OBG Talks

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 industries, PE fund managers have diversified their strategies to invest across a variety of sectors such as IT, renewable energy, infrastructure and real estate. The continent's growing consumer class played a crucial role in driving much of this change, as did government efforts to move beyond commodity-based growth. This encouraged greater private sector participation and fostered expansion in a wide range of industries. After the launch of the Private Equity & Venture Capital in Africa Covid-19 Response Report, produced in partnership with the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA), Oxford Business Groups meets members of the association to discuss how Private Equity can stimulate growth in the continent during the pandemic. Abi Mustapha- Maduakor, newly appointed CEO of AVCA,´Tokunboh Ishmael, Managing Director of Alitheia Capital, Alexis Caude, Managing Partner of Adenia Partners and Ziad Oueslati, Executive Co-founding partner of Africinvest will be joining us to share their thoughts about the role of Private Equity in the continent, bridging the funding gap for essential services, providing guiding and support for companies during the pandemic, and the exit landscape in Africa.

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, agriculture is more than ever, essential for the future of the continent, but also of the whole world. Oxford Business Group launched its latest Focus Report: Agriculture in Africa 2021, in collaboration with OCP Group, that analyses the opportunities and challenges for the agricultural sector and different key aspects such as fostering an agri-tech ecosystem, empowering farmers, promoting entrepreneurship and the use of fertilisers. In this context, we had the pleasure to talk to Mohamed Anouar Jamali, CEO of OCP Africa on some of these topics and gather his thoughts on what the future holds for the sector. Mr. Jamali, who holds a PhD in Supply Chain Management from University of Laval, shared his views on the current state of the agriculture sector in Africa, namely on promoting sustainability to fight climate change, boosting innovation, entrepreneurship and the use technology as a growth driver, as well as on the opportunities brought by the Covid-19 pandemic to strengthen the value chain in the continent. To find more about this conversation, watch our latest vidcast. See below the English translation of the audio: BERNARDO BRUZZONE: Hello, welcome to OBG talks. My name is Bernardo Bruzzone, and I'm Africa's Regional Editor at Oxford Business Group. Thank you for joining. Today we'll be discussing with Mohammad Anwar Jamali, CEO of OCP Africa, some of the key takeaways of our recently published Focus Report: Agriculture in Africa 2021, made in partnership with OCP Group. Welcome, Mr Jamali, it is a pleasure to have you with us in the framework of the launch of our most recent report. How do you envision a more sustainable and resilient agriculture sector in Africa to address the threat of climate change? MOHAMED ANOUAR JAMALI: Thank you for your invitation. First of all, I need to recall that agriculture is essential to growth and development in this continent. Climate change, if not addressed in time, could destabilise local markets, leading to higher volatility in African food crop yields, but which can in turn lead to volatility in prices, thus hindering the sector's development. In the face of climate change, greater resilience of African agriculture is required. To achieve this an improvement in the seed production systems is needed to be able to provide to African farmers with new seed varieties that are adapted to the new climate conditions. Also, agricultural techniques that are more adapted to the ecological conditions prevailing in the various regions must be chosen. These techniques must contribute to restoring, but also preserving the soil and optimising the use of water. Secondly, investments in irrigation are required to enable African farmers to maintain yields, even in periods when weather conditions are favourable. Finally, investments in logistics infrastructure to enable the storage of crops, to avoid losses, but also to develop a more balanced management by farmers of the stocks of their crops which are intended either for consumption or for sale on the markets. We're talking about investments in logistics infrastructure, but also investments in transport infrastructure, because the idea is to better connect farmers to the market, which would in turn help these same farmers to sell their products at fair prices. All of these improvements can build resilience to the harmful effects of potential climate change. Briefly, within the OCP Group and through our engineers and agronomists in the various countries where we operate, our approach is based first and foremost on research and development, which is carried out jointly with local universities, agronomic institutes and the competent authorities. This research aims to strengthen the resilience of agricultural systems and specifically, just to give an example, through the soil mapping that we carry out to assess the level of fertility of a given soil and as a result of this idea, we recommend fertiliser formulas that are adapted to ensure better efficiency of agricultural inputs, among others. This responds to a principle that is very dear to us within the OCP Group, namely a well-thought-out fertilisation that is adapted to the soil, to the crops, to the agricultural practices, but that is also adapted to the different climates.  BRUZZONE: Very good, thank you very much. Africa is a continent that has a very young, dynamic and innovative population. According to you, how can governments and the private sector push for more innovation and entrepreneurship in the African agricultural sector in view of obtaining more value added?  JAMALI: A firm commitment from our governments is needed to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture on our continent. Public authorities can act through several levers, if you allow me, I will mention three that in my opinion, are fundamental. Firstly, we need to further strengthen human capital at all levels of the agricultural innovation ecosystem. This requires massive investment in training and capacity building for all actors in the ecosystem. Furthermore, it is a question of developing human capital, but also of supporting the rich ecosystem of start-ups by encouraging the involvement of young people in incubators and accelerators. It is also a question of promoting the success stories of agricultural entrepreneurship, which is the only way, in my opinion, to encourage these young future African entrepreneurs. The second way to encourage innovation among farmers is to bring digital technologies to less-favoured regions, to ensure a greater impact. Today, unfortunately, digitalisation only concerns farmers who are part of more integrated value chains. To achieve equitable growth, these digital technologies need to be more inclusive. In this context, digital literacy programmes, training in digital technologies applied to agriculture, among others, should be implemented. The third pillar is, in my opinion, the creation of consortia or strong alliances between key players in the agricultural ecosystem or value chain. The challenge is to promote co-investment. The challenge is for all stakeholders to share experiences, but also knowledge. Experience has shown that real opportunities for an innovative and digitalised agriculture come from consolidating this kind of partnership around the farmer, but also from the mobilization of all actors, such as governments, NGOs, investors, universities and research institutes.  BRUZZONE: Mr Jamali, you mentioned the importance of technology in Africa today. Africa is going through a digital transformation that is impacting all sectors of the economy and agriculture is no exception. According to you how can technology transform the agricultural sector in Africa?  JAMALI: First of all, let me remind you that the Covid-19 pandemic, which we've all been experiencing for more than a year now, has brought abrupt changes in African food systems. First, there were disruptions to exports and food chains after borders were closed. African small-scale farmers have struggled, unfortunately without the tools or capacity to adapt to the new situation. Seasonal workers have also been affected, as we have seen by on the ground observation, since they became increasingly rare to find during periods of confinement. Also, it was observed that social distance measures made it even more difficult for farmers and cooperatives to connect with markets and consumers and, ultimately, these same consumers were forced to change their consumption behaviour. That said, we strongly believe that these disruptions can be mitigated by digital technologies. The application of advanced technologies has the potential to transform the agricultural sector in a profound way. To illustrate this, I wanted to mention that within OCP Group we have embraced the use of digital technologies to help local agricultural cooperatives and local farmers communicate with their suppliers on the one hand, and with their customers on the other. This is done through an application that we are rolling out in Nigeria today. Through this application, we are facilitating farmers' access to information about inputs and their suppliers, but also to information that is related to the market by providing access to financing, insurance and to advisory services.  BRUZZONE: Very well, thank you very much for that answer. To conclude, Mr. Jamali, I would like to come back to this inescapable subject of the Covid-19 pandemic which has very unfortunately impacted negatively a large part of the planet, but that has nevertheless, opened up some opportunities in certain economic sectors. According to you, what were the main opportunities that emerged in the African agricultural sector during this covid-19 pandemic?  JAMALI: Today, the pandemic is prompting us to support the sustainability and growth of the sector through innovation, through digitalisation and to completely rethink food supply chains in order to ensure food security in an era of population growth that we are experiencing.  Women and young people, unfortunately, are likely to feel the impact of the pandemic on agriculture more strongly as they are the most vulnerable. By investing in the training, capacity building of women and youth in the agriculture sector, inequalities are not only amortised, but poverty is also reduced. Moreover, this created jobs, which helps improve the economies of the countries. Today, African farmers have the capacity to feed the world. Today, the continent, as everybody knows, is home to 60 to 65 percent of the world's uncultivated arable land. Africa has ten percent of the world's renewable freshwater resources. Over the last three years, it has also been recorded, that agricultural production has grown by an impressive 160 per cent. While the world's population continues to soar, we are talking about 9 to 9.5bn by 2050, the demand for agricultural food products continues to grow. If this trend continues, the amount of food grown will only feed half of this population by 2050. The rapid increase in food production will create new growth opportunities for Africa. In my view, the pandemic is an opportunity for all of us Africans, from governments to small farmers, as we have the opportunity to re-evaluate and rethink the way we operate. There are several areas of resilience that need to be addressed in order to deal with the threat of the pandemic, and of future ones. I can mention a few of them. Firstly, the challenge is to increase the agricultural population by keeping young people on the farms to boost the innovation, entrepreneurship and digitalisation effort. This also involves building the capacities of small-scale African farmers, with a particular focus on women and young people. One of the key axes for the resilience of the sector would be to promote the technical and energy autonomy of farms while adopting a rational management of inputs and water. It is also necessary to diversify the varieties grown on African farms and to develop autonomous seed production while preserving agricultural land. In addition, it is necessary to develop storage capacities and tools that allow farmers to carry out the primary processing of crops locally. Finally, one of the key elements to achieve greater resilience is to connect small farmers to all financing actors, to inclusive insurance actors, but also to markets, allowing them to understand the needs of the market, of consumers in terms of quality, of time and in terms of price. Thank you very much.  BRUZZONE: Thank you very much for your participation.   

