Behind the sudden spike in some West African countries’ FDI is a dark story of state capture by Latin American narcotics gangs, as Mark Weston reports.

Nouriel Roubini, founder of RGE Monitor, says it is time to nationalise banks in the US and Europe.

A year ago, I predicted that losses by US financial institutions would be at least US$1tn, and possibly as high as US$2tn. At that time the consensus was that such estimates were grossly exaggerated, as the naïve optimists had in mind about US$200bn of expected subprime mortgage losses.
 

While the credit crunch and falling oil prices may have taken some of the wind out of the sails of the renewables industry, the future is still promising, writes Liz Salecka.

The clean energy sector is already feeling the impact of the credit crunch and downturn in the financial markets.

Although the credit crunch has made it harder to get western financing for infrastructure deals, EMEA governments are coming up with resourceful ways of getting deals done, writes Julian Evans.

Infrastructure was, until recently, the ‘Great Hope’ of the EMEA region. Governments from Almaty to Abuja were pinning their hopes on PPP (public private partnerships) programmes to stimulate economic growth and take their countries to the next level of development.

The credit crunch has led to a steep drop in volume on many western derivatives market, and to calls for tougher regulation. But in the EMEA region, derivatives markets are just getting going, writes Liz Salecka.
 

Both the state and private banks in Nigeria are increasingly looking for international capital, writes Kevin Godier. But will they find it?

A key event looming in 2009 is Nigeria’s planned launch of an international bond, testifying to the government’s belief that the credit strength of the sovereign will override global market nerves, and allow Nigeria to follow in the wake of other recent emerging market issuers such as Mexico and Turkey.

Exporta Group assembled 10 well-known brokers, insurers and bankers in London in late 2008 to discuss the most topical trends and market issues in the trade credit and political risk insurance industries. Coming as financial markets were undergoing some of their greatest turmoil for decades, the talk around the table touched upon a range of key talking points. JLT Risk Solutions kindly hosted the discussion for Exporta.

Business education is booming in the EMEA region. But should local business people seeking a business degree look to local or western schools? Julian Evans explores.

Pierre-Emmanuel Iseux, senior investment advisor/equity strategist at the hedge fund Generation Alfa, says the hedge fund industry had its worst year ever in 2008, and that funds must adapt to clients’ new needs to survive.

Kuwait’s domestic economic conditions have dovetailed with the international crisis to create the perfect storm, reports Hugh Miles.

Initially, many analysts thought the worldwide financial turmoil would sail harmlessly by Kuwait. Then, last October, Kuwait’s fourth largest lender unexpectedly revealed massive losses related to derivatives trading. Gulf Bank lost KD375m (US$1.4bn) when the euro fell against the dollar.

The once crisis-prone Turkish economy is in relatively good health, compared to its CEE neighbours. An IMF package would help, but the government is in no rush, reports Eva-Luise Schwarz.

Dambisa Moyo, a former economist at Goldman Sachs and now independent consultant and author, says the US$1tn that the west has given to Africa in aid over the last 30 years has been wasted, and that the continent needs to move to a more capital markets approach.