I read recently on a USA website, I think it belonged to the Competitiveness Institute, that they see the future as being dominated by SME’s, and that these SME’s will be making their money in the developing economies of the world.
Assuming they are correct, and I think they are, where are these developing countries? I believe they are congregated in four distinct areas. The Middle East, Far East, Africa and South America.
I believe the least attractive to SME’s will be the Middle East. Oil dominates these economies, and the complexities of the cultural and religious issues in the area make it a difficult market for SME’s to target.
The Far East is perhaps the most attractive. However, these economies are fast learners and will soon close many of the opportunities to outside businesses. Cultural, language and banking issues will add an added dimension of difficulty.
Then it is Africa and South America. Africa perhaps wins the debate due to the fact that they have less cultural, language and banking issues, particularly for the European SME’s. The South American countries however perhaps more stable and prone to a lot less corruption and violence than Africa.
Well, I for one see Africa as my source of future wealth, so long as the trend towards democracy and ongoing economic growth continues.