For some years now, social scientists and some economic historians have spoken about how cities are displacing nation-states as the most important actors on the world stage. The latest edition of Foreign Policy magazine carries an article along these lines, with the tag ‘The age of nations is over. The new urban age has begun’. [Read more...]

For decades, oil and gas investors in Africa have focused on exploiting the riches of the continent’s established producers Nigeria, Angola, Libya and Algeria. In recent years, however, spurred on by large discoveries offshore Ghana and in the Lake Albert region in Uganda, the industry has been looking beyond the traditional oil markets to a [Read more...]

Corruption is a major problem for most emerging markets, and in truth, quite a few developed states. Time and time again in BMI’s analysis on emerging markets, my colleagues and I have written on how governments need to crack down on corruption, if they want to attract greater foreign investment and prosper. However, this is [Read more...]

On this week’s podcast, we return our attention to emerging markets, highlighting opportunities beyond the BRICs in EMEA- Europe, Middle East and Africa. Business Monitor’s Head of Country Risk and Financial Markets Justin Patrie, discusses the outlook for Egypt, Ghana and Turkey with Mark Schaltuper, Head of Europe Analysis, Liz Martins, Head of Middle East [Read more...]

 

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Last year, I mentioned that if Emerging Markets are truly to dominate the 21st century, then they would have to capture the world’s imagination through ‘soft power’, which I defined to mean cultural appeal. While I expect this will be a long-term process, evidence of Emerging Markets’ ability to transform Hollywood was apparent in a [Read more...]

With all the discussion about the sustainability of currency unions lately, I thought it would be appropriate to see how developments in the eurozone and elsewhere were impacting Africa. Although few people may realise it, there are no less than 14 West African economies sharing a common currency, the CFA franc, which is in turn [Read more...]

Riskwatchdog recently attended a Bloomberg Africa focus day where several speakers discussed the potential offered by the African consumer in a challenge to the often-held view that the continent is a pure resource play.
My colleagues in the Africa team at BMI are equally excited by the prospects for private consumption growth over the coming [Read more...]