German chemical giant, BASF, held a workshop in December 2004 at which the company trained staff from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in how to manufacture and finish textiles and leather in both an economically and ecologically efficient manner. The workshop, held in Casablanca, Morocco, was attended by participants from five African states who were trained in applying BASF’s co-efficiency analysis. This co-efficiency analysis – which aims to achieve efficiency for the company in an ecologically sensitive way – is being increasingly applied in Africa to develop cost efficient production processes with the minimum environmental impact.

"To remain competitive in the long term, textile and leather manufacturers in Africa must meet economic and ecological requirements," said Dr. Andreas Kicherer, who helped develop the eco-efficiency analysis at BASF and organised the workshop in Morocco.

In addition to being subject to local legal requirements, manufacturing plants must satisfy the quality and environmental conditions of their customers as well as the demands of consumers in importing countries, thus, the economic and ecological evaluation of production processes invaluable. However, according to BASF, access to such technologies and methods is not readily available to what are mostly small or medium-sized businesses. This was why, in addition to the UNIDO staff, a number of Moroccan textile and leather manufacturers were invited to the BASF workshop. Together they discussed the potential of the eco-efficiency analysis using specific examples from plant practice.

The workshop was held under the auspices of the UN Global Compact initiative, of which BASF is a founding member.

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