERSEAS WORK TAX EXEMPTION

The South African National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) have proposed a 2017 Draft Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill that would remove a tax exemption for South African residents working overseas for more than 183 days (at least 60 days continuously).…

THE EUROPEAN Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) is predicting that trade in clothing and textile products between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) will grow significantly once the free trade agreement struck between the two jurisdictions comes into force next year (2018).…

MAURITIUS has embarked on a comprehensive reform of its national corporate governance code, the island state’s first such change in almost 13 years. This programme has been welcomed by accounting and law professionals as an important milestone by the local business community.…

Sri Lanka’s cosmetic and beauty product manufacturers are becoming increasingly anxious over the lack of sales regulations, promoting significant volumes of lower grade cosmetic imports, putting local manufacturers at risk. 

Until July 2015, there was a specific authority to oversee cosmetic products being imported as well as distributed in the country.…

AFRICA’S economic growth means it does not just have more banks than before, banking groups are spreading across national borders. And while this can boost banks’ lending and savings security, it also complicates the job of regulators charged with ensuring such institutions are honest and solvent.…

The emergence of Brazil as a major economic power and highly promising market of 200 million inhabitants is luring Mauritian textile producers to foray further in Latin America’s largest national market. Indeed, despite Brazil’s ongoing economic recession, Mauritian textile and clothing exports to the country have more than quadrupled since 2012, according to trade promotion body Enterprise Mauritius.…

A MEETING of the European Parliament’s special committee on tax rulings has grilled multinationals over European Union (EU) member state tax rulings. The European Commission fears they have been abused by governments giving companies low tax rates in return for registering businesses in their jurisdictions.…

Regardless of the debate about whether China is losing its shine as a clothing source, brands will always be looking for a competitive edge in new manufacturing hubs.

Myanmar’s low wage garments sector, for instance, is poised for rapid growth. The country’s first democratically elected government in 50 years is set to assume power in April and several reforms have already been made to bolster the country’s appeal as a sourcing destination for international clothing brands.…

ONCE clothing sourcing was all about China. No longer. Recent years have seen a continuous decline in China’s export industry, especially in labour-intensive sectors such as clothing and shoe manufacturing, because of rising labour costs and an appreciating Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY or RMB).…

While many economies in Africa are growing fast, there is a consensus amongst accountants that the continent has to build its business reporting and administration to make sure this growth is sustainable. Indeed, the third African Congress of Accountants (ACOA), staged in Port Louis, Mauritius, from May 11 to 14, heard that this essential work is needed now, even as some countries remain marred by severe socio-political unrest, economic instability, poverty, famine and disease.…

Although Morocco’s garment production industry is well established, supplying giants such as Inditex, it is investing in capacity to compete with Asian rivals and new African competition, such as from Ethiopia and Mauritius.
As part of the 2014-2020 Accelerated Industrial Plan, the Moroccan government has assigned Moroccan Dirham MAD3 billion (USD304 million) for grants between these years for industrial small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with established supply chains and sales networks.…

Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL), the private operator of the New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has exited from the airport’s cargo business by selling its entire 26% equity stake in Delhi Cargo Service Centre Pvt. Limited.
“DIAL on 16th March 2015 has sold and transferred its entire holding…to India Infrastructure Fund-II [a private international investment vehicle]…and has received the total consideration of USD4.6 million,” GMR Infrastructure Limited, DIAL’s parent company has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.…

The United States’ African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) has helped boost many African countries’ apparel and textile sector, giving them duty-free and quota-free access to the US market. And while many are keen to see the act renewed before its expiration this September 30, some countries have benefited more than others.…

PLASTIC banknotes have been in circulation since their introduction in Australia in 1988 and their use is expanding. Counterfeiters beware. Alan Osborn, in London; Kitty So, in Ottawa; and Lee Adendorff, in Byron Bay, Australia, report.

FAKING banknotes is considerably more difficult on plastic than on cotton-based paper, and while printing technology improvements may aid forgers, central banks seem happy to avail themselves of the competitive advantage.

Plastic banknotes have been in circulation since their introduction in Australia in 1988 and the consensus so far seems to be that they do an excellent job of a key requirement – reducing counterfeiting. It may be that forgers will gain more expertise in time – faking is considerably more difficult on plastic than on cotton-based paper – but the initial reports from larger countries that have taken this route, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have persuaded the UK’s Bank of England to follow them.