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 both the opportunities and the challenges that the sector faces in the North-African country and discussed with OBG some of the key topics regarding the Ministry's development, especially in the middle of a global pandemic. The main objectives for the Ministry's creation, the role for private investment in the Algerian pharmaceutical sector and the regulatory framework for R&D are some of the topics discussed with Minister Benbahmed during this vidcast. Algeria benefits a strategic location that can allow the country to further export pharmaceutical products to Sub-Saharan Africa, taking advantage of its installed production capacity, historical know-how and availability of a young talent pool. This will also improve the attractiveness for foreign investment in the sector, a key component to enhance the sector as a whole, as well as developing local R&D, an area open to international collaboration. ‘'The purpose of the creation of the Ministry of Pharmaceutical Industry is to build a sector that creates wealth and, above all, that defines pharmaceutical policies that are both coherent from a regulatory and economic perspective'' mentioned Lotfi Benbahmed during this talk. See below English translation of the audio: Bernardo: My name is Bernardo Bruzzone and I'm Oxford Business Group's Regional Editor for Africa. Today I'll be speaking with Mr. Lotfi Benbahmed, minister of pharmaceutical industry of Algeria. Minister, thank you very much for being with us today, first of all I would like to know what are the priorities of this ministry of pharmaceutical industry of which you are in charge. Minister: The objective is for pharmaceutical products not to be considered simply as a burden for health systems, but rather a sector that can be a lever of growth for the country, a creator of wealth. Not only by creating added value through production but also through a pharmaceutical policy that is genuinely assertive with clear objectives, with a legal and regulatory arsenal. So a policy that is both coherent from a regulatory and economic point of view that would enable the creation of the necessary ingredients in Algeria. The objective is not only to create a sector that responds to the availability, accessibility and quality of pharmaceutical products but also, to be a lever of growth for the country, a sector creator of wealth, of added value, of economic growth and an exports sector. It is not an original model, but one that already exists around the world, it was South Korea's choice fifteen years ago, and it's a model that has had spectacular acceptance. We've also seen this model in the Anglo-Saxon systems where very often, the pharmaceutical sector and health care sector are separated. There's of course, a totally different approach, an approach that is more integrated. In our organisation, when the pharmaceutical sector was managed by the health sector it was managed by a direction. Today we have a full-time ministry with six technical directorates, and two administrative directors. We are talking not only about regulation as we did before, but also about strategic planning, industrial development, clinical trials, export, digitisation, etc. Therefore, a plan of action had been proposed in July, in view of creating this ministry, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers. Then there was an amendment to the health law that transferred all the prerogatives related to pharmaceutical products at all levels from the ministry of health to the ministry of pharmaceutical industry. We deal with the product, the ministry of health is in charge of medical attention, so, everything regarding patients, such as procedures related to the health card, pharmacies, hospital training, and medical laboratories. On the other hand, everything regarding the medication circuit such as its registration, its expertise, its quality, clinical trials, production, distribution and importation depends exclusively on the ministry of pharmaceutical industry, to which we have added beyond the prerogatives of the ministry of health, some of the prerogatives of the ministry of industry and trade, such as pricing policy and the pharmaceutical industrial strategy. Thus, the objective is to create a sector that generates wealth, and above all, to define a pharmaceutical policy that is both regulatory and economic coherent. Bernardo: What role can foreign investors play in the development of the pharmaceutical sector in Algeria? Minister: We were in a system that, effectively promoted production for several years by protecting national production as products that were manufactured locally and that were available were not always imported, so this allowed foreign investors to ensure significant market shares when they produced locally. But beyond that, today our objective is to create an industry, as I said earlier, that creates added value, it is not simply a matter of doing industrial real estate at a given time. At one point we were multiplying industrial units without having an analysis of the added value that was created and we could draw the parallel with the automobile industry at a time when certain cars that were assembled in Algeria were more expensive than the cars that had been previously brought into the country. Hence, today the concern of our government is that for all the industries, the industry corresponds to the real creation of added value and that it's not just a dogmatic policy, but something that brings added value. So, we acted quickly we a legal arsenal to regulate pharmaceutical sector in Algeria, as the previous one was obsolete because it existed since the law of 85, so for more than 30 years. Thus, in the first place it was necessary to set up the national agency for pharmaceutical products, to set up the accreditation and registration decrees, the intersectoral price committee, in which we put in place the main lines of action for the accelerated registration of products that interested us, such as oncology products with high added economic or health value. This also included the possibility of registering products for export. We have created the conditions for Algeria to become export paradise for pharmaceuticals, and we are working both at the level of price fixing for exports, as well as for the ease of registration and producing medicines for export. Decrees that included the framework that regulates pharmaceutical activities, were issued and later adopted. Hence, a new definition of the pharmaceutical establishment has been put into place, containing new specifications of charges for the import, export and distribution of products. As for the external actors, they will now find a clear and transparent regulatory framework that will fully digitised by the end of the year, where they can find out exactly what they can