Search Results for: South Africa

International solar energy providers are finding business opportunities in Africa as national governments and their development agency partners try to foster growth while targeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG), which encourages access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030 (1).…

The sales and production of South Africa’s digital textile printing sector has largely rebounded back to pre-Covid 19 levels, but business is focused on small and medium-sized orders, with local finishers unable to compete on scale with lower cost Asian producers.…

The European Union (EU) food and drink industry is preparing to lobby to improve reforms proposed by the European Commission to EU packaging and packaging waste legislation. Industry association FoodDrinkEurope has said they will “require significant improvements to be workable”. In particular, the association is concerned about mandates within a proposed regulation that food and drink companies ensure growing proportions of their packaging be made refillable or reusable.…

South-east Asia has long appreciated the need to improve efficiency and sustainability in its finishing, especially as it seeks to compete with China, whose rising costs and supply chain disruption caused by Covid-19 has created openings for neighbouring manufacturing hubs.

Vietnam is a case in point, having long been a major textile production centre, and one that is expanding said data from the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) showing a 12% year-on-year turnover rise in 2022 to USD44 billion.…

A majority of African grown cotton is exported, but initiatives are underway in certain countries to bolster upstream textile yarn spinning and fabric production as part of efforts to develop the overall supply chain.

“Cotton production is expected to go up in the continent this year, by around 30% compared to 2020 and 2021.…

US imports of textiles and apparel continue to grow as the strong dollar makes it cheaper for American companies to purchase garments overseas, but this growth trajectory does not reflect the realities of the market, according to industry experts.

Data from the US Office of Textile and Apparel (OTEXA) (1) shows that US imports of textiles and apparel increased by 22.76% to USD114.787 billion in the first 10 months of 2022, compared to USD93.505 billion in the same period of 2021.…

The manufacture of technical textiles is in its nascency across North Africa, even more so in sub-Saharan Africa, with the continent having long been considered a low-cost, cut-and-sew destination rather than a production hub for value-added items. But due to the trend by European and US brands for near-shoring and diversification away from east Asian production, and the ambitions of certain African countries to develop a full manufacturing chain, the potential for making technical textiles in Africa is gradually emerging.…

Dyeing and finishing capabilities in Africa’s largest textile producer, Egypt, are being undermined by government import and foreign currency restrictions, forcing manufacturers to use roundabout means to source raw materials, say industry critics. Sectoral development is also being impacted by the drop in investment in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and a downward slide in orders since the middle of this year (2022).…

A cost-of-living crisis in Tunisia, where annual inflation rose to 9.8% in November is pushing Tunisian academics to emigrate, with Saudi Arabian universities being a significant draw – offering better salaries and research opportunities.

The country has been suffering from political turmoil and related economic disruption since President Kais Saied dissolved parliament and started ruling by decree in July 2021.…

International and Switzerland-based mining major Glencore has settled UK bribery cases brought by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), accepting a GBP280.9 million (USD314.5 million) penalty ordered by Southwark Crown Court, London.

This followed an SFO investigation revealing that Glencore Energy UK had paid USD29 million in bribes to gain preferential access to oil in Africa between 2011 and 2015.…