Trade & Supply Chain

AFRICA 2014 | INTRA-AFRICA TRADE
The rise of the African consumer market is providing an opportunity for domestic companies to increase their footprint across the region.

TREASURY & CASH MANAGEMENT | ABOUT THE SUPPLEMENT
I would like to say that there has been a big change over the past year in terms of how companies are making use of their cash. But that is not the case.

TREASURY & CASH MANAGEMENT | PAYMENTS: POST-SEPA
The SEPA migration deadline may have passed, but most companies have yet to gain the full benefits offered by the Single Euro Payments Area initiative. Now would be a good time for treasurers to ask how they can get more out of their SEPA investments.

UNITED STATES
In its 2013 report to Congress, the Export-Import Bank of the United States says that its “overriding mission is to create and sustain American jobs by supporting US exports.” But that very mission is under threat, with House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling, among others, seeking to abolish the bank.

Events in Ukraine have changed the outlook for Russia. Now the country faces choices about its global role that could affect the rest of the world for decades. Which path will it take?

DEAR READER
Do ongoing conflicts and increasing geopolitical tensions represent a threat to globalization, or are they simply redesigning the map of the world?

 

Much has been made of the rush to reshore manufacturing operations by US and European companies over the past couple of years, but very few have brought significant production back home, and those that have, to much fanfare, have also done so in China, India and other markets.

The sixth round of talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union was held in Brussels on July 18 just as winds of political change have begun sweeping across the two continents.

The need for financing for supply-side firms continues to grow—particularly in emerging and frontier markets. More companies are looking to SCF to fill this gap.

SIBOS SUPERSECTION 2014 | SUPPLY CHAIN FINANCE
New SCF solutions are offering a range of tools to help suppliers manage working capital and diversify funding sources.

MILESTONES: EUROPE
African success story M-Pesa dials up Europe.

SECTOR REPORT: AGRIBUSINESS
As the world’s population expands and diets improve in some of the most populous countries, agri-businesses must grow at a strong clip to keep up with demand.

Fast-paced developments in China and overseas are bolstering the renminbi’s international expansion.

ROOM TO GROW Moderated by Andrea Fiano At a roundtable in Taipei, Global Finance brought together key figures in Taiwan’s banking and finance industry to discuss the emergence of the country as an offshore renminbi center and other regional economic ...

Inter-Asian trade will lead the agenda items at this year’s annual Asian Development Bank meeting, to be held May 2-5, 2014, in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Multinational corporations lobbied hard for preferential agreements under proposed Asian and European trade pacts. But the result may be more than they bargained for.

Earning a profit making food has become harder thanks to the sluggish global economy and unpredictable raw material costs. A new study by Paris-based management consultancy Solving Efeso finds that the volatility of commodity prices has risen 9% to 20% ...

LOCATION: LONDON, UK Global Finance held its Best Trade Finance Banks 2014 ceremony during the BAFT global annual meeting in London in January. Corporate and financial leaders from around the world were present to accept their awards and honor other ...

THE TRADE CONUNDRUM By Antonio Guerrero Do open-door trade policies provide greater long-term benefits? Or is protectionism worth the costs? Brazil and Mexico have taken completely different routes when it comes to foreign trade. And the results are telling. Brazil’s ...

NEWSMAKERS By Anita Hawser One woman who worked hard to ensure that the wheels of global trade kept turning, even in the midst of the global financial crisis, was Bonnie Galat, global head of business development for trade and supply ...