do, how they can do it, as the rules of the game are completely transparent and clear. Our main objective is to create wealth in Algeria, so we want to have win-win relations with the laboratories and since our prerogatives were given in October, and since the first months through the regulation that we implemented we realised that indeed, in terms of import or production, there were important flaws: products that were imported and expired in Algeria, products that were insufficiently imported when we needed them. Thus, we put in place through the new regulation, a real pharmaceutical responsibility as it exists in many development countries parts of the world, with an agency, where pharmaceutical products are handled by the establishment in terms of quality, regulation, availability of pharmaceutical products. Regarding, added value what's important, is that we have set up a system that allows to promote what is created in Algeria because at one point we had companies that would produce in Algeria but that would sell us their raw materials 300 times more expensive than other competitors. This means that the value added was extrernalised to the country of origin and Algeria wouldn't benefit from it. Even if the products even if they were not sold, they could expired on Algerian territory, and at 300 times the price, so we were in an outward-looking economy. Bernardo: Finally, can you tell us a little bit about Algeria's place as a regional and international actor in the pharmaceutical industry? Minister: We have some compelling strengths, first of all, in terms of the relocation of production, which at the time of the pandemic was cruelly felt by Europe. We have the proximity to Europe which would allowed them to localise a certain amount of production, as we have perhaps the cheapest in energy the world, accessible human resources that are very well-trained in pharmacy, and we have 12 universities that have pharmaceutical programmes. Algeria is now known for exporting its medical staff throughout Europe and the world, so we have a high academic level, which has allowed us to create this industry and we also have the biggest market in Africa of €4bn between import and production. Therefore, between this market, and setting up of platforms for production, which before meant the creation of a production unit, but tomorrow it could be research and development, it could be the nature of manufacturing, it could be licensing with local operators who do the processing. We are open to everything, as we have seen with vaccination in the world it's often a start-up or a well-known laboratory that subcontracts the manufacturing of these products. The gateway to a country is the registration of local products and we don't longer calculate the out-of factory price. What we do is we take a look the integration rate, we take out the imported inputs and divide it by the cost price and then multiply by 100 and you obtain the integration rate of a product. It is a government policy which is already used by the ministry of industry. At the ministry of the pharmaceutical industry we are using this formula and we have added the export rate, that is to say that registration decisions will be renewed according to the rate of integration and so our local producers will tend to produce more. We are creating a movement that will lead them to increase their integration rates. As for certain classic products we're going from a high of 80/90% and then we'll stagnate. For some products that we don't we don't master, we'll start at perhaps 30% and it will increase as we go along. But this integration rate has been included into the price-fixing regulation of the inter-sectoral, and inter-ministerial committees. We have now have the task of setting up the pricing and economic policy, so the integration rate is completely integrated. Regarding raw materials, there is an interest in producing certain materials and a lesser interest in producing others. It depends on the cost of the raw material, of inputs, and it may be possible to locally produce some inputs because we have mineral resources, carbonates or some minerals that could be transformed in Algeria. In any case, we are working on this, it's a fundamental axis. This is an opportunity for many industries in the world as the pharmaceutical industry is not just the product, it's all the inputs, what goes with it the industry, and we are in the process of creating a whole industry that makes inputs, to make the sterile vials used for injectables. We've found it ridiculous that we had a great number of print shops in Algeria, and many, due to ignorance of the local market, continued to import cases, when they could have been manufactured locally as these products were also being exported. We were part of a system that was not integrated at all, so the whole point of having created this ministry is to have a complete, a global economic vision that not puts first, the interest of protecting the public because the creation of the ministry emanates from the health law. There can be several ministries in a state that protect and are there to protect emanate from the health law. In Algeria, these ministries are the ministry of health and the ministry of pharmaceutical industry, and for our part, we remain on this logic of protecting public health with a vision of economic coherence and development of the country. Look, we are the leading producers in the region, it doesn't seem like much, but you could see in value and number of boxes and you will see that Algeria's production exceeds Morocco and Tunisia combined, by far. Also, in number of industrial units as well, that follow international standards. This recent industrial fabric that abides to international standards is the first market in Africa, the first producer in the region by far, which allows us to have us to have the legitimate ambition to be a local reference. It was quite paradoxical to be the leading producer and to have production units whose registration was blocked under the old system. Currently, there are hundreds of products that will greatly increase our range, those for therapeutic use, such as sterile injectables, insulin and oncology products that will be on the market in 2021 and 2022. This will enable us to reach the target of 70% of our priority needs, we will achieve this, but beyond this we have the ambition to be only country to have these industrial capacities. Our territory and our market will become too narrow for our industrialists and they project themselves naturally. As I said, we have strengths such as our strategic location, the cost of our energy, our human resources and our legislation. If a learned society made a comparison between our pharmaceutical field and what exists in other countries, you would see that there is innovation, openness and that we offer possibilities.

