Emerging Markets

Milestones | Venezuela
Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, is being squeezed by low oil prices, and the government in Caracas is feeling the pain.

Capital Markets | Debt
Jaws dropped in June, when scandal-plagued Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company, announced plans to come to market with a 100-year bond. Who in their right mind would lend $2.5 billion for a century to an emerging markets company that in April wrote off $17 billion in overvalued assets and billions more in bribes?

Chile | For years Chile has been recognized as one of the best-performing emerging markets in the world. But a combination of external and internal factors have changed that.

Frontier Markets Report | Myanmar is wide open in terms of investment prospects, and its opportunities are luring investors—despite the risks.

Country Report | Egypt
Egypt may be on the verge of a major turnaround, as the most populous country in the Arab world looks set for sustained growth, lower unemployment and a manufacturing renaissance under president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

India | Indian prime minister Narendra Modi celebrated his one-year anniversary in office in May, but the jury is still out on whether he’ll justify the hope that has been invested his new government.

Saudi Arabia | When the Saudi Arabian stock market, or the Tadawul as it is known, opens to direct investment by qualified foreign institutions for the first time on June 15, it will begin a transformation of the biggest bourse in the Middle East.

Regional Report | The Caucasus
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, the nations that make up the region of the Caucasus, are all working hard to improve their business and economic climates, but with varying degrees of success.

Country Report | Turkey - Islamic Finance
Officials in Turkey have long declared their intentions to transform Istanbul into an international financial center. Islamic finance could be the key to making that goal a reality.

Global Finance had a chance to interview Sim Tshabalala in April. The joint chief executive of Standard Bank Group answered questions about Africa’s growth and the substantial demand for banking services on the continent.

Global Finance sat down with Luiz Carlos Angelotti, MD and head of investor relations at Brazil’s Banco Bradesco, to discuss the bank’s bullish approach to investing despite the country’s economic downturn.

Newsmakers | Nigeria
Nigeria’s presidential election proved the bookmakers both right and wrong.

Capital Markets | Fixed Income
Hungary’s biggest financial scandal, which broke earlier this year, involved the alleged issuance of more than $500 million of phony bonds by Quaestor Financial Hrurira. The brokerage was one of three firms charged with fraud.

Newsmakers | Israel
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s success among center-right political parties, which saw him recently elected for a fourth term, may have provided a stable political platform, but international pressure and recent social unrest could see the country change economic direction.

Regional Report | Africa
Africa’s story is no longer that of a continent with great potential.  Increasingly, the leaders and peoples of the continent, in collaboration with outsiders, are translating that potential into concrete achievements.

Frontier Markets Report | Oman
The sultanate’s proximity to the Gulf has long been an attraction. But with war in neighboring Yemen, its location could be a drawback.

Regional Report | Central & Eastern Europe
Although geopolitical risks are still keeping executives awake at night, there has been a remarkable turnaround in some countries of the region, thanks in large part to structural reforms—implemented early and strongly. 

Special Report | The Caribbean
The Caribbean’s economies are expected to improve this year on the back of growth in tourism, but the economic climate remains frail with the drop in oil prices proving a mixed bag for countries in the region.

Country Report | Morocco
With a diversified economic base and improving fundamentals, Morocco has a sound fiscal strategy and well-thought-out reform program to cut red tape and boost trade. But further reform, says the IMF, is needed.

Overview
The drop in oil prices is having varied effects in the Middle East. How countries respond could determine their long-term prospects.