Plastic banknotes have been in circulation since their introduction in Australia in 1988 and the consensus so far seems to be that they do an excellent job of a key requirement – reducing counterfeiting. It may be that forgers will gain more expertise in time – faking is considerably more difficult on plastic than on cotton-based paper – but the initial reports from larger countries that have taken this route, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have persuaded the UK’s Bank of England to follow them.

The Open University of Tanzania (OUT) is reaching out to higher education institutions in other neighbouring countries to establish collaborations that will encourage more foreign students to enroll for distance learning.
University vice chancellor Professor Tolly Mbwette said the institution’s board hoped to spread its influence regionally: “We are now the largest distance learning university in the region and our plan is to take distance learning to most countries in East Africa and those under the Southern African Development Community [SADC] by 2016.”…

INDIA’S beef exports continue to soar, while the new BJP-led government, whose Hindu nationalist leaders have in the past signalled opposition to India’s beef industry have yet to indicate plans to restrict the sub-sector.

Indeed, a senior official from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the ministry of commerce and industry told globalmeatnews.com…

Li & Fung Ltd may have been unwilling to discuss claims that it was considering investing in the country’s planned Athi River export processing zone ‘textile city’ but the truth is that Africa is increasingly a focus of foreign clothing and textile investment.…

Chinese investment in sub-Saharan Africa’s textile processing sector is creating new capacity for finishing, but progress is uneven. Whilst China’s growing presence in the region is far from universally popular, industry figures consulted by International Dyer across the continent were generally positive about the trend.…

There is nothing better for a financial professional to oversee the transformation of an innovative company from a small scrapper to a big player – and ACCA qualified Australia-based Paula Kensington knows how this feels.

She is CFO of Rubik Financial – a Sydney-based provider of banking software – whose revenue since the end of 2011 has increased by 200% and its share price multiplied, driving market capitalisation exceeding Australian dollar AUD150 million (USD140.39 million).…

While many companies may be looking for strategies to exit China as its as labour and manufacturing costs rise, that is certainly not the case for John Cheh, vice chairman and CEO of Hong Kong-based quality cotton shirt manufacturer Esquel Group.…

A SALUTARY lesson learnt by the western world since the financial meltdown in 2008, is that there is no easy formula for ensuring economic growth. Despite the resilience of the United States and European institutions, markets and skills, restarting the economic engine has proved sluggish.…

BARACK Obama seems ready to accept an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for another 15 years before it expires in 2015, but sub-Saharan African textile manufacturers might have mixed feelings.

African ambassadors in Washington DC have been under strict instructions from their governments to lobby the United States Congress to renew the law, forming an ambassadors’ AGOA working group led by Ethiopian ambassador Girma Birru.…

THE INDIAN Ocean island state of Mauritius has a good reputation within Africa for effective financial regulation. But the country has been criticised recently for excessive banking secrecy and it has been exposed to some high profile fraud. As a result, its anti-money laundering (AML) regulators will have to work hard to ensure Mauritius maintains its good name as Africa’s Mr Clean in AML terms.…

Knitwear companies on Mauritius have been inspired by the economic malaise harming their key European export markets to diversify their sales strategy by seeking to tap the key regional market of South Africa. It is now the Indian Ocean island country’s second largest knitwear export market after the European Union (EU).…

AT a time when the world seems increasingly led by lifelong politicians, it is perhaps refreshing to hear from a political leader who has a solid background in business, and such is former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Speaking to Accountancy Futures, he showed how more than half-a-century of business and public life can be brought to bear in financial and commercial mentorship.…

EXPERTS representing accounting bodies from around the world urged accountants in Africa to help reduce corruption and mismanagement in their governments through effective bookkeeping and auditing, as the continent moves towards sustainable growth. The 2^nd Africa Congress of Accountants (ACOA) gathered in Accra, the capital of Ghana, from May 14-16.…

AFRICA’S beleaguered clothing and textile industry could take advantage of a projected downturn in exports from Chinese manufacturers, but only if a wide range of reforms are implemented locally.   

Industry experts have told the Source Africa trade event in Cape Town on April 12 that if the difficulties currently hamstringing the sector could be overcome then Africa’s clothing and textile sector could thrive.…

Clothing and textile companies in Mauritius are looking to South Africa to recoup export sales, given European export markets have been weakened by the ongoing financial crisis.

