Technology has responded to the call to produce innovations that will slow global warming, creating an arsenal of renewable-energy alternatives to fossil fuels. But distribution of these innovations to developing countries has not kept pace, and they are lagging behind in low-carbon adoption. What needs to be done to transfer and deploy existing low-carbon technologies throughout the globe as quickly as possible? The answer lies in solutions such as trade.
January 13 of this year marked the 10th anniversary of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, a devastating episode that levelled much of the Caribbean nation, leaving 300,000 dead and displacing a further 1.6 million (more than 10 percent of the total population).
2019 was the year of two consequential free-trade agreements involving Latin American and Caribbean countries: USMCA and EU-Mercosur. How much of a positive impact these South-North agreements will have on especially countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, which have been languishing after the commodity boom, is yet to be seen. But they are likely to be more effectual than the South-South agreements that are in place in the region.
On the final Monday of 2019, protesters staged a sit-in at the Beirut offices of Bank Audi, Lebanon’s largest bank. Chants of “We want the money!” were heard as the furious protesters—many of them Audi’s clients—demanded that tellers give them their funds.
A key global initiative that currently unites much of the world is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Launched by the United Nations back in 2015, Agenda 2030 is an action plan for “people, the planet and prosperity”, which countries and stakeholders, acting in collaborative partnership, have pledged to implement.
Despite the gender-diversity rhetoric in business, the gender makeup of corporate boards, including those of MENA, reveal that the female population is poorly represented at the top. And studies prove that this imbalance works against the bottom line. Companies with female directors tend to fly higher profit-wise than their all-male competitors. Changes need to start at the societal level, with more women succeeding on every rung of the business ladder.
A recent report by Access to Cash has suggested that cash transactions could fall to just 10% of all payments within the next 15 years. This is not very surprising given thatlast year, debit cards officially overtook notes and coins as the UK’s most popular form of payment.
An efficient financial sector is central to maximizing an economy’s potential by helping it to make optimal and longer-term investments. Developing countries face a chicken and egg dilemma when it comes to financing, because it is hard to have efficient financial services without companies that can make good use of funding. This article examines how practical intervention to build the capacity of financial services through professional training will boost developing countries.
The world’s citizens have always been beset by risks of different types, but the frequency and intensity of risks from a variety of sources are increasing, especially for emerging economies in Latin America and the Caribbean. Insurance is the preferred recourse for those suffering from unfortunate events beyond their control, but even insurance has its limitations. What are the most effective risk-management tools available today?
Experienced investors know that the most lucrative returns can come in the least attractive packages. Frontier markets, the world’s pre-emerging markets, could be the new frontier for high growth—at least for those investors who can look past the higher risks. Is the frontier market worth those risks? Many investors believe it is, which is why the market is only slightly less popular than its developed and emerging counterparts.