Sustainability attitudes of key actors in government, corporations and NGOs have shaped the sustainable development movement over the past 25 years. This article discusses the prospects of this movement and the role of individual leaders in implementing its societal vision. The author argues that since the year 2000 the leadership role of governments has weakened, whereas sustainability initiatives from corporations and NGOs initiatives have increased and will continue to do so.
A Radically Different Innovation: Developing a Unique Business Model
‘Innovate!’ has become the global mantra against a backdrop of intensified competitive environment. But focusing on product innovation alone is no guarantee of success; neither is bundling products with services in order to offer meaningful differentiation. Below, Michael Yaziji considers another approach – creating a radically unique business model to drive growth and market share.
Dubai Investments Park: The One-Stop Multi-Purpose Destination
Dubai Investments Park (DIP), the largest integrated business and residential community in the Middle East, was set up in 1997 with a mission to create a self-contained and master-planned business complex, and to provide investors with facilities and professional services that set new standards in the region.
Entry Strategies for Middle Eastern Markets
By Tim Rogmans
Despite political turbulence, Middle Eastern markets provide great opportunities for international investors. The region’s advantages include its location at the crossroads of three continents, vast energy reserves and rapidly growing populations. Political risk is the main factor making multinational companies stay away from the region or limiting their involvement in licensing and franchising deals. This article outlines ways in which companies can enter and grow in the region, while managing political risk.
Synergising Western and Eastern Approaches: Facilitating Economic Development in Africa
By Snowy Khoza
For decades the two global centres of power, the West (led by Europe and the Americas) and the East (led by China) have presented two contrasting approaches to economic development on the African continent. The West’s approach has been driven by conditionality, selectivity and direct financial support, while the East’s approach has been driven by non-conditionality, market building, and infrastructure delivery with tangible economic development. Below, Dr. Snowy Khoza describes how economic development dynamics in Africa have undergone a paradigm shift, with the influence of the East now more pronounced than ever before, and argues that Western and Eastern approaches to economic development in Africa must be used in combination to realise growth and transformation.
EY’s 2013 Africa Attractiveness Survey: Getting Down to Business
Africa’s rise over the past decade has been very real, and the evidence of the continent’s clear progress is irrefutable; however, there are significant challenges ahead. Below, Michael Lalor from Ernst & Young outlines the critical role of foreign investment in Africa, and the necessity of focussing on believers in the Africa growth story.
Eternal Economic Return: The Global Economic Crisis through the Lens of History
By Larry Allen
Looking back at previous waves of economic crisis, economic historian Larry Allen illuminates our global predicament by uncovering the interlocked economic processes that lay beneath the crisis.
Capital Flight and Global Crisis: In Search of a Barometer of Country Risk
The global crisis and the austerity programmes in most developed countries have cast light on the role of expatriated savings in widening the gap between domestic resources and financing requirements and also in eroding the tax revenues, thus reducing economic growth potential. Offshore tax havens have become the focus of academic research and a point of contention for governments, scholars and the media.
EDITOR'S PICK OF THE WEEK
China’s Challenging Search for a New Model of Economic Growth
By Danny Leipziger
China cannot continue to rely on exports to drive its growth, but what are the alternatives?
China ran a $1.2 trillion trade surplus last year, and despite admonitions from the IMF to rely...
