Spring 2015

OIL PRICE: Sliding down

Oil is cheap, but for how long? And can the Gulf economies take the pain? George Mitton reports. A review of oil forecasts through the...

INTERVIEW: “You can’t understand Saudi Arabia by being somewhere else”

Emerging markets specialist Ashmore chose to establish its first Middle East office in Riyadh. George Mitton talks to John Sfakianakis, regional director. Doing business in...

PRIVATE EQUITY: Recovery on the horizon

Private equity activity is still far from the exuberant pre-financial crisis days, but reports of a handful of big deals, and improved governance standards,...

SOUTH AFRICA: The fast and the slow

As growth in their home market slows, South African asset managers are hoping to raise funds from the rest of the continent. But they...

INTERVIEW: “We are not being punitive”

The governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain says new rules on pay are fair, admits he is worried about Bitcoin, and promises more...

FRONTIER MARKETS: Pushing at the boundaries

Nine countries in the Middle East and North Africa are classified as frontier markets by index compiler MSCI, but only seven are part of...

FRONTIER FOCUS: Oman’s budget battle

There is reason to be optimistic about investment into Oman, but the country will be among the worst affected in the Gulf if oil...

INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS: A sad dwindling of listings

The low oil price could suppress initial public offerings (IPOs), causing companies to postpone or cancel plans to list. But some Middle East markets...

FIXED INCOME PANEL: Betting on bonds

Indonesian sovereign bonds, a perpetual sukuk from GEMS Education and select high-yield issues were among the best performing assets in 2014, say the bond...

ZAWYA: MENA markets diverge due to oil

The fall in the oil price hurt stock exchanges in the Gulf and allowed North African markets such as Egypt to be the best...