With winter creeping into the northern hemisphere and many of our readers dreaming of taking a vacation in warmer climes, it is a good time to consider whether China’s holiday trends are powerful enough to affect international economies. Here in Asia, there is no doubt that China’s influence is being felt across the region in a variety of profound ways, from the development of critical infrastructure…
En Français Oxford Business Group’s Africa research comes in several different forms, from business confidence surveys and face-to-face interviews, to monthly sector updates and annual country analyses. Putting all this together takes a lot of behind-the-scenes work. In addition to the time they spend in traffic jams and office lobbies, our field teams in each country spend hours every…
En Español Only a few weeks ago Oxford Business Group published an article on the opportunities for agri-businesses in Colombia, and here we are again talking about the prospects for one of Latin America’s fastest-growing sectors. At the local level: The Colombia case study Output from Colombia’s agricultural sector rose by 7.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) in the first quarter of 2017, quite an impressive…
When I wrote three months ago about why the economic changes afoot in the Gulf region have taken on a whole new urgency in “The challenge of change: And why it matters this time”, my analysis was very much framed against a background of anything but business as usual. I remain firmly of the opinion that the major economic restructuring that is needed in the GCC is far more likely…
En Français Falling on their feet “The bigger they are, the harder they fall” is an adage familiar to anyone who played sports in their youth – or at least those who looked worryingly at an opponent who had clearly gone through a growth spurt a few years early. The same adage might be said of Africa’s economies. After a long stretch of seemingly boundless growth, many of…
En Español In economics, as in life, everything comes and goes. In 2016 commodity prices were down and most Latin American currencies depreciated. Now, less forex volatility and more reasonable commodity prices have led many to hope for a more promising future. However, other factors have entered the equation; for example, US President Donald Trump’s relations with Mexico brought uncertainty…
What a difference a hundred days can make in geopolitics. The much-anticipated risk of an outright trade war between the US and China following US President Donald Trump’s election has subsided after leaders of the two countries met face-to-face to find common ground. The macroeconomic focus has shifted back to oil prices, commodities and growth demand developments in Asia, and the threat of protectionism…
For many years those of us who study the countries that form the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain – have grown accustomed to using and hearing one term more than any other: diversification. But what has also been just as common has been the frustration at the pace of the process. The simple fact is that due their bountiful natural resources the…
Plus Ça Change?Africa Regional Roundup: December 2016 “Abidjan is a boom-town with an exploding economy, shipping out great quantities of coffee and timber and manifesting a flair for making a real splash in terms of putting on the dog.” That sentence (which prompted to me look up the meaning of “putting on the dog,” a 19th century phrase implying luxury and glamour, and referring…
Anyone with an interest in the economies of the Arabian Gulf will be more than familiar with the concept of diversification. In many ways it has become a mantra for this oil-rich region as it has sought to reduce its dependence on hydrocarbons. Now, with oil having lost over half its value during the past year, alternative revenue streams have never been more important. Indeed, many of the people…
