Emerging Markets

RUSSIA     Headline risk in Russia returned with a vengeance over the summer as global oil major BP struggled with its Russian partners over control of its TNK-BP oil company joint venture. After an extended battle, the head of ...

AFRICA           Kenya's mobile communications industry flourishes following IPO of Safaricom. A June IPO by Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom was oversubscribed by 532%, according to Kenya’s finance minister Amos Kimunya. The government exercised a provision allowing ...

TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK COUNTRY REPORT / INDONESIA Indonesia has made great improvements recently but some persistent problems are still holding it back.     Clear skies ahead? Jakarta has worked hard to improve access for foreign investors. ...

COMPANY TO WATCH: PT ADARO ENERGY/INDONESIA     Jakarta-based PT Adaro Energy, the holding company of Indonesia’s second-largest coal producer, raised $1.32 billion in the country’s biggest initial public offering ever by selling 34.8% of its share capital. PT Danatama ...

URUGUAY               Danilo Astori: Businesses' "darling" in presidential race.   Unable to seek reelection, Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez has tipped his finance and economy minister to be the ruling Frente Amplio (FA) coalition’s candidate ...

TURKEY       Coskun Ulusoy: Army pension fund looks beyond Turkey, but not Asia.   While pension funds in Europe and other parts of the world are being told to raise their game in order to make up investment ...

NEWS     KSK Emerging India Energy Fund (KEF) raised $200 million in June on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM). It was the fourth India-focused company to raise funds on AIM in as many weeks. The equity offering came at ...

INDIA/UNITED STATES               Global Finance's sponsored charity, Amrit Davaa, delousing children at Manjushree orphanage.       In early June Global Finance’s partner charity Amrit Davaa embarked on its second mission to Tawang, a ...

INDIA               RBI governor YV Reddy may tighten interest rates.   Indian banks have continued to grow credit at a very rapid pace since the start of the new fiscal year on April 1. ...

RUSSIA               Russia's new president Dmitry Medvedev, on his first international outing, with German leader Angela Merkel.   Newly anointed Russian president Dmitry Medvedev used his first foreign visit—to Germany—to signal the Kremlin’s continued ...

BRAZIL               Mantega: Expects wealth fund to grow sharply.   The Brazilian government increased its primary budget surplus by 0.5% of GDP, or some $7.9 billion, as part of a plan to finance its ...

A GIANT COUNTRY WITH GIANT CHALLENGES COUNTRY REPORT / KAZAKHSTAN Vast hydrocarbon reserves and financial regulators known for their toughness are helping Kazakhstan ride out an abrupt economic slowdown and a housing crunch. Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev at the opening ...

REGIONAL REPORT: GCC / ECONOMIC UPDATE     Currency pegs could come unglued as the region’s economies heat up.       Just when it seemed that it couldn’t get any better for the oil-rich countries of the Gulf Cooperation ...

MIDDLE EAST       Sustainable development: Abu Dhabi plans to create an eco-friendly city. Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, the world’s third-largest oil exporter, is building a $22 billion carbon-neutral city near its international airport. Known ...

DR NEWS     Global Investment House, an asset management and investment banking company operating in 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has become the first Kuwait-based company to issue depositary receipts. The issue of 35% ...

{loadposition Country_Skyscraper_Left} GENERAL INFORMATION Time Zone Afghanistan, Kabul, Afghan, Afghans Total Area 2,381,741 (2006) km² Capital Algiers (2009) Currency Algerian dinars (DZD) (2009) Government type republic (2009) Languages Albania, Albanian, Tirana, Albanians Religions Africa Total population 35.44 million(2009 forecast) Urban ...

CHINA               Fuel up: China's rising inflation rate is causing official concern.       China and Taiwan agreed in June to open representative offices in each other’s capitals to promote better communication between ...

REGIONAL REPORT: GCC / COUNTRY PROFILE: QATAR   Qatar has plenty of gas for the long drive to becoming a knowledge-based economy.     Doha's constantly changing skyline illustrates Qatar's rapid growth.   Qatar has the world’s third-largest reserves of ...

REGIONAL REPORT: GCC / CAPITAL MARKETS The region’s biggest exchanges, in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are ready for liftoff.     Al Sowailim: Saudi Arabia offers great opportunities for global investors.   The volume of initial public offerings on ...

PARAGUAY     Lugo: Promising to improve Paraguay's international standing. Paraguayan president-elect Fernando Lugo, a former Catholic bishop, is the newest member of Latin America’s growing list of left-wing leaders. He faces serious challenges in a country that, until his ...