Oxford Business Group · Where is the potential to strengthen trade and investment between the Gulf and South-east Asia? Patrick Cooke, Oxford Business Group’s Managing Editor for the Middle East and Asia, talks with Jade Currie, Oxford Business Group’s Regional Editor for Asia, about standout opportunities to expand trade and investment relations between the Gulf and South-east Asia in the wake of the pandemic. Topics include energy, Islamic finance and human capital.

  The African PE industry has become increasingly complex and diverse, with the arrival of global institutional investors in recent years paving the way for some of the world’s largest firms to enter the market. Between 2014 and 2019 the total value of the 1053 PE deals reported in Africa reached $25.4bn. While deal volumes have maintained an upward trend, their value has gradually eased, suggesting growing investor interest but smaller deal sizes. Moreover, in addition to consumer-driven...

En Français     For many countries across Africa, agriculture remains one of the most important sectors of the economy. Agriculture accounts for 14% of total GDP in sub-Saharan Africa, and a majority of the continent’s population is employed in the sector. In addition, export crops such as coffee, tobacco, oranges, fruit and cotton are important sources of foreign exchange for every country on the continent. While Africa’s population is projected to more than double by 2050,...

En Français    At the beginning of 2020, the Algerian Government announced the creation of the Ministry of Pharmaceutical Industry, headed by Lotfi Benbahmed. The objective behind the creation of this Ministry was to promote the local production of pharmaceutical products, in view of bringing Algeria at the forefront of production and positioning itself as a regional hub in the sector. As the former president of Algeria’s Pharmaceutical Council, Minister Benbahmed is more than familiar with...

  Respondents to Oxford Business Group's latest CEO survey in Egypt were largely upbeat about the speed of the country's economic rebound and the broader picture in terms of financing, digitalisation and domestic growth. Looking back to the first months of the pandemic, apart from March, April and May, the economy has remained buoyant and business has largely been able to continue as usual with high levels of optimism among the business community. The notable exception to this is the...

Following the release of the Indonesia Covid-19 Response Report produced in partnership with PT Mowilex Indonesia, OBG’s Regional Editor for Asia, Patrick Cooke, is joined in a vidcast discussion by the CEO of the Indonesian paint manufacturer, Niko Safavi, to analyse some of the key trends and opportunities highlighted in the publication. With supply chains and labour mobility disrupted and demand depressed by pandemic-related restrictions, the discussion initially focuses on how...

On the occasion of the release of The Report: Kaduna 2020 and the launch of the digital KADINVEST 5.0 Summit, Oxford Business Group’s Regional Editor for Africa, Souhir Mzali, speaks with Governor of Kaduna State in Nigeria, Nasir El-Rufai, to discuss Kaduna’s priority investments and future opportunities for economic growth in the state. Over the past five years, Kaduna has made important strides in improving the ease of doing business, making it a top performer in Nigeria in many...

As part of its ongoing research into the impact of Covid-19 on the Egyptian economy, Oxford Business Group’s Regional Editor Harry van Schaick recently interviewed the country's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, to explore his insights into how the pandemic has affected the country's digital transformation agenda. The interview is part of a broader series of research conducted by Oxford Business Group on the ICT sector's response to Covid-19 and the wider...

As part of research being conducted by Oxford Business Group to outline Ghana's response to the pandemic in an upcoming Covid-19 Response Report, OBG’s Regional Editor for Africa, Souhir Mzali, recently interviewed Vice-President, Mahamudu Bawumia. Bawumia, who also chairs the country's COVID-19 Daily Monitoring Team, explained that digital solutions were key to managing the outbreak. The government set up a mobile tracking app to oversee contact tracing as part of the ‘testing, tracing,...

En Français As part of its ongoing research on the impact of Covid-19 on emerging market economies, Oxford Business Group’s Regional Editor for Africa, Souhir Mzali, recently interviewed Morocco’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Green and Digital Economy, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, to talk about the impact of Covid-19 on Morocco’s industrial sector as well as its implications for digitalisation efforts and sustainable development. The interview forms part of the research conducted in the...

