News
Fostering financial inclusion with mobile banking
Mobile telephony penetration in Africa has increased exponentially over the last decade. contrary, banking penetration remains low on the continent. This contrast paves the mobile banking's success in...
Published on

The renewal of African banking sector
Banking systems in Africa have undergone major changes in recent decades. The emergence of African groups and increased competition have forced the sector to adopt growth strategies based in particula...
Published on

Recycling and innovation in India: PerPETual Global
Each year, around 500 billion plastic bottles are discarded globally. Incinerating them or sending them to landfill increases the levels of pollution generated by the plastics industry. PerPETual Glob...
Published on

Financing waste projects, a challenging opportunity
Governments increasingly seek to rely on the private sector's involvement and financing for improving municipal solid waste management. But, private companies involved in that sector have difficulties...
Published on

Transforming municipal solid waste into a net carbon reducer
While municipal solid waste contributes relatively little to climate change, the waste management sector offers immediate, cost-effective and fast-acting opportunities to achieve substantial cuts in g...
Published on

Integrating the informal sector for improved waste management
In many cities of the developing countries, the informal sector plays an important role in managing municipal solid waste. The informal recovery of recyclables from the solid waste system reduces ove...
Published on

Linking public and private action for sustainable waste management
When it comes to managing waste in developing countries, the private sector can contribute technical skills, organisational capabilities and flexibility. Yet private sector involvement alone will not...
Published on

Cameroon own path towards municipal solid waste management
Cameroon's municipal solid waste management (MSWM) policy is based on a public-private partnership which ensures regular collection and processing service for domestic waste in the major cities. The m...
Published on

Municipal Solid Waste: turning a problem into resource
The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is not just a public service, it is also an important economic sector. The sector is worth USD 390 billion in both OECD and emerging countries, and provid...
Published on

Stimulating private investment in the forestry sector
Deforestation has devastating effects in developing countries. Managed sustainably, forestry projects provide solutions to economic, environmental and social problems by creating jobs, developing infr...
Published on

Preliminary feedback on FSC certification from an operator's point of view
In 2008, Rougier embarked on the process of securing FSC certification for its Gabon concessions and for its traceability chain (FSC-C017653). The decision was essentially a leap of faith: at that tim...
Published on

Forest management plans in the Congo basin
More than half the forests in the Congo Basin have been allocated as concessions, and most are covered by Forest Management Plans (FMPs). The introduction of these plans – supported by French cooperat...
Published on

Forest management by community forest enterprises
For conservation to be synonymous with development, local populations need to be involved in forest management. Traditional community-based forest management is, however, not without its drawbacks. Th...
Published on

Developping the forestry sector with carbon markets
Forests are vital carbon sinks. Although forestry projects dominate the voluntary carbon markets, they still occupy a marginal position on the larger, compliance markets. This is mainly due to their i...
Published on

Forestry assets in Africa : promising returns
Solid biological growth rates, low establishment and maintenance costs, land availability, and demand for forestry products make Africa an attractive forestry option. Typical emerging market risks as...
Published on

Meeting the challenge of sustainable forest management
Forests serve ecological functions (they regulate the water cycle, sequester carbon and help preserve biodiversity), social functions (providing places to live, a means of subsistence) and economic fu...
Published on

Refining trade regulation to support and stabilise local agricultural production in Africa
Rice and sugar production in West Africa is inadequate. Imports meet a significant proportion of this region's consumption requirements, undermining its food sovereignty. Trade regulation, if it is mo...
Published on

Africa at the heart of growth
The agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa is impeded by numerous constraints: production weaknesses, the difficulty of accessing finance, infrastructure conditions and the impact of the regulatory...
Published on

Challenges for agricultural financing
With state funding coming to an end, Ghana's Agricultural Development Bank is reorganising to meet the agricultural sector's needs more effectively – stepping up its strategy of specialisation, creati...
Published on

Village plantations central to sustainable agribusiness
Development of village plantations is a major contributor to the expansion of sub-Saharan Africa's agribusiness sector. SIFCA has instigated a strategy to assist outgrowers and in particular to suppor...
Published on