“The South African market is rising… which is benefiting directly local textile operators,” said Ahmed Parkar, chief executive of Star Knitwear a leading Mauritius clothing group.…

THE EUROPEAN Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has proposed that companies wanting to use five coatings chemicals must apply for special authorisation under the European Union’s (EU) REACH chemical control system.

The agency has already decided that these chemicals are substances of very high concern – potentially damaging human health or the environment, and now wants to go a step further.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

WINNERS

Nike

Multinational sporting goods giant Nike made positive moves to shrug the bad PR associated with low cost sourcing, announcing it was "changing the rules of the game" in May, with a new factory rating system – the Sourcing & Manufacturing Sustainability Index.…

BY WACHIRA KIGOTHI, IN NAIROBI, AND WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

China’s powerful clothing and textile industry is looking for continued growth in sub-Saharan Africa, whose local manufacturers and brands are worrying about how to deal with the competition.

According to William Gumede, a senior research fellow at the University of Witwatersrand’s school of public and development management in South Africa, Chinese domination of Africa’s textile markets and its industry has promoted significant job losses.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN, IN BEAU-BASSIN, MAURITIUS

ACCA fellows can be found in many influential positions worldwide and in Africa, they are often the backbone of financial and management best practice, in many jurisdictions. That is certainly the case on the Indian Ocean state of Mauritius, where environment and sustainable development minister and ACCA member Devanand Virahsawmy belongs to the inner circle of prime minister Navin Ramgoolam who secured a second mandate in May 2010 elections.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN, IN PORT LOUIS, MAURITIUS

Mauritius has developed policies attracting overseas corporations through its growing demand for professional services. It offers job opportunities for foreign qualified professionals as the country is opening its economy.

Opportunities exist for accountants, finance and marketing professionals, investment bankers and risk managers business consultants in a booming financial services sector.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN, IN PORT LOUIS, MAURITIUS

Mauritius is considered as a newly developing country with a well-diversified economic base. From a sugar-centric economy, at independence in 1968, the archipelago, located off the south-eastern coast of Africa, is positioning itself as an economic regional player.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN, IN PORT LOUIS, MAURITIUS

Devanand Virahsawmy

*Fellow of the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants ( FCCA).

*May 2010 to present – Mauritius minister of environment and sustainable development.

*2006-2010 – secretary general, Mauritius Labour Party

*2000 to 2006 – assistant administrative secretary, Mauritius Labour Party

*September 1995 to September 2000 – minister of public infrastructure

*December 1995 to October 1998 – minister of energy and water resources

*1984 to 1995 – chairman- Fuchsia Limited (textiles).…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN, IN BEAU-BASSIN, MAURITIUS

INTERNATIONAL accounting firms are exploring opportunities within Africa, and are using the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius – a regional financial centre – as a stepping stone. All the Big Four: Ernst &Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG and Deloitte are already successfully offering their services to African clients.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN, IN PORT LOUIS, MAURITIUS

ACCA fellows can be found in many influential positions worldwide. And in Africa, they are often the backbone of financial and management best practice. That is certainly the case on the Indian Ocean state of Mauritius, where environment and sustainable development minister and ACCA member Devanand Virahsawmy, 62, belongs to the inner circle of prime minister Navin Ramgoolam, who secured a second mandate in May 2010 elections.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, IN BRUSSELS

SOLVING corruption and mismanagement problems in the African extractive industries would be boosted by the mandatory disclosure by companies of tax and revenue payments, a Brussels European Union (EU)-Africa conference on mineral wealth heard yesterday.

The continent’s paradox is that many of its nations are rich in mineral resources yet they remain some of the world’s poorest economies.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, IN BRUSSELS

SOLVING corruption and mismanagement problems in the African extractive industries would be boosted by the mandatory disclosure by companies of tax and revenue payments, a Brussels European Union (EU)-Africa conference on mineral wealth heard yesterday.

