What’s the best way of reducing poverty: hand-outs or hard-nosed investment? As one of the world’s biggest investors in emerging market private equity, CDC Group has long argued that only by prioritising profit over charity can it achieve its objective of helping businesses to grow in poor countries.

Yet CDC has struggled to balance making money and reducing poverty and on Tuesday night the UK’s international development secretary will say it has “lost its way”. He will outline plans for a radical overhaul of the £2.5bn institution and that could mean fresh capital for investment-starved businesses in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa. Continue reading »

Turkey’s stock market outperformed emerging European peers on Tuesday, led by telecoms stocks. The ISE 100 index closed up around 1 per cent, while markets elsewhere slipped or were roughly unchanged.

The Russian rouble slipped against the dollar, as the country’s trade surplus fell sharply. The government said it would sell a 10 per cent stake in VTB bank worth $3bn by early 2011, as it seeks to energise a lacklustre privatisation process. Continue reading »

Chinese stocks continued to rise on Tuesday, as oil stocks hitting four-month highs. However, slowing industrial output pushed Indian stocks down (see chart), and most other indices also slipped.

On the currencies market, the Thai baht rose against the dollar, as investors sought to beat a 15-per-cent tax on bond profits, which applies from Wednesday. Continue reading »

* Korean fund buys stake in Colonial pipeline

* Asia’s water scarcity poses economic, political test

* Chinese dominate list of richest women

* Exxon, Chevron’s Africa ambitions face risk from state curbs

* Pressure for Djezzy nationalisation rising Continue reading »