  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 tourism and hospitality sector which was hit hard by the pandemic. However, internal tourism is gaining traction due to positive consumer confidence in Egypt and while international travel restrictions remain in place. Regarding real estate, there is an increasingly collaborative relationship between lenders and the sector, which will boost financing, therefore helping developers expedite their current activities and increase the scope of their projects. Egypt's banking sector has one of the lowest loan-to-deposit ratios of most developing countries which means there is more space for financing to have an increasing central role in the sector. Above all, this is driven by the fundamental need for projects, given Egypt's growing population. Therefore over the next few years, this trend is only set to continue, as strong demand for projects including the new fourth generation cities remains in tandem with ample liquidity. Before the pandemic, Egypt was lagging behind in terms of digitalisation, however over the past 12 months it has transformed significantly across many sectors and industries. One of the most noticable is the remote working trend, which has allowed the economy to keep functioning without negatively affecting productivity. Many businesses across the country are maintaining this setup permanently, therefore cutting the need to spend on office space and leaving more funds for other activities. Looking ahead, Egypt's near and long term economic output is positive, especially when compared to other countries in the region.This is mainly down to its domestic economy, which is the source of most of the growth. International factors, at least in the short term, are set to rebound more slowly than domestic factors as tourism and Suez Canal traffic are both down on pre-pandemic levels. More broadly, the fact that the country was unique in the MENA region in retaining positive economic growth is an important indicator of its overall resilience, and in light of the factors discussed during the vidcast, the economy's robust nature is likely to continue into the near term. Oxford Business Group would like to thank Tarek Madany, managing director of Global Appraisal Tech (GAT) and Ahmed Shalaby, president and CEO of Tatweer Misr, for their contributions to the vidcast.  