The continent’s paradox is that many of its nations are rich in mineral resources yet they remain some of the world’s poorest economies.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN

FUELLED by a booming construction sector, the Mauritius paints industry has been experiencing major growth in the last two years, with the island country’s two leading paint manufacturers – Mauvilac Industries Ltd and Sofap Ltd – experiencing significant boosts in sales.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

THE WESTERN financial system is undergoing profound change, of weakened trust in the sector, heightened tax regulations, pressure to curb banking secrecy and tougher regulatory compliance. As a result, the owners of legal and extra-legal capital who are looking for a safe haven for their money are starting to consider destinations outside the established offshore jurisdictions – the less regulated financial centres of the Middle East and Asia.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN and ALYSHAH HASHAM

THE SMALL West African country of Guinea Bissau has seen its share of bloody coups, and is known as a cocaine smuggling hub between Latin America and Europe. Continued lawlessness and corruption in the country helped forced the European Union (EU) to withdraw support from security sector reform in 2010.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN

THE FINISHING and dyeing plants of the Indian Ocean island state of Mauritius are feeling the pinch of high cotton yarn prices, putting profit margins under pressure.

"The order book of our dye house is relatively full as we have seen over recent months customers coming back to as they are looking for alternatives to Chinese producers.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

AS production costs rise and environmental regulations tighten worldwide, manufacturers in the clothing and textile industry are looking for ways of dealing with their production waste as economically as possible. That, however, can never mean simply choosing the cheapest option, rather the smartest.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN

Madagascar’s textile and clothing sector has been harmed by the country’s suspension from the USA African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). It lost these trade benefits last December after President Andry Rajoelina seized power in March 2009 with army backing.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN

The constant risk of financial crisis and economic malaise in the European Union (EU) is real and may have worrisome consequences for the Mauritius textile sector.

This Indian Ocean island state’s important textile and clothing sector has been dealing with the global recession in 2009, causing a contraction of 2.9% in output through a fall in demand from US and Europe markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) panel has refused to set an advisory limit for the intake of sugar by European Union (EU) consumers. EFSA’s panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergies has concluded in a comprehensive assessment of dietary requirements for EU consumers “there was insufficient evidence to set an upper limit for sugars”.…

BY ALISON MOODIE

THE SOUTHERN African knitwear industry has taken a serious knock over the past decade. Tough Chinese competition, a global recession and as regards the regional powerhouse South Africa – an overvalued currency – these are just some of its problems.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PEER reviews have begun assessing the banking and tax transparency systems promoted by the G20 group of nations following the international contagion of financial problems sparked by the credit crunch. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development’s (OECD) Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information will undertake the process.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUSSIA and Ukraine appear to have headed off an oil transit dispute that could have created a repeat of last year’s major disruption of European natural gas supplies. Moscow and Kiev have signed an agreement increasing by 30% the fees Ukraine charges on transporting Russian oil to the European Union (EU) – this alters a 2004 contract and the change had sparked a diplomatic tussle.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IF a global poll was taken to identify the best known international organisation, the Egmont Group would be lucky to get a mention, despite it linking 116 financial intelligence units (FIU) worldwide.

It is partly to raise profile that the group last June appointed its first chair, Luis Urrutia, who heads Mexico’s FIU.…

By Bill Corcoran

Confirmation that critical portions of the new Seacom 17,000km undersea fibre optic cable linking Africa to Europe and India have been completed marked a momentous occasion for people involved in tertiary education in South Africa.

As universities around the world have become used to fast and affordable internet access that handles large volumes of data, South Africa’s higher education institutions have been left to languish in the connectivity dark ages due to a lack of telecommunications infrastructure.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank is considering lending Euro 30 million to help design, construct and operate two sugar refineries, and related processing and storage facilities, in Mauritius. The money would go to the Indian Ocean island’s Compagnie Sucrière du Sud Ltée and FUEL Refinery Ltd.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE NUMBER of counterfeit personal care products seized by European Union (EU) customs teams fell by a quarter in 2008, compared to 2007, the latest European Commission figures claim. There were still many fake cosmetics, perfumes and personal soaps discovered however – 4.58 million items, in 2,134 cases however.…

BY PHILIP MCCORKELL, in London

QUESTION

London Mayor Ken Livingstone famously banned pigeon feed sellers from Trafalgar Square, while many Londoners and visitors to the city routinely refer to the birds as "flying rats". But do residents and tourists in London really hate pigeons that much or do some people think they are British urban icon?…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) has guaranteed US$22.8 million’s investment from Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd to rehabilitate Mozambique’s largest sugar estate, run by the Companhia de Sena, in Marromeu district.

ENDS…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) has exempted from its standard free trade rules for a further six years countries involved in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme combating ‘blood diamond’ sales.

