Geopolitics and the Russia-Ukraine war are highlighting the potential of Georgia and Armenia’s expanding economies. Tbilisi, Georgia, will host the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) annual meeting the first week of May. Soon thereafter, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) confab takes place in Yerevan, Armenia. The near-convergence of two heavyweight multilaterals comes as the two countries exhibit strong economic growth accompanied by growing excitement about the middle corridor, an Asian-European supply chain route connecting the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan with the ..read more

Bahrain has big plans for development, and investors are interested. But its geographic position is both a blessing and a curse.  Bahrain was once favored to be the leading financial center of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Dubai has since seized the title, and other jurisdictions in the region—including Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and most recently Saudi Arabia—have all launched initiatives to become financial hubs. Questions about Bahrain’s dependence on hydrocarbon revenue, the pace of economic diversification, debt levels, and its place in the GCC’s geopolitical matrix continue ..read more

Dubai and the other emirates have made globalization work in the Gulf by leveraging oil revenue to create a more open, diversified economy. Good governance, political foresight, and fortuitous geostrategic developments have produced extraordinary growth in Dubai and the other states of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since the Covid-19 pandemic. But does this federation has what it takes to sustain its newfound role as a global trade, finance and tourism hub amid increasing regional competition, the looming energy transition and the push-and-pull of global politics? Close observers are optimist ..read more

Can Egypt and Morocco keep driving the region’s economic growth?  North Africa is the fastest-growing region in the Arab world and Africa. In 2023, the combined gross domestic product of Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya increased by 4.2%, compared with only 1.6% for the Middle East and 3.2% for Africa. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that North African economies will outperform their peers again this year with 4% growth, but these numbers hide important regional disparities. With a GDP of around $400 billion, Egypt is the biggest player. In 2023, Cairo ..read more

Muhammad Aurangzeb, a veteran banker with no previous experience in a political role, has been tasked with the navigating Pakistan through its current fiscal and economic crisis. A graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, Aurangzeb, 60, worked for major international banks including Citibank, ABN Amro, and JPMorgan Chase before becoming president and CEO of Habib Bank, Pakistan’s largest commercial lender by assets, in 2018. His appointment last month as minister of finance and revenue is a departure from tradition for the newly reinstalled Prime Minister S ..read more

With Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sector reaching 50% of GDP for the first time last year, the Gulf nation marked a watershed in its diversification from fossil fuel dependency. Government data released last month shows the real GDP growth rate for non-oil activities at about 4.4%, valuing the sector at about 1.7 trillion Saudi riyals (around $453 billion). This puts the kingdom on course to meet the objectives set out in Vision 2030, its broad program of policies and reforms, which holds economic diversification as one of its core objectives. “The oil and gas sector is highly capital intensive and ..read more

Climate-related reporting for large public companies just got murkier. At least, that’s one takeaway from the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s long-awaited climate-related reporting rule, issued in March. Significantly, the final rule excludes Scope 3 emissions, which are emissions from indirect sources like supply chains and consumers. These account for 75% of companies’ greenhouse gas emissions on average, according to the World Resources Institute. And some jurisdictions, such as the EU and California, will soon require such reporting. Scope 3 had been included in earlier drafts of t ..read more

Since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, flexibility appears to be the new normal. Even the distribution and manufacturing sectors, typically foot draggers, seem to be slowly warming to the idea. On the plant floor, inflexible shifts are the standard. But the number of committed young workers is declining while baby boomers in manufacturing are retiring. The Pew Research Center projects that 75 million boomers will leave their jobs by 2030. How can this exodus be reversed? One possibility is to embrace a flexible work schedule. Among the pioneering factory owners that have found an al ..read more

South Africa, with the continent’s most diverse and sophisticated economy, retains its attractiveness as a top destination for international investors who will be watching the country’s May 29 general elections with great interest. However, prolonged and debilitating port and rail logistics deficiencies, erratic electricity supply, and poor governance are tarnishing some of its appeal. Brad Maxwell, managing executive for investment banking at Nedbank CIB, tells Global Finance that international private equity and development finance investors have targeted South African sectors such as manufa ..read more

The global sustainability trend has hit a snag the last two years. In the US, the movement to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards in business and investing is facing a backlash driven by a collection of vocal business and political figures. In the European Union, on the other hand, commitment to stakeholder-style capitalism—and to environmental considerations in particular—remains strong. The future path of ESG though, may well depend on choices made by the rest of the world, and particularly Asia. Why Asia? Although its per capita emissions are below those of the ..read more