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 manufacturing firms adapted to the unexpected challenges to ensure business continuity and employee wellbeing. As policymakers and business leaders seek to stimulate a recovery, the discussion explores potentially lasting retail and e-commerce trends that have emerged in South-east Asia's largest economy during the pandemic, and examines the appeal of Indonesia as a location for manufacturing firms seeking to diversify supply chains away from China. Looking further ahead, the vidcast ends by asking if Indonesia is likely to emerge from the disruption with a renewed focus on the green economy and environmental commitments at the corporate level, and ponders whether a rise in e-commerce activity can be compatible with sustainability.      The Indonesia Covid-19 Response Report, produced in partnership with PT Mowilex Indonesia, forms part of a wide range of specialist research and advisory tools produced by Oxford Business Group that explores the impact of the coronavirus on emerging markets.   

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 categories of the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business metrics. As a result, the state has attracted key investments in recent years, including major agro-industrial, automotive manufacturing and mining projects, as well as infrastructure upgrades. Governor El-Rufai also discussed the progress achieved in Kaduna's internally generated revenue, going from N13bn in 2015 to N44bn in 2019, with the state on track to achieve N50bn even as Covid-19 slows down business activity across the country. The targets were mainly reached by streamlining the tax collection process and making it more business-friendly, efficient and transparent without having to raise taxes. Kaduna State is also in the process of carrying out an infrastructure master plan, which involves the upgrading of both physical and social infrastructure. Thanks to upgrades in roads, housing, transportation, energy systems, green spaces and recreational centres, the state aims to create jobs, improve the welfare of its citizens and bring down the cost of doing business.  

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 implications not only for the sector but also for the public and private sectors' efforts of digital transformation across the economy. The research initiatives, in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, will provide an in-depth analysis of Egypt's response to the pandemic from public and private sector actors using statistics, case studies, and detailed written analysis compiled from numerous discussions with key business leaders in the sector.  ICT in particular is of utmost importance given that digital communication has been one of the key pillars of ensuring people could work safely yet effectively during the pandemic as well as being a key enabler of ensuring the country's large population was able to access the goods and services it required. In light of its positive outlook for the rest of 2020 in conjunction with a dynamic evolution of its digitalisation efforts implemented prior to Covid-19, Egypt's ICT sector is set to become among the most central in the country in the near term. This has made it even more important for the business community to hear directly from key decision makers such as Minister Talaat, in vidcasts such as this OBG Talk.  

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, treatment' containment strategy and deployed drones to deliver samples to testing centres. These efforts ensured that Ghana had some of the highest testing rates in the region. The Vice-President also laid out the steps Ghana has taken to build the country's domestic industrial capacity and deepen self-reliance. Bawumia characterised the successful mobilisation of local industry to meet demands for personal protective equipment as an 'eye-opener'. Following this experience, the government has committed itself to directing government procurement as much as possible to local industry.  Building on the 'Ghana Beyond Aid' vision, the government has identified further investment in industry, infrastructure and food security as key drivers of the economic recovery. In the interview, Bawumia outlines the GHS100bn Covid-19 alleviation and revitalisation of enterprises support (CARES) programme, which is intended to provide employment, enable economic recovery and create business opportunities. The interview will be featured in the upcoming Ghana Covid-19 Response Report which OBG is producing in collaboration with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre. The Report will include an overview of the economic situation prior to the pandemic, a detailed analysis of the government's response, the road towards recovery and the way that Ghana is reinventing itself in the face of the challenges and opportunities provided by Covid-19.   

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 framework of the first Morocco Covid-19 Response Report, produced in partnership with the Moroccan Investment and Export Development Agency, which provides an in-depth analysis of Morocco's response to the pandemic through key data, case studies, infographics and an exclusive survey carried out with the country's business community. The agility and anticipation with which Morocco moved in to mitigate the effects of the crisis have enabled it to gradually ease Covid-19 related restrictions and slowly resume economic activity. While businesses at large witnessed somewhat of a slowdown at the start of the outbreak, most took a collaborative approach to support national efforts in the fight against Covid-19 with players in the textile sector, for example, coming together to manufacture protective masks to help meet domestic and international demand. Having set the foundations prior to Covid-19 to develop its digital and green economy, Morocco was well placed when the pandemic arose to take on challenges head on, making considerable progress in streamlining administrative procedures and ensuring citizens were able to safely access essential goods. Watch the interview below in French, or click here to watch with English voice over  

  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 open, they may result in the inadvertent acceleration of structural changes in these economies, particularly in relation to digitalisation. Government responses across the region- in terms of both public health and macroeconomic policies- have also been varied. From Mexico- whose president was initially reluctant to implement strict lockdown measures and action a comprehensive fiscal stimulus package- to Peru, which moved swiftly to lock down, close its borders to travellers, and provided an economic stimulus equivalent to around 12% of GDP. There are geopolitical implications from this too, as countries such as Mexico and Colombia could stand to benefit from rising tensions between the US and China as well as a potential move from many global manufacturing firms to relocate more of their supply chains closer to the US. As with other emerging markets, the economic and social impact of the pandemic is likely to be damaging to the region's economies. However, these resulting structural changes may eventually lead to some benefits in the long run by allowing Latin American economies to become more competitive on a global scale.