Its current waiver was to expire December 31 and protects trade restrictions undertaken by participating countries preventing rough diamonds being exported to non-signatory states.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE REIMPOSITION of quota limits last year on some Chinese textile products has driven official overseas sales down, according to European Commission figures. During the first quarter of 2006, China saw an overall decrease in exports to the EU of minus 12% in volume, although unit prices increased by 9%.…

BY STEVEN SWINDELLS, in Johannesburg

THE FORTEEN countries of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) have their AML/CFT work cut out. Under-funded, lacking resources, short of political will and working in a region that leaks money like a sieve…it is a demanding context for the group’s daunting tasks.…

BY STEVEN SWINDELLS, in Johannesburg

ONGOING recruitment of South African nurses to the UK is pushing South Africa’s already hard pressed public health system close to the brink of collapse and putting patient care at risk, the country’s lead nursing union and health experts have warned.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has unveiled plans to lend Club Méditerranée (Club Med) up to Euro 19 million to construct, launch and initially operate a high-end beach resort in Albion, Mauritius. The whole project is to cost between Euro 48 and 51 million and should boost the island’s tourist trade, said the EIB.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THAT criminals abuse the insurance industry is nothing new for a sector routinely screening claims for hints of fraud. However, its managers have proved far less alert to the risk of it being exploited by money launderers and terrorist financers, a new detailed report has claimed.…

Keith Nuthall
CIVIL unrest could be sparked in smaller developing countries next year by the abolition of World Trade Organisation (WTO) textile trade quotas and resulting loss of export markets to Chinese competition, new European Union

(EU) trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has claimed.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SIX year fishing agreement struck between the European Commission and the Seychelles has reduced access for European Union (EU) tuna boats to answer criticism that similar past deals have been emptying developing world waters of fish. The new agreement with the Seychelles – lasting from January 2005 to 2011 – cuts fishing opportunities for tuna long-liners by 15% by 2006.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CHINA has resisted calls at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by its developing country competitors for special efforts to protect them from economic dislocation caused by January’s end of textile import quotas. Mauritius, Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Uganda pushed at a WTO Council on the Trade in Goods for a WTO secretariat study identifying the likely problems and recommending solutions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NOVEL ‘speed dating’ system at the first global ICT (information communication technology) forum for least developed countries, proved a success, said organisers. Held in Mauritius, potential donors, investors and beneficiary governments identified areas of common interest in one-to-one meetings.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi has launched talks with member countries on maybe staging an emergency meeting of the WTO council for trade in goods on the oncoming abolition of textiles and clothing quotas. He has been consulting on this idea, proposed by Mauritius, Bangladesh and Nepal, which want the council to examine the costs of adjusting to a global quota-free regime from January, under the WTO’s agreement on textiles and clothing.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) is planning to inject up to US$8 million into the Mauritius-based African Lion II equity investment fund to boost early-stage African mining exploration and development projects. The EIB wants to promote the “development of the small-medium scale mining sector in Africa”, adding African Lion schemes would comply with best environmental practice.…

Keith Nuthall
USA sales of textile and clothing made in sub-Saharan Africa have been increasing solidly as a result of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which promotes trade by allowing duty free exports of products into America. That is the conclusion of a new report from the US Trade Representative (USTR) office on the act’s influence on trade and investment policy towards and in the region.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MINISTERS attending a preparatory meeting for September’s Mauritius UN summit on small island states have called for a reverse in declining aid flows. Overall assistance for small islands fell from US$2.3 billion in 1994 to $1.7 billion in 2002, the meeting heard.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have been asked to approve a detailed fishing access deal allowing EU fishing boats access to the Atlantic fishing waters off west Africa’a Guinea Bissau until June 2006. Under the agreement, licences to fish shrimp will be granted to Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek vessels, with boats from Spain (enjoying the overwhelming majority of rights), Italy and Greece being allowed to take fin-fish/cephalopods.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A DISPUTE proceedings panel has now been established at the World Trade Organisation to rule on the legality of the European Union’s sugar export subsidies. Australia, Brazil and Thailand allege the handouts break world trade laws. Barbados, Canada, China, Colombia, Jamaica, Mauritius, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago and the US reserved their right to participate.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A DISPUTE proceedings panel has now been established at the World Trade Organisation to rule on the legality of the European Union’s sugar export subsidies. Australia, Brazil and Thailand allege the handouts break world trade laws. Barbados, Canada, China, Colombia, Jamaica, Mauritius, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago and the US reserved their right to participate.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
*A south-south project – backed by World Bank Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) will raise Burundi’s teledensity ratio above one per cent. It is guaranteeing Mauritius Telecom Ltd’s US$1.01 million investment in Burundi’s Africell GSM mobile network.

