Conference Presentation, Panel
The Emerging World of Opportunities: Insights from MI's Global Opportunity Index | Global Conference
Milken InstituteCarole Biau, Jarred Glansbeek, Richard Jadulan, Leticia Jáuregui Casanueva, Toyin Sanni, Carol Beo, Jared Glanzbeck
- The Milken Institute's Global Opportunity Index and the new Africa Leaders Business Council aim to shape investment attraction for years, while specific initiatives like Riskura's $2 billion incubation program in South Africa target a 20-year pipeline of diverse fund managers, supported by a $250 billion existing client base for emerging and frontier markets.
- South Africa's investment landscape faces potential electoral complexities and a non-permanent gray listing status, yet offers strong banking systems and "street fighting" entrepreneurship culture where companies producing exceptional outputs are ideal targets; additionally, investors are cautioned against binary risk perceptions, as local performance outpaces developed markets despite sentiment-driven multiple compression to half of pre-financial crisis levels.
- Nigeria is pursuing a decade-long path toward a trillion-dollar economy through significant economic reforms, including a 1,000% expected growth in recapitalized deposit money banks, a unified foreign exchange regime, the removal of petroleum subsidies, and major infrastructure projects like the Lagos to Calabar road, while the stock exchange has delivered over 45% returns last year and 31% year-to-date.
- Mexico is positioned as geopolitically "anti-fragile" to capture foreign direct investment and near-shoring opportunities, with plans to augment utility-grade solar capacity by 460% by 2030, continue sustainable agriculture efforts, and address gender gaps where female labor force participation stands at 45% and female-led teams receive only 2% of venture capital checks despite female founder representation at 27%.
- The Philippines is advancing its investment climate through an ease of doing business law, amended investment laws allowing 100% foreign ownership in specific public services, and Central Bank liberalization of foreign exchange regulations, alongside a roadmap for 50% digital retail transactions and engagement in regional green bond markets despite ranking 118th in the global corruption index.
- Latin America's venture capital funding fell from 2021 levels in 2023 but grew 13% year-on-year with flows to Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, while emerging managers show strong potential as female entrepreneurs outperform male counterparts and Africa's temperature rise, occurring at three times the global average, drives a push for Sustainable Development Goals.
- Skills in the technology sector face a half-life of 2.5 years compared to 5 years for general skills, creating an urgent need for continuous upskilling where 68% of workers acknowledge the necessity but lack direction, a challenge Meta addresses by leveraging mixed reality, AI, and virtual reality for expert training and change management.
- Investment in emerging markets requires recognizing long-term earnings growth potential, as recent local outperformance contrasts with developed market underperformance driven by sentiment; this is underscored by the revaluation of Japan and the potential for similar performance gains in emerging markets with cheap valuations as governance sentiment improves.