Scherzando Karasu Freelance Writer

Predictions for Emerging and Frontier Markets after Covid-19 Investors broadly agree that covid-19 will devastate frontier emerging markets, unleashing economic havoc through slumping domestic and external demand. Yet without sounding unduly optimistic, your correspondent suspects a brighter path: these markets may well outperform. The MSCI Frontier Markets index tracks big firms across 34 countries, from Argentina and Bahrain to Togo and Vietnam. Such economies typically falter from home-grown woes, not foreign shocks. To be sure, the pandemic will lay bare local vulnerabilities, especially where tourism and remittances prop up finances. Sri Lanka, already wobbly, faces a tourism nosedive that could deliver a brutal blow. Nigeria and Egypt, too, stand to suffer from export slumps and remittance droughts. Lockdowns may exacerbate banking strains, as in Bangladesh, where dud loans at state banks equal 30% of GDP amid chronic liquidity woes. That said, a more sanguine assessment—drawn fr...

“The future belongs to those organisations that can integrate strategic management, risk management, enterprise performance management and integrated reporting. Get them all right and you own the future. No wonder that integrating these disciplines is becoming the essence of true strategic risk management.”—André Bezuidenhout, head of risk management and compliance at the South African Reserve Bank. Managing risk has long distinguished the corporate winners. Yet in today's hazard-strewn landscape, bosses struggle to trust that their strategies will unfold as scripted. Strategic risks—those tied to or spawned by business choices—now ambush with alarming speed, turbocharged by social media, mobility and big data. “Risks are proliferating amid shifting business terrain, novel technologies and ever-tighter global-local ties,” notes Colin Hill, senior solution manager for risk management and financial crimes at SAS South Africa. “Thankfully, the data deluge has spurred tech advances ...

“Mauritius offers investors the advantages of an offshore financial centre in the Indian Ocean, with a substantial network of treaties and double-taxation avoidance agreements, making it the gateway for routing funds into Africa and India”—UNCTAD World Investment Report. Once hailed as the “star and key of the Indian Ocean” for its spice-route perch, Mauritius retains that motto—emblazoned in Latin on its coat of arms, flanked by palms and the extinct dodo. Policymakers still spy a nexus for trade and investment, forged over two decades in cross-border finance. Straddling Asia and Africa, the island styles itself an “international financial centre of excellence and repute”, per Finance Minister Pravind Jugnauth. Its offshore arm dwarfs the rest: the IMF dubs it “enormous”, with $630bn in assets—50 times GDP. Only Luxembourg eclipses it in FDI-to-GDP ratios. “Investors prize Mauritius for commercial savvy, top-notch service, robust legal and regulatory frameworks, and sterling repute...

“There is no miracle. It is due simply to hard work, discipline, and will.”—Sir Anerood Jugnauth, former president of Mauritius. Meagre in size, resources and proximity to markets, Mauritius has nonetheless morphed from sugar-dependent penury into Africa's standout success. Its financial services now anchor the economy. Recent figures peg the sector at 12% of GDP, expanding at 5.3%, per the Financial Services Promotion Agency (FSPA). With such alchemy, the island eyes a bridge for East Africa-India-China flows. Sturdy institutions, political calm, business verve and shrewd trade pacts—with India and Europe—have diversified and turbocharged finance. “Mauritius is ascending as Africa's trade portal. Our international financial centre could host 50 banks in three years; transformation and growth are inevitable,” insists Sridhar Nagarajan, CEO of MauBank, a domestic heavyweight. Business climate and lures explain much: no capital curbs, steady currency, 15% flat corporate tax, m...

Mauritius's Human Capital Challenge "Mauritius's future innovation depends on the answer to the ultimate question: Do we have high-quality human capital and productivity?" asks Seeram Ramakrishna, professor and director of the Centre for Nanofibres and Nanotechnology. In its 44 years as an independent nation, Mauritius has built a credible, globally connected middle-income economy on an unpromising foundation: a craggy, poorly endowed, geographically remote—if eye-wateringly beautiful—island. Mauritians like to describe themselves as "resourceful" and "resilient", and the country has indeed displayed an ability to reinvent itself. Yet the traffic-clogged streets and harbour of Port Louis, whilst outward signs of an economy that has continued to expand and modernise, signal not only dynamism but underlying infrastructural problems. The middle-income trap Mauritius faces uphill battles: insufficient skills, an ageing population, low productivity a...

Trading Places: Britain and Turkey After Brexit When asked about Britain turning its back on the EU, Nihat Zeybekci, Turkey's economy minister, offered an unexpectedly sunny take during a recent visit to London. "I think you would rather say the EU didn't retain the UK as a member," he replied. "From the EU point of view it is a loss, but are we concerned? No—on the contrary, we see it as an opportunity." Turkish officials have already begun drafting a "new generation" free-trade agreement to conclude upon Britain's EU departure. The enthusiasm appears mutual. Both Boris Johnson, then foreign secretary, and Prime Minister Theresa May visited Turkey to discuss post-Brexit trade relations. In January 2017, Mrs May announced a £100m defence deal to develop fighter jets for the Turkish air force. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pledged to boost bilateral trade from $15bn to $20bn. An emerging powerhouse Turkey's economic credentials warrant a...

su https://www.global-britain.com/doing-business-turkey/  Trading with Turkey: A Post-Brexit Opportunity The international business community faces a transformed Turkey. Three decades of structural reform have yielded an economy now ranked 17th globally and sixth in Europe—a testament to sustained modernisation that makes Turkey increasingly accessible to foreign investors. As a newly industrialised country alongside China and South Africa, Turkey operates one of the world's largest free-market economies, integrated into European markets through a customs union. Its transcontinental position makes it an ideal investment gateway between Asia, Britain and the eurozone. An emerging economic power Turkey's recent performance marks it as an engine of the emerging multipolar global system. The country has invested heavily in technological and financial infrastructure, positioning itself as an increasingly important financial centre. Its economy has grown at 6-7% annually for much...