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US Says Identification can Help End Human Trafficking
John Kerry, United States secretary of State has said that identifying human trafficking victims is the first step in ending modern-day slavery.
Before an audience of diplomats, nongovernmental organization representatives and anti-trafficking activists at the rollout of the 13th annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, Kerry said, “There are countless voiceless people, countless nameless people, except to their families, or perhaps a phony name by which they are being exploited, who look to us for their freedom and for the possibility of life itself. … As we look at the challenge of modern-day slavery, regrettably our focus has to begin with the victims.”
Based on information U.S. diplomats have collected from governments worldwide, some 46,000 trafficking victims have been identified in the last year, the secretary said.
That’s a mere fraction of the estimated 27 million men, women and children who are believed to be enslaved for labor or for the sex industry.
Nonetheless, there was a 10 percent increase in victim identification last year, according to the report.
Because many trafficking victims go unrecognized and many remain hidden through fear and the power of their enslavers, traffickers are able to operate with impunity in this billion-dollar criminal enterprise, the report says.
And while a majority of the word’s countries now criminalize all forms of human trafficking, government officials unevenly apply anti-trafficking laws, according to the report. Even so, trafficking convictions rose in the last year by 20 percent, from 3,969 to 4,746, the report says.
This year’s report focuses on victim identification as a top priority in the global movement to combat trafficking in persons.
It details training and techniques that make identification efforts successful. These innovations, the report says, will enable more effective delivery of services to trafficking victims and aid in developing improvements in the global response to trafficking.
“Only through vigorous victim identification can we ensure that trafficking survivors get the services they need, can participate in legal proceedings, and can have their voices heard,” Kerry writes in the introduction to this year’s TIP report.
“Ending modern slavery must remain a foreign policy priority,” Kerry writes. “Human trafficking undermines the rule of law and creates instability. It tears apart families and communities. It damages the environment and corrupts the global supply chains and labor markets that keep the world’s economies thriving.”
Human trafficking is also “an assault on our most dearly held values of freedom and basic human dignity,” Kerry wrote.
“American leadership means protecting those values at home and working to advance them around the world.”
The United States will support people who are working to prevent trafficking, who come to the aid of victims, and who work to bring traffickers to justice, Kerry said. “We will continue to do so by bringing together an array of stakeholders — from civil society and the faith community to the private sector and government leaders — to forge partnerships aimed at spurring innovation and improving collaboration,” he writes.
“Governments bear primary responsibility for responding to this crime,” he says, and the annual TIP report is “the gold standard in assessing how well governments — including our own — are meeting that responsibility.”
This year’s report includes narratives for 188 countries and territories. The two new entries are on Bhutan and St. Maarten. The report is used by the U.S. government as a diplomatic tool in its bilateral and multilateral relations.
Entrepreneurs backed by the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) have generated more than $4.2 billion in cumulative revenue since the organisation began its grant programme in 2015, according to Somachi Chris-Asoluka, chief executive officer of the foundation.
Chris-Asoluka, revealed this during a virtual media briefing, where she also stated that over $100 million has been distributed to nearly 24,000 young entrepreneurs across Africa.
She noted that the beneficiaries of the programme have gone on to create about 1.5 million jobs, both directly and indirectly, across various sectors of the continent’s economy.
The performance, she said, has strengthened the resolve of the foundation and its partners to scale up financial support for emerging businesses.
Chris-Asoluka emphasised that the foundation’s interventions are anchored on the conviction that entrepreneurship is central to reducing poverty and reshaping Africa’s economic future.
She explained that selected participants receive a $5,000 seed capital grant, in addition to structured business training and mentorship designed to help them either expand existing enterprises or establish new ones.
Highlighting operational challenges faced by entrepreneurs, she identified inadequate electricity supply as a major constraint.
According to her, many small businesses spend as much as 60 per cent of their earnings on alternative power solutions, including generators and inverters.
To mitigate this challenge, she disclosed that Tony Elumelu, TEF founder, alongside the foundation’s leadership, has been engaging governments across Africa on the urgent need to improve power infrastructure.
