Business

Forest Sector Employs 42m People Globally – FAO

According to the report, the 42 million jobs are distributed across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, highlighting the forest sector’s significant contribution to global employment and livelihoods.

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3 weeks ago

September 3, 2026

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• A farmer carrying harvested banana / FAO

The global forest sector provides employment for approximately 42 million people, spanning activities within forests as well as industries, services and supply chains dependent on forest resources, a new international study has revealed.

The study was jointly conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Thünen Institute of Forestry of Germany.

FAO said the new data provides an important basis for understanding the human dimension of forests, noting that previous estimates were hampered by fragmented data and incomplete country coverage.

“Until now, however, fragmented data and incomplete country coverage have left significant gaps in the global picture – and no breakdown by gender,” FAO said.

The organisation noted that discussions about forests often focus on their products and environmental benefits, while their role as workplaces and sources of livelihoods receives comparatively less attention.

“When we talk about forests, we tend to focus on what they provide – wood, non-wood forest products, raw materials, and the foundation of a sustainable bioeconomy. Rarely do we talk about them as workplaces. And rarer still do we ask who, exactly, works in them,” FAO stated.
The agency stressed that reliable employment data is critical to the development of policies aimed at building a sustainable and inclusive green economy.
It said internationally comparable data on forest-sector employment would enable governments and policymakers to better understand the people whose livelihoods depend on forests and develop policies that protect both workers and forest resources.
Beyond employment, forests provide ecosystem services that are vital to environmental sustainability and economic development. They also supply renewable resources that form the foundation of emerging sustainable bioeconomies.

Related Topics:Featured forest sector forest sector global employment data

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Airtel Money Targets October Listing On London Stock Exchange

Airtel Money’s parent company is Airtel Africa, a telecoms provider that is part of the Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises, which is ultimately controlled by the billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal.

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14 hours ago

September 23, 2026

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Airtel Money, the mobile money arm of Airtel Africa, has concluded plans to float on the London Stock Exchange in October.

Airtel Money’s chief executive, Ian Ferrao, made the disclosure Wednesday emphasising that the company would announce more details about the float in early October, including the indicative price range and number of shares to be offered, with final pricing to follow later in the month.

Airtel Africa had originally targeted a listing in the first six months of 2026 but delayed it to the second half of the year, blaming unfavourable market conditions as a result of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Several other companies also pushed back planned IPOs amid the market volatility caused by the conflict.

The company is hoping to raise about $800m (£601m) from the initial public offering (IPO) and is targeting a valuation of $8bn to $9bn, which would make it one of London’s largest listings in recent years.

Airtel Money has 53 million monthly active users across 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Uganda, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It operates through a network of branches and kiosks, which enable customers to load money on to their phones, withdraw cash and access other money services, and the company generated revenues of just under $1.4bn in the last financial year.

Business

Cardoso Says Multiple FX Windows Cost Nigeria 3% of GDP, Higher Than Fuel Subsidy

Before the CBN introduced FX reforms in 2023 to unify exchange rates, Nigeria had different channels through which dollars could be bought and sold. Different rates applied to different users and transactions.

Published

19 hours ago

September 23, 2026

OCHEFA

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Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso has estimated that Nigeria lost about three per cent of its gross domestic product to multiple foreign exchange windows.

Mr Cardoso spoke in Abuja on Tuesday while answering questions after the 307th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.

He put the losses from the fuel subsidy regime at about 2.2 per cent of GDP, meaning the two distortions together cost the country roughly 5.2 per cent of GDP.

The committee cut the benchmark Monetary Policy Rate to 23 per cent from 26.5 per cent, a decision the governor described as an important operational realignment aimed at strengthening monetary policy transmission.

Mr Cardoso compared the cost of the old exchange rate system to the fuel subsidy, which he said was already a staggering amount of money.

The losses that we were making as a result of these multiple exchange rate windows was more. It was 3 per cent of GDP. So between those, you had 5.2 per cent of GDP lost,” he said.