Verisk Maplecroft – a risk analysis and forecasting company - has released its latest Corruption Risk Index – a ranking of 198 economies scored on instances of bribery and the effectiveness in which country officials are able to combat it. And Sub-Saharan Africa was identified as the region posing the highest risk to business. Verisk Maplecroft’s annual Corruption Risk Index (CRI) for 2015 labeled some 45%, or 33 of the 73 countries screened as ‘extreme risk’. The 12 highest risk countries in the world include six from Sub-Saharan Africa – Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Central African Republic, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan – which featured alongside North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Myanmar and Russia. Botswana - ranked 154th and ‘medium risk' - was the continent’s best performer, according to the Verisk Maplecroft report. According to the World Bank, corruption adds 10% to business costs globally, with the equivalent of US$1 trillion paid in bribes annually. And in the words of UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, corruption is a “cancer”, which is a burden on business; affects security; undermines the fight against terrorism and hinders economic development. In a garment and textile sourcing sense, corruption impacts the cost of manufacturing apparel in the oppressed nations and inhibits the efficiencies of sourcing-related activities such as shipping and payment processing and overall quality control with products. The Sub-Saharan Africa region has one of the world’s fastest growing populations and houses large amounts of natural resource wealth, which is fertile business soil for investment opportunities and trade.However, companies entering the region’s markets remain susceptible to the demands of bribery, explains Trevor Slack, legal and regulatory analyst at Verisk Maplecroft. “These risks are particularly prevalent in developing economies,” said Slack. “Factors such as weak rule of law and a lack of institutional capacity in these markets undermine efforts to combat entrenched systems of patronage, while exposure to corrupt public officials and a reliance on third party agents is also higher.”The jewel of Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana has long been famous for its beautiful and vivid textiles including waxcloth and batiks. The city of Tema – found in the Gulf of Guinea - is one of the country's major industrial hubs, home to an oil refinery and many factories. In 1993, it became home to one of the top producers of batik fabrics in the world - Edtex. Making a stand against corruption, Edtex holds itself to the highest standards of business practice and production quality. Edtex Managing Director, Edwina Assan is a textile designer by trade and understands the needs of foreign clients. She has extensive business management training too, and is committed to empowering local artisans and skilled workers; having established an expert team of employees, all of whom are paid a fair wage and encouraged to contribute their specific creative visions to the company. From a product standpoint, Edtex source only the finest raw materials and in-house designers to ensure that their patterns are always unique and inspired. Available on Le Souk, Edtex has an array of colorful Batik textiles for use in fashion collections (already worn of First Lady, Michelle Obama) and for the home; be it curtains, tablecloths, placemats, bags or aprons.