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from Global Investing:
New frontiers to outpace emerging markets
Fund managers searching for yield are increasing exposure to frontier markets (FM) as a diversification from emerging markets (EM), as the latter have been offering negative relative returns since January, according to MSCI data.
Barings Asset Management said on Monday it plans to launch a frontier markets fund in coming weeks, with a projected 70 percent exposure to frontier markets such as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Sri Lanka and Ukraine.
Emerging markets indices posted relative negative returns compared to developed and frontier markets in the first quarter, index compiler MSCI's 2013 quarterly survey showed. The main emerging benchmark returned a negative 2.14 percent for the quarter, with the BRIC index also posting a loss, though a better performance of Latin American markets offered some promising signs with a 0.48 percent increase.
Southeast Asia posted the top returns, with double-digit figures from the MSCI Philippines Index of 17.87 percent growth and Indonesia returning 13.19 percent. That was a stark contrast to the Brazil, Russia, India, China and Korean indices, which delivered negative Q1 results.
from Global Investing:
Ratings more than a piece of paper for Africa
By Stephen Eisenhammer
Does a sovereign credit rating from a glass tower in London or New York impact life in the country being rated? Apparently in Africa it does.
According to research by the rating agency Fitch, sovereign credit ratings significantly boost foreign direct investment (FDI) to Africa.
from Photographers Blog:
Oil and the Delta Bush
Lagos, Nigeria
By Akintunde Akinleye
I never wanted to be a photojournalist. I loved broadcasting and had nurtured dreams since childhood of being a radio or TV correspondent. Almost by accident, I picked a camera at age 11 instead and started shooting pictures. Well, here I am.
My first degree was in social studies at Ondo State University, in Nigeria’s southwest. It didn’t do much to advance my photojournalism career, but I learned about society – both theory and practice! Years later, I did two post graduate diplomas -- in journalism and mass communications.
from Global Investing:
Emerging Policy-The inflation problem has not gone away
This week's interest rate meetings in the developing world are highlighting that despite slower economic growth, inflation remains a problem for many countries. In some cases it could constrain policymakers from cutting interest rates, or least from cutting as much as they would like.
Take Turkey. Its central bank surprised some on Tuesday by only cutting the upper end of its overnight interest rate corridor: many had interpreted recent comments by Governor Erdem Basci as a sign the lower end, the overnight borrowing rate, would also be cut. That's because the central bank is increasingly concerned about the lira, which has appreciated more than 7 percent this year in real terms. But the bank contented itself by warning markets that more cuts could be made to different policy rates if needed (read: if the lira rises much more).
from MediaFile:
African Web video service Iroko raises more funds, targets cable TV
A store in Nairobi, Kenya selling Nollywood movies (Photo: Reuters)
Iroko Partners, an online distributor of African movies and music, has raised another $2 million in its latest round of funding from a Swedish venture capital group as it seeks to take the service to cable and satellite TV partners in the U.S. and Europe.
The Lagos, Nigeria-based company raised the funds from Sweden's Kinnevik, an early investor in Groupon Inc. Iroko previously raised $8 million from U.S.-based hedge fund Tiger Global in April as investors in emerging markets seek to tap into one of the fastest growing movie businesses in the world.
Kinnevik investments head, Henrik Persson, said his firm, which has invested in African telecoms, sees tremendous opportunity in African media and online services. "It has very low penetration and we see a really strong growth trend. He added: "A part of our investment philosophy is that we think that the perceived risk is higher than the real risk in this market..what people see as a lack of opportunity is a lack of supply."
from MacroScope:
Nigeria’s mighty economy
In a world of slowing growth (China), minimal growth (United States) and outright recession (Britain), it is startling to hear that Nigeria's economy is likely to shoot up by 40 percent in the second quarter this year. Yep. Forty percent. Four - O.
An investigation by Reuters Lagos correspondent Chijioke Ohuocha came up with this staggering figure -- which if borne out will lift Nigeria close to continental rival South Africa and raise it about 10 places on the IMF's global list to around 3oth.
from MediaFile:
Nigeria’s central banker could turn author
Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Lamido Sanusi (Photo: Reuters)
What does a Central Bank governor do after leaving office? Many return to the private sector in some sort of consultancy role. Others, especially when they're as outspoken as Nigeria's banking chief Lamido Sanusi, tend to turn to politics. But Sanusi told Reuters in a recent interview he has no interest in politics and sees himself instead as something of a "public intellectual". "I can do more good outside of government."
To that end Sanusi says he plans to spend his time after the Central Bank writing his memoirs around the dark days of the Nigerian banking crisis in 2009. It's not a priority right now, an aide tells us, but it's something he's thinking about.
from Breakingviews:
Nigerian billionaire’s LSE-quote plan is watershed
By Kevin Allison
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is seeking a London listing for his $11 billion cement company. It is a watershed moment for Nigeria, and for Africa. There are significant governance hurdles, and Dangote’s plan to build a pan-African aggregates champion isn’t without risks. But the prospect of a FTSE 100-sized Nigerian company is worth celebrating.
from Global Investing:
Urbanization sweet spots
It's a hard slog sometimes looking for new and surprising sources of global economic growth that have not already be heavily discounted by global investors, especially in the uncertain world of 2012. It's been as hard of late to find new arguments to invest in China and quite a few people suggesting the opposite.
But a Credit Suisse report out on Tuesday homed in on worldwide urbanization trends to find out where this well-tested driver of economic activity was likely to have most impact int he 21st century. For a start, the big aggregate numbers are as dramatic as you'd imagine. More than half of the world's population now lives in urban areas, crossing that milestone for the first time in 2009. And, accordingly to United Nations projections, urban dwellers will account for 70 percent of humanity by 2050. As recently as 1950, 70 percent of us were country folk.
from Global Investing:
What chances true democracy in oil-rich Iran?
Truly, oil can be a curse. Having it may enrich a country (more likely its rulers) but it does not seem condusive to democracy. And the more oil a country produces, the less likely it is to make the transition to democracy, according to research from investment bank Renaisssance Capital.
So as Iran goes to the polls today, what are the chances it will become a democracy? (Iran itself could argue, reasonably enough, that it is the most democratic country in the region -- everyone over the age of 18, including women, are allowed to vote, though the choice of candidates is restricted)
