The Corporate Opportunity in Africa
Remittances tend to dominate any conversation of Africa. But African exporters (shown below) and exporters to Africa are too often overlooked. As you can see, international trade is a significant part of business activity in these country’s economies.
The risks of doing business with these volatile currencies provide excellent hedging opportunities. Specialists such as INTL FC Stone or Ebury who often combine trade finance or commodities expertise into the mix have been making good in-roads into these opportunities. As the African economy continues to expand, we would expect to see more players develop products to serve this market.
Ian is VP of Cards & Global Indices at FXC Intelligence. Ian has worked to develop price tracking of banks and non-bank providers, advise on market entry strategies, oversee surveys of both consumers and business users of FX payment providers. Previously, Ian worked at Dun & Bradstreet in their Country Risk Department on international payment risk; worked as a consultant for the World Bank and EUI amongst others. Ian has a masters in International Development from the LSE, focused on social research methods, and a doctorate in Neuroscience from McGill University.