She further stated that investments by programme beneficiaries cut across critical sectors such as agriculture, artificial intelligence, manufacturing, and technology innovation.
Chris-Asoluka also announced that the foundation’s 2026 cohort of entrepreneurs will be formally unveiled by Elumelu in Abuja.
A new financial operations platform, Morney, has officially launched in Nigeria to help businesses face growing pressure to digitise their finance processes as the country’s shift towards electronic invoicing.
Developed by Morzoe Technologies Inc. and introduced locally through its partner, BuySimply Services Limited, the platform is designed to help organisations streamline and automate financial workflows.
Speaking at the launch, Head of Growth at BuySimply, ‘Mide Olubi, said many Nigerian organisations still depend on fragmented systems such as emails and spreadsheets to manage expenses, supplier invoices and payments.
According to him, this approach often results in inefficiencies, delayed processes, weak oversight and a higher risk of errors.
He noted that Nigeria’s increasing adoption of electronic invoicing and tax digitisation frameworks is accelerating the need for structured and transparent financial systems. Businesses, he said, must move away from manual processes and adopt platforms that provide clear visibility into financial operations.
Morney integrates payments, procurement, expenses and invoicing into a single system, enabling finance teams to automate approvals, monitor transactions in real time and maintain accurate records.
The platform also supports supplier onboarding and invoice processing, helping organisations better manage operational spending.
The company revealed that businesses across sectors such as FMCG, manufacturing, energy, banking and telecommunications are already adopting the solution to improve efficiency and strengthen financial control.
It added that the partnership with BuySimply reflects a broader trend of digital transformation, as organisations respond to evolving regulatory requirements and the demand for more efficient financial management systems.
Dr Krishnan Ranganath (Krish) to Lead UniCloud Africa in Continental Digital Infrastructure Push
UniCloud Africa Limited, the premier pan-African cloud platform dedicated to advancing the continent’s digital sovereignty, has announced the appointment of Dr. Krishnan Ranganath as its Chief Executive Officer.
Dr. Krish, a seasoned industry leader known for building and scaling digital infrastructure while maintaining rigorous operational excellence, steps into the role as UniCloud Africa accelerates its mission to redefine the continent’s digital landscape.
The appointment coincides with the groundbreaking launch and immediate availability of UniCloud Africa’s enterprise-grade Sovereign Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure across six key markets: Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, Senegal, and Mozambique, even as it plans to launch in Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Uganda, Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire as part of further continental expansion.
Operating under the mission of “One Cloud, One Africa,” UniCloud Africa provides governments and enterprises with a world-class, fully compliant sovereign cloud alternative to high-latency offshore providers,ensuring a robust, scalable foundation tailored to Africa’s unique environmental and economic needs.
“UniCloud sits at the epicentre of Africa’s cloud evolution. We are committed to deploying 100% sovereign infrastructure across the continent. My focus is on driving high-growth partnerships and scaling the next generation of resilient, sustainable cloud infrastructure to accelerate the evolution of the African digital ecosystem,” said Dr. Krish, CEO of UniCloud Africa Limited.
He disclosed that his focus at UniCloud Africa is on driving high-growth partnerships and scaling the next generation of resilient, sustainable cloud infrastructure, and will deploy GPUs in certain economies based on market potential and need.
While admitting that the challenges from AI integration to the green energy transition are immense, Dr Krish believes that the opportunities are greater. “I am eager to collaborate with our partners and customers to redefine the digital frontier and accelerate the evolution of the African digital ecosystem,” he added.
Ladi Okuneye, Co-founder and outgoing CEO (who remains as a director on the board) remarked: “As we enter this new chapter of growth, I am confident that Dr Krish’s extensive experience in the African digital landscape will add immense value. His technical depth and regional insight make him the ideal leader to drive UniCloud Africa forward.”
Before he was appointed CEO of UniCloud Africa, Dr. Krish was, until last month, the Regional Executive – West Africa at the Africa Data Centres (ADC).
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