Investors, Business Leaders to Explore Opportunities, Share Insight at EFG Hermes Conference
EFG Hermes, the leading financial services corporation in Frontier Emerging Markets (FEM), inaugurates its 9th annual London Conference today at the Emirates Stadium.
The event, which today stands as the largest FEM-focused investor conference in the UK, will see 360 leading global fund managers representing 182 global institutions, with more than USD 14 trillion in assets under management (AUM) meet with top global and FEM executives from a record 177 companies to explore key investment opportunities.
This year’s event will provide a necessary platform for participants to explore key potential investment opportunities across FEMs learn about global investor appetite and gain insight from one of the leading research houses in FEMs about what is shaping and moving markets.
“Coming just weeks after the US Federal Reserve cut rates for the first time in over a decade, the EFG Hermes London Conference comes at an ideal time for investors to take stock of changing realities across FEM economies,” said EFG Hermes Frontier CEO Ali Khalpey.
“Despite the continued volatility of global conditions, there are multiple positive stories coming out of Sub-Saharan nations like Nigeria and Kenya, as well as North African markets such as Egypt.”
Investors are interested to explore opportunities in several FEM economies, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is set to see GDP growth average 3.6% between 2019 and 2021, a rapid rate belied by the region’s demographic expansion and ongoing industrialisation.
Global manufacturers attracted by the region’s rapidly growing domestic markets are deepening their involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa, while other firms are leveraging the region’s relatively low labour costs to produce goods for export.
Automakers, construction materials producers and light manufacturers of consumer goods are all establishing operational footprints on African soil.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s reliance on the global commodity cycle to boost economic growth has eased somewhat.
Oil exporters have seen their current account and budget deficits narrow as efforts at fiscal consolidation take root, although public debt remains elevated, particularly among non-oil exporters reliant on public investment to shore up aggregate demand.
Regional governments have also made important strides towards regional integration, with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) coming into effect in May 2019.
“Coming against a backdrop of rising protectionism, AfCFTA outlines a framework for the establishment of a single continental market for goods and services among 55 African states.
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“The agreement will create the world’s largest free trade bloc and could boost intra-African trade by 52% by 2022, facilitate deeper integration with the world economy and alter the composition of FDI inflows into the continent,” added Mukuru.
“As the macro-economic picture evolves in Sub-Saharan Africa, EFG Hermes remains committed to its traditional role in creating a platform to bring together leading global investors and regional executives to explore investment opportunities in light of these developments across some of the most compelling FEMs,” concluded Khalpey.
Participating are companies with an aggregate market cap of more than USD 462 billion, from 30 jurisdictions and 15 sectors including consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care, industrials, materials, real estate and hospitality, telecommunication services and utilities.
Investors, Business Leaders to Explore Opportunities, Share Insight at EFG Hermes Conference