  One of the last regions in the world to be affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, Latin America's reported Covid-19 case and death numbers have grown steadily since late February. However, given the importance of the region's economies to global value chains, the need to ensure the continual operation of key services and industries has led to a number of key measures being implemented in a number of countries. While these efforts were initially focused on keeping essential supply chains...

    As part of its ongoing research on the impact of Covid-19 on emerging markets, Oxford Business Group recently conducted a survey with some 300 CEOs across Africa to assess the level of disruption to business in the region and the implications of the pandemic for key sectors such as industry and agriculture. Carried out in collaboration with BASF, the survey reveals that, like in most of the world, activities in Africa have been disrupted, with tourism and construction the hardest...

  With Covid-19 slowly gathering pace in Africa, Oxford Business Group’s Editor-in-Chief, Oliver Cornock, talks with Regional Editor for Africa, Souhir Mzali, about the challenges African economies are facing and the ways in which governments and private sector players are looking to overcome them. Click here to register to for our free daily Covid-19 Economic Impact Assessments and here to see what you have missed so far.

  As countries in the Gulf region face up to the challenges presented by the spread of Covid-19 and the associated turmoil in global energy markets in recent days, Oxford Business Group's Editor-in-Chief, Oliver Cornock and Regional Editor for the Middle East, Billy FitzHerbert discuss the strategies being adopted to mitigate the fallout. Click here to register to for our free daily Covid-19 Economic Impact Assessments and here to see what you have missed so far here.  

  John Brash, CEO and founder of Brash Agency, talks with OBG’s Editor-in-Chief, Oliver Cornock, about the impact of Covid-19 on the creative and branding sector in the UAE and beyond, as well as whether some of the changes we’re experiencing in the way we work and do business might be here to stay.

Oxford Business Group’s Editor-in-Chief, Oliver Cornock, discusses the Middle Eastern perspectives of the Global CEO Survey with Regional Editor for the Middle East, Billy FitzHerbert.  

  Oxford Business Group’s Editor-in-Chief, Oliver Cornock, discusses the African perspectives of the Global CEO Survey with Regional Editor for Africa, Souhir Mzali.

  Oxford Business Group’s Editor-in-Chief, Oliver Cornock, discusses the Latin American perspectives of the Global CEO Survey with Regional Editor for the Americas, Harry van Schaick.  

Oxford Business Group’s Editor-in-Chief, Oliver Cornock, discusses the Asian perspectives of the Global CEO Survey with Regional Editor for Asia, Patrick Cooke.  

  Oxford Business Group's Regional Editor for the Americas, Harry van Schaick, along with Editorial Manager Joseph Hall, discuss the future of Guyana's economy.

OBG talks to key speakers at the SFF X Switch event in Singapore to hear their views on how innovation can tackle development and sustainability challenges   Sustainability and climate change took centre stage at SFF x Switch in Singapore in late 2019, when the Singapore FinTech Festival and the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology joined forces for the first time. As one of the partners of the event that attracted more than 900 exhibitors and 60,000 participants, Oxford Business...

Much discussed, the flotation of a portion of the world’s most profitable company is soon to happen. In this podcast our Editor-in-Chief, Oliver Cornock and Regional Editor, Billy Fitzherbert talk about the timing, valuation and challenges preparing for this landmark IPO.

Following the re-election of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in April 2019, much attention is focused on his second term policy agenda and the potential for bold reforms to address Indonesia’s development challenges.    Despite being blessed with an abundance of natural resources, South-East Asia’s largest economy has developed a growing oil and gas trade deficit as it grapples with rapidly rising energy demand from a population of over 260m. This has posed problems for policymakers as they...

After winning a resounding mandate for a second term in the April 2019 election, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has signalled his intention to accelerate infrastructure upgrades, address skills gaps and further improve the business environment before stepping down in 2024. The lively and sometimes acrimonious election campaign was watched with interest by international investors, many of whom are hopeful that the president will ease restrictions on foreign investment in Southeast Asia’s...