Examining World Markets
Alexander Djerassi is a nonresident associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where his research focuses on Tunisia and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East and North Africa. As a serial entrepreneur and an expert in many aspects of the world economy, Djerassi sees many golden nuggets in untapped markets in the Middle East and Africa as a whole in particular.
One reason that Mr. Djerassi places so much attention on the African market that he has more expertise in Africa than any other part of the globe, and the African market is vastly misunderstood, unexamined, and underappreciated.
Mr. Djerassi, who served as special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. State Department from 2009-to 2012, has cutting-edge experience in Africa.
For example, as experts from the Brookings Institute point out, simply asking one question, ” How many companies in Africa earn annual revenues of $1 billion or more” reveals the lack of depth about African Economies.
Most “so-called financial experts” guess 10 or less, when the answer is that over 400 African countries earn annual revenues of $1 billion dollars or more.
Another world market that is vastly unappreciated is India. Most experts predict that within the next 10 to 20 years, India will outpace China as the world’s largest economy.
Of course, each market has its own idiosyncrasies. For example, Apple, which has tried to grow its base by selling I-phones in India has been gloriously unsuccessful, and Apple’s competitors outsell Apple I-phones by around 10 to 1.
So it’s critical that those who intend to sell or buy in world markets obtain real experts to thoroughly analyze world markets to understand vital elements such as price, taxes, and any requirements that goods be produced with local or regional steel, aluminum or the like.
Other world economies that loom on the economic front besides Africa and India include:
- Pakistan
- Turkey
- Finland
- Bahrain, the banking capital of the Middle East
- Georgia
- Botswana
- Rwanda
Of course, there are dozens more, and investing in various world economies, either through import or export, requires considerable expertise.
One needs an expert like Mr. Djerassi to advise you not only of the rewards but also of the risks.
And the risks are often extensive because unlike economies such as in the US and Europe, many countries have unstable governments.
In some countries, a world leader can turn an economy entirely on its head in the blink of an eye, which is happening right now in Russia as president Vladamir Putin has taken the risky path of war against Ukraine and now find himself staring at an extremely fragile economy with many investors pulling out quickly out of Russia.
Alexander Djerassi notes that in no other sphere of the economy are the risks as high as betting on emerging markets but simultaneously, in no other endeavor are the rewards as equally as high.
But you do need extremely knowledgeable experts to help you sort the wheat from the chaff.