*An emerging international market in hosting regional and international headquarters of transnational corporations benefits developing countries, says the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); 829 HQs were established or relocated January 2002 to March 2003, nearly a quarter in developing countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
The UN Environment Programme says that within five years most African countries will be close to phasing out leaded petrol. Egypt, Libya, Mauritius and Sudan – are already lead-free, to be joined this year by Morocco, Reunion and Tunisia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WAY back when….last December….the International Maritime Organisation agreed a compulsory maritime security code for its member countries, covering ships and ports involved in international trade. Governments have to write the code into their laws by December 31 and shipping companies and port authorities are supposed to comply by June 2004.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union and its allies at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) negotiations over the creation of a global register for protected geographical indications in the wine and spirit trade have made a significant concession, which may be the basis for a future deal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union and its allies at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) negotiations over the creation of a global register for protected geographical indications in the wine and spirit trade have made a significant concession, which may be the basis for a future deal.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
A LONG-LIST of nine names was being considered this month (January) by the World Health Organisation as potential successors to Gro Harlem Brundtland as director general next year. Dr Brundtland has conducted a relentless campaign against smoking and the organisation may be difficult to elect a similar anti-tobacco crusader given the differences she has had with the US.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is facing a mass attack on its sugar export subsidies at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). They have been formally challenged by both Australia and Brazil, with the Ivory Coast, Congo, Madagascar, Columbia, Canada, Kenya, Barbados, India, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Jamaica, Swaziland, Fiji, Guyana and Mauritius expected to line up behind them in support.…

BY RICHARD HURST
MONEY laundering is all about fake respectability, transforming the seedy and ill-gotten into the legitimate and well-earned; so in Africa, where better to launder criminal money than through the continent’s most developed economy, South Africa.

Mike Savage, partner at Ernst & Young South Africa, said that the biggest problem facing African governments wanting to seriously tackle money laundering is to pinpoint the movement of funds that are moved across porous borders in a bid to cover tracks and conceal sources.…

BY RICHARD HURST, in Johannesburg
FOUR consortia have pre-qualified onto a short-list in a bid to modernise the main airport of Mozambique, namely Maputo International Airport. The project is estimated to be valued at US$13.6 million and will include an upgrade of passenger check in, cargo handling and the ground assistance to the aircraft.…

BY RICHARD HURST
USA President George W. Bush has approved 35 African countries as eligible for tariff preferences regarding clothing and textile exports to America under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), with Zimbabwe and Gambia being notable sub-Saharan African pariahs from the move.…

BY RICHARD HURST, in Johannesburg
THE UNITED States’ House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to double the quota of clothing and textile products that a group of African countries can export to the US duty free, increasing them from 1.5 per cent of overall US imports to three per cent.…

BY RICHARD HURST
THE SOUTH African government is reported to be considering a proposal by Zimbabwe and Mauritius for the removal of clothing and textile tariffs to be brought forward from the year 2006 to 2004.

The two countries have also asked the Department of Trade and Industry in Pretoria to amend its rules of origin, to speed up the implementation of the existing Southern African Development Community, (SADC), agreement.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE TIMING of concessions that can be achieved at the World Trade Organisation’s agricultural round, sweeping away the high tariffs, import quotas, production subsidies and export credits that make the working lives of every agricultural exporter more of a struggle, are likely to be set in the next three months.…

BY RICHARD HURST, in Johannesburg
THE SOUTH African government is considering a request from Zimbabwe and Mauritius to expedite the removal of tariffs on textiles and clothing imports from their countries. The existing agreement in the Southern African Development Community, (SADC), caters for the removal of such tariffs by the year 2006.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EU’s Scientific Steering Committee has advised that it is “likely” that BSE is present in cattle herds in Albania, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, that it is “unlikely” to be present in India, Pakistan, Colombia and Mauritius, and “highly unlikely” to be in the cattle of Brazil and Singapore.…