Nigerian violence: counting the cost
Nigeria has been so repeatedly afflicted by acts of violence by sectarian groups, as well as Islamist movement Boko Haram, that pouring through news reports, it’s hard to get a handle on the situation. Which regions are worst affected? Who is responsible? And is the problem getting worse?
Helpfully, the Council on Foreign Relations has released it’s Nigeria Security Tracker, which sheds light on the problem. Continue reading »
Maruti violence: ideology vs discontent
Auto workers’ deadly attack on managers and supervisors at a factory of India’s biggest car-maker Maruti Suzuki last week has created tremendous unease among Indian corporate executives.
The question that has vexed Indian corporate executives and many foreign investors since then is whether the trouble at Maruti can be seen as an isolated incident, reflecting difficulties unique to the Japanese-owned car plant, or whether it foreshadows something more ominous in a country where the gap between the haves and the have-nots is rapidly widening. Continue reading »
Maruti riot: awful but isolated?
The factory riot that has hit India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, has seen the company’s share price take a battering. Down over 5 per cent on Monday trading, the company had already seen a fall of 8.9 per cent on Thursday.
The plant, which can produce 550,000 cars a year, has been shut since last Wednesday. But are the tragic events a sign of greater worker unrest, or an isolated problem? Continue reading »
Brazil’s pre-carnival carnage
These first two weeks of February are normally those during which the mood in Brazil picks up ahead of carnival.
But in the booming state of Bahia, in northeastern Brazil, the situation is anything but festive as gangsters have gone on the rampage in the capital Salvador amid a strike by police. Continue reading »
Venezuela: counting the cost of crime
It is no secret that Venezuela is hardly the most business friendly country in the world, with a president who habitually takes pleasure in grabbing private property, while a maze of government regulations act as an added deterrent.
But a new report shows that Venezuela’s acute insecurity problem – it has one of the highest homicide rates in the world – also makes it the Latin American country where crime affects businesses the most. Continue reading »
Karachi: the business cost of violence
Pakistan’s main stock market may have given some comfort to equity investors on Monday when the main KSE-100 index rose just below one per cent on its first day of trade following the post Ramadan holidays marking the ‘Eid’ festival.
But Karachi’s investors were more anxiously watching the beginning of proceedings that the supreme court has launched to examine the underlying causes of this year’s bloody violence. Continue reading »
Rio governor looks to turn the page on crime
Fresh off declaring victory in the battle between government forces and organized crime for control of Rio de Janiero’s favelas, state governor Sérgio Cabral (pictured) was on the road this week to drum up interest – and investment – in Brazil’s third-most populous state.
Brazil’s markets were unfazed by last month’s outbreak of violence, and Mr Cabral was likewise upbeat about the outlook for improved public safety ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Continue reading »
Brazil: violence priced into markets
You might expect that if war broke out on the streets of a country’s second-largest city, streets were littered with burning vehicles, and a thousands-strong military invasion was required to restore a semblance of order, investors could get a bit nervous.
Not so in Brazil, which has been watching in fascinated horror as security forces try to contain violence in Rio de Janeiro, but where markets are carrying on as usual. Continue reading »
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