    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 hit. Importantly, however, ongoing economic diversification agendas have meant that different economies are affected to different degrees. Countries with established industrial bases have been able to better weather the storm and minimise supply chain disruptions. However, almost all consider access to raw materials and transport and logistics to be major continuing challenges during this pandemic. Bringing about solutions to these obstacles will be key to ensuring that self-sufficiency and access to basic necessities and essential goods are guaranteed. Technology and innovation have occupied a central role in that regard over the past few weeks, with most companies currently engaged in some form of digital upgrade to keep operations going despite reduced capacity. The momentum is expected to continue in the aftermath of the pandemic, led primarily by financial services and education. The road to recovery will be paved in phases, however, and only half of the CEOs surveyed anticipate business to fully resume by September 2020. With the recent drop in oil prices, recovery plans are likely to be more heavily impacted in oil-producing countries. Click here to download the full results of the Africa Covid-19 CEO Survey.

  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 Group witnessed first-hand how the technology and financial sectors are emerging as enablers and change agents for sustainability. In this episode of the OBG Talk podcast recorded at SFF x Switch, regional editor for Asia Patrick Cooke chats with Edwin Chow, Assistant CEO, Innovation & Enterprise, Enterprise Singapore, and Robert Opp, Chief Digital Officer at the UN Development Programme, about the prospects for open innovation initiatives to prosper against a backdrop of rising protectionism and a damaging trade dispute between the world's two major economies. To wrap things up, Justo Ortiz, chairman of Union Bank of the Philippines, expands on the tangible impact his bank's new fintech innovations could have on the lives of ordinary Filipinos, in a country where more than three quarters of the adult population is unbanked and broadband and 4G penetration lags behind many other ASEAN countries.

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.

To find out more about the OBG investment challenge, please email obginvestmentchallenge@oxfordbusinessgroup.com. The winner of Oxford Business Group's first ever investment challenge has expanded on the method behind his first-placed entry in a podcast interview. Jofer Princesa, an MBA Regis scholar at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business in Manila, emerged as the champion of the inaugural OBG Investment Challenge. The competition was open to all post-graduate students at the prestigious school, known as a breeding ground for some of the Philippines' most successful corporate leaders. Speaking with OBG's Regional Editor for Asia, Patrick Cooke, Princesa explains how he approached the task of indentifying the OBG country and sector that offered the most promising opportunity for FDI over the next 10 years. Like the other participants, Princesa was given unlimited access to OBG's online research terminal for the duration of the competition, allowing him to make an informed decision on where to invest and why. Ultimately, he put forward a proposal for FDI into toll roads in Indonesia, and he expands more in the podcast on why Indonesia's favourable demographics, positive macroeconomic indicators and considerable infrastructure gaps led him in this direction. The OBG Investment Challenge was designed to encourage the Philippines' next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders to think globally and seek out lucrative opportunities for investment beyond their own country. In particular, it aimed to help them identify challenges and opportunities that are common across what OBG terms “the yellow slice of the global pie” – its portfolio of small- and mid-size economies growing collectively as fast as the original BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) states. Following the success of this pilot challenge, OBG plans to partner with more leading business schools and universities across its coverage countries, encouraging the next generation to practice their capital allocation skills in taking that bigger bite of the yellow slice of the pie.

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 seek to generate sufficient state revenues from the country's resource wealth while also ensuring a reliable nationwide energy supply to support the growth of industries and meet the needs of aspirational citizens.    On a recent visit to Jakarta, OBG's regional editor for Asia, Patrick Cooke, met with energy expert Darmawan Prasodjo, who is the deputy chief of staff responsible for energy and infrastructure oversight in the office of the president and also commissioner of state electricity firm PT PLN (Persero).  Their lively podcast discussion focused on the potential for investment in Indonesia's upstream assets, the impact of so-called ‘resource nationalisation' policies on international investor sentiment, the prospects for further improvements in the business environment in order to ease the process of developing power plants, and possible changes in Indonesia's energy mix.    

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 largest economy now that he is free from electoral constraints. On a recent visit to Jakarta, OBG's regional editor for Asia, Patrick Cooke, met with Thomas Lembong, chairman of the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), to discuss which sectors are ripe for more foreign participation, as well as exploring how the Jokowi 2.0 administration can meet the aspirations of Indonesia's vast population through policies that promote inclusive growth and sustainable investments.

