Sustainability compliance is increasingly shaping who participates in global trade, and Africa’s cotton, textile, and apparel (CTA) sector is no exception. Recent trade analysis shows that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements are no longer peripheral considerations but have become…
Tuesday Feb 10, 2026 Introduction: Why Growth Rates Matter More Than Rankings In discussions about Africa’s cotton, textile, and apparel (CTA) sector, rankings tend to dominate the narrative. Lists of top exporters or largest producers are frequently used as shorthand…
The IMF Annual Report 2025 presents a comprehensive assessment of the global economic landscape marked by exceptional uncertainty, driven by rising geopolitical tensions, policy divergence, AI-driven technological shifts, climate-related shocks, and structural changes in international trade. Despite global resilience in…
The UNIDO report “Building a Sustainable and Inclusive Hydrogen Economy” outlines how low-emission hydrogen can drive global industrial decarbonization and economic transformation, particularly in developing economies. Aligned with the Paris Agreement and SDGs, the report stresses that hydrogen can reduce…
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has issued a warning about the escalating global tariff disruptions and their increasing impact on the world’s most vulnerable economies—the least developed countries (LDCs). Despite international efforts to double LDCs’ share…
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has released the Informal Cross-Border Trade (ICBT) Report for the fourth quarter of 2024, providing one of the most comprehensive analyses of trade flows occurring outside Ghana’s formal customs systems. Covering October to December 2024,…
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Annual Report 2025 reviews the organization’s activities in 2024 and early 2025, a period marked by resilience, reform, and new challenges in the global trading system. Key Highlights Outlook While the WTO marks its 30th…
Trade is the lifeblood of the global economy, but the ease or difficulty of moving goods across borders often determines how competitive countries can be. This is where National Trade Facilitation Committees (NTFCs) play a crucial role. Established under the…
Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) – 32 nations without direct sea access – face steep economic and trade hurdles. With transport costs 1.4 times higher than coastal states, 82% of their exports are unprocessed commodities, and GDP levels average 20% lower.…
Plastics are now a cornerstone of global trade and the economy, yet their environmental costs are staggering. In 2023, global plastics trade exceeded $1.1 trillion (323 million metric tons), with over 78% of production traded internationally. Alarmingly, 75% of all…