THE LOCAL

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners says that more than 25% of companies experience payroll fraud, with smaller businesses facing double the risk compared to larger organisations. Sometimes, it’s simply a case of human error, but it’s more often than not instigated by opportunistic and dishonest payroll administrators. A 2016 PwC survey shows that 69% of South African companies have suffered at the hands of both internal and external perpetrators, with 28% reporting fraudulent HR activities such as the falsification of employee benefits and the miscalculation of payroll expenses. The rest of the continent is just as susceptible to payroll fraud and local governments are common victims. The General Auditing Commission (GAC) in  Liberia  recently discovered that over LD$15m ($163,000) worth of national funds was lost to payroll fraud. An estimated LD$3m went towards salaries paid to presidential appointees who were no longer in the government’s employ. The payrol...

The  Global Finance  Digital Bank Conference convened in the same room where, in 1877, Alexander Graham Bell, a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), gave the first practical demonstration of the telephone. It was an apt location, given that computer networks are the core of modern communication. Just as Bell’s transmission of voice data changed the way we live, the digitization of data now touches almost every aspect of our lives—which is why we chose data as the main theme of the day. Paul Cobban, chief data and transformation officer for DBS, gave the opening keynote. He recalled that on his first day (in 2009) at the Singapore-headquartered bank his taxi driver quipped that DBS, then known for its bureaucracy, stood for “damn bloody slow.” Paul was asked by CEO Piyush Gupta to focus his attention on an agile transformation that would eliminate waste and save 250 million customer-hours per year. Today, DBS is ri...

The minutes of the Dec 12-13 policy meeting also showed officials believe the likely benefits of the recently adopted tax cut are highly uncertain. WASHINGTON: US central bankers are divided over how fast they will need to raise interest rates next year, given differences over the causes behind the low inflation and wage gains seen to date, a report showed on Wednesday (Jan 3). The minutes of the Dec 12-13 policy meeting, when the Federal Reserve raised the benchmark lending rate for the third time last year, also showed officials believe the likely benefits of the recently adopted tax cut are highly uncertain. While the tax cuts could boost spending, there are indications companies are likely to use the windfall for mergers and share buybacks, the minutes said. That is contrary to the arguments its supporters used to back the massive tax package. The Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee last month increased the key lending rate to 1.25-1.5 pe...

Enthusiasm for more responsible business practices in Africa is beginning to take off. Corporate social responsibility (CSR), ethical investment and good governance have long hit the headlines, but sustainability is gaining credence, as companies seek to improve their reputations and host communities demand more from investors. Broadly speaking, sustainable business practices are those that are economically, socially and environmentally responsible. They help to sustain viable communities, ecology and resources rather than eroding them for short term benefit. Sustainable business practices and CSR must penetrate all strands of a company’s activities. They cannot be shoehorned into a dedicated, isolated department; nor can they be considered synonymous with charitable giving or community support. Firms that consume a region’s resources cannot compensate for their activities with charitable giving and be considered sustainable businesses. The World Bank defines sustainable investm...

 LONDON: Europe's major stock markets rose on Wednesday (Jan 3) but gains tempered as new investment regulations were rolled out across the region. Investors have kicked off 2018 in buoyant mood as the world economy stirs to life and job creation, particularly in the United States, picks up. World equity markets had already fizzed higher on Tuesday on growing investor optimism, with the exception of key European markets, but some analysts cautioned over the outlook for the rest of the year. Regardless, Wall Street powered on with small gains approaching midday in New York. 'EUROPE CHOPPY' Europe also rose despite the introduction of so-called MiFID II rules, which seek to tighten financial market regulation to stop rampant speculation. Advertisement The regulations, unveiled in 2011 at the height of the Eurozone debt crisis and in the wake of the global economic meltdown, aim to curb speculative trading in commodities and to regulate high frequency trading to...

In recent years, the US has vigorously used drones against AL-Qaeda affiliated groups on the continent, and operates drone bases in some five African countries. However, in parts of Rwanda and Malawi, the buzz of an approaching drone now signals something rather different: the arrival of vital medical supplies. On 29th June 2017, to the wonderment of local children who congregated nearby, the Malawian government and UNICEF officially launched a drone corridor to trial the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for development and aid missions. It is Africa’s first drone corridor, and the first in the world developed specifically to address humanitarian challenges. “Whenever we flew the drones, hundreds of people would come to watch. They felt they were at the forefront of a new technological innovation,” said Michael Scheibenreif, drone corridor lead at UNICEF Malawi. With their harsh drone regulations and understandable scepticism, most African countries have been...

Offshore industries in Nigeria are afflicted by the ever-present risk of piracy, sea robbery, militancy and kidnapping. With the threat level showing little sign of abating, security companies are gearing up to provide crucial protection services. The ongoing crisis scenario that plagues Nigeria’s territorial waters has prompted a dramatic transformation of the offshore security industry in the region. The industry was previously focused on unregulated fishing and other low-level issues, but has now evolved to tackle combative security threats such as illegal bunkering, the vandalism of oil and gas installations, piracy, sea robbery, militancy and kidnapping. Behind this shift is a destructive bout of youth restlessness in the Niger Delta region. The predicament has dealt a serious blow to the oil and gas industry, leading to reduced revenues for international companies that operate in the region. Similarly, its effects have also been damaging to the insurance companies that cov...