Following a turbulent period in PNG politics, new Prime Minister James Marape made his first public address to the business community during PNG Investment Week 2019. Speaking in refreshingly honest terms about the country's economic challenges, the prime minister also laid out an optimistic vision for capitalising on Papua New Guinea's abundance of natural resources to promote economic diversification and sustainable, inclusive growth. In the latest OBG podcast, Regional Editor for Asia, Patrick Cooke, and Editorial Manager for PNG, Tjeerd Ritmeester, got together at the end of a busy week to reflect on how the business community is likely to respond to the PM's pronouncements and discuss the key takeaways from PNG Investment Week 2019.

    After a dramatic week in the trade dispute between Mexico and the US, some form of rapprochement seems to have been reached and the threat of trade tariffs by the US has been withdrawn. What is the dispute really about, what does it mean for business and investor sentiment, and what are the domestic political implications for López Obrador and Trump?  OBG's Editor-in-Chief, Oliver Cornock and Latin America Editor, Harry Van Schaick discuss all the developments in the latest OBG Podcast.

With the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) closer than ever to becoming a reality, the results of Oxford Business Group's Business Barometer in Africa have shown that the continent's business community is upbeat about the deal, with the largest majority of the survey respondents saying it will have a positive or very positive impact on intra-regional levels. Oliver Cornock, Oxford Business Group's Editor-in-Chief, is joined in this podcast by Souhir Mzali, the company's Regional Editor for Africa, to discuss the implications of the deal and survey results. Mzali explains some of the reasons driving optimism among business leaders and investors in Africa and highlights the key challenges that will need to be addressed to allow initiatives such as the AfCFTA to come to fruition. Africa has much to offer especially when it comes to human resources with an estimated 60% of its population under the age of 24. Cornock and Mzali discuss the different steps that need to be taken in order to generate the required employment for the continent's increasingly growing labour pool and the role digital transformation will play in shaping the jobs of tomorrow. 

As Indonesia gears up for Presidential polls in 2019, Oxford Business Group's recent CEO survey of Jakarta-based executives showed that corporate decision-makers remain upbeat despite the country's vulnerability to capital flight.  Facing headwinds from US interest rate hikes, the global trade war and electoral uncertainty, Indonesian CEOs appear optimistic that the G20 economy is strong enough to withstand current pressures.       Patrick Cooke, Oxford Business Group's Regional Editor for Asia, is joined in this podcast by Khairul Anwar, Enterprise Singapore's Regional Group Director (Indonesia), to discuss and contextualise the results of the survey.   Anwar offers the Singapore perspective on why Indonesia remains an attractive investment destination, underpinned by its vast, consumer-driven internal market and efforts by the current Jokowi administration to tackle the country's significant infrastructure deficit.   Taking into account Singapore's status as a global leader in education and innovation, the pair also discuss the skills gaps in the Indonesian workforce identified by survey participants and reflect on the progress being made in preparing the country's young population for the demands of the rapidly evolving economy. With Indonesian CEOs identifying trade protectionism as the biggest external risk the country faces, Cooke and Khairul also focus on the impact of the US-China trade dispute and President Trump's ‘America First' mandate on ASEAN's largest economy.   Read also: The Report: Indonesia 2018  

  The eyes of the world are turning towards Papua New Guinea as it prepares to host the APEC Economic Leaders' Week, the biggest ever international event on its soil.  Starting on November 12, the week-long event is the culmination of PNG's 2018 chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.   As Port Moresby buzzes with activity ahead of the arrival of political heavyweights such as Chinese President Xi Jingping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Vice President Mike Pence, many international observers are asking what the event means for the Pacific nation host, and how can it capitalise on the international spotlight for long-term benefits.  With these questions in mind, Patrick Cooke, Oxford Business Group's Regional Editor for Asia, spoke with Tjeerd Ritmeester, OBG's Editorial Manager in PNG, to get a sense of how hosting preparations have changed the face of the capital, and whether the business community in PNG is ready to take advantage of the exposure and networking opportunities provided.  Another area of discussion is APEC 2018's theme of ‘Harnessing inclusive opportunities and embracing the digital future', and PNG's progress in digital transformation as it seeks to address severe development challenges. Taking into account the current international climate of protectionism, they also explore the implications of the US president's decision not to attend the summit, and the extent to which China is filling a regional leadership vacuum created by Trump's indifference.  Finally, our analysts look ahead to see how Papua New Guinea can ensure a meaningful and lasting legacy from its year-long chairmanship of this high-level, multilateral forum.  Read also: The Report: Papua New Guinea 2018  

Despite a rising tide of international trade protectionism and ongoing political uncertainty at home, a notable majority of executives who participated in OBG's second ever Thailand Business Barometer indicated that their firms planned significant capital investments in the year ahead.   To contextualise the results of the survey of over 100 C-suite executives based in Bangkok, OBG's Regional Editor for Asia, Patrick Cooke, met with the UK's Trade Envoy to Thailand, Myanmar and Brunei, Paul Scully MP, to discuss some of the key findings in a podcast.  During their meeting at the Department for International Trade in Whitehall, the pair debated whether Thai executives' appetite for investment was likely to be satisfied in their domestic market or if they would increasingly look abroad for opportunities in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region and even as far afield as the UK itself.  They also discussed the risks and opportunities for Thailand from the emergence of China as ASEAN's top trade partner, and explored ways in which UK firms might assist Thailand in bridging skills gaps and preparing its workforce for the demands of an innovation-led economy.    While the discussion was most mostly focused on the results of the survey, they also found time to talk about the UK's post-Brexit strategy for increasing trade and investment flows with Thailand and the wider Southeast Asian region. Read also: The Report: Thailand 2018 Click here to see the results from other OBG CEO surveys conducted face-to-face with business leaders across the emerging world.  

Mexico came off positively after the election of left wing populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador. However much markets and the peso strengthened in the days following the election, the finer details of the president-elect's economic plan for the following six years remain uncertain. Elected largely on his strong anti-establishment, anti neoliberal rhetoric, AMLO (as he is otherwise known) has shown signs of a more pragmatic economic approach since his victory. With another 5 months before his administration officially starts, the run up to 1st December will prove vital for markets and investors to gauge the trajectory of the Mexico's next political and economic chapter.  

Against a backdrop of China's rebalancing towards consumption-driven growth and the looming threat of global trade war, executives who participated in the inaugural Business Barometer: OBG in ASEAN CEO survey were resolutely positive  about the regional prospects for expansion and investment in the near future. To digest and contextualise the results of the survey of over 550 C-suite executives in 6 out 10 ASEAN member states, OBG's Regional Editor for Asia, Patrick Cooke, analysed some of the key findings in a podcast with Ivan Tan, Enterprise Singapore 's Global Markets Director for Southeast Asia. They discuss how concerted efforts  to tackle the region's vast infrastructure deficit  are combining with favourable demographics and a burgeoning middle class  to boost business confidence and create fertile ground for private sector investment. Read also: The Report: Myanmar 2018 The pair also explores the external risks that threaten to derail the region's momentum, looking at why survey respondents were fearful of a slowdown in Chinese demand and what new opportunities  are emerging from China's rebalancing towards a so-called “high quality” growth model. At the same time, they acknowledge that risk perceptions may have changed since the survey was conducted due to the imminent threat of a high-level trade war between the world's two biggest economies, a scenario they both agree would be negative for ASEAN despite potentially creating some positive openings in certain sectors.         Regardless of the wide disparities in the business environments of ASEAN member states, as evidenced in the survey, Tan was confident the bloc was moving in the right direction in creating the rules-based architecture necessary for the formation and functioning of a cohesive single market, as envisioned in the ASEAN Economic Community 2025 blueprint . Click here  to see the results from other OBG CEO surveys conducted face-to-face with business leaders across the emerging world.

In this our second podcast, Asia Editor, Patrick Cooke, catches up with Philippines Editorial Manager, Jean-Pierre Salendres, in Manila to discuss the economic outlook for ASEAN's third largest economy in 2018. From the passage of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN), to the ramping up of the Build Build Build infrastructure programme, our experts discuss what President Rodrigo Duterte's economic agenda means for international investors and Filipino businesses and consumers. Questions still remain about the extent to which infrastructure projects in the pipeline will be opened to private participation, with the administration so far showing a clear preference for Official Development Assistance (ODA) over Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). Meanwhile, international investors still await news of what restrictions on international participation will be eased in the long awaited update of the Foreign Investment Negative List. Our discussion also touches on how investor sentiment may be affected by the so-called “War on Drugs” and the continuation of martial law in the southern island of Mindanao. However, for all the challenges, the Philippines remains a remarkable success story and is forecast by the World Bank to remain one of the fastest growing economies in ASEAN through 2020. Our experts conclude that the inherent advantages the country enjoys, coupled with concerted efforts to address the glaring infrastructure gaps and streamline taxation revenues, will see the country maintain its positive trajectory in the year ahead.

With major changes and a big crack-down on alleged corruption in Saudi Arabia, concerns have been raised as to why now and what this means for investors.  Oliver Cornock, Editor-in-Chief, at Oxford Business Group discusses the implications, timing and motivations behind them.

In this, Oxford Business Group's inaugural podcast, our Editor-in-Chief and regional editors assess the lie of the world's economic landscape 10 years after the global economic crisis. From the continued rise of the Chinese economy and the commodities price cycle, to the political jolts resulting from Donald Trump's election last year, our editors look at what it all means for the developing economies. In many cases the picture is far from rosy; the emerging markets have been hit particularly hard by the slowdown in the commodities cycle and more broadly by moderating global growth and a challenging geopolitical environment. This has lead to the slew of investors attracted into high-growth African markets in the wake of the crash subsiding, and the continent's two biggest markets going into recession in the last two years. The knock-on is also apparent in the Gulf economies, where lower oil prices have lead to significant economic and social reform. But despite these challenges, our editors conclude that it is still these emerging and frontier markets that are set to drive global growth. The centre of the world's economic gravity has continued to track steadily eastwards, as countries across Latin America, Africa and the Middle East re-orientate their trading patterns and FDI outflows towards the expanding middle-class populations of markets like Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, not to mention China. Our editors discuss the future of globalisation and the ability of the emerging market trading blocs to successfully integrate themselves into each other's economies in the years ahead.