The 16th One-on-One Conference marked the first in-person iteration since the outbreak of COVID-19 and accordingly your presence really mattered. The event, once again the world’s largest and most highly anticipated frontier emerging markets investment conference to date, welcomed over 650 investors from over 270 institutions. We also hosted more than 13,000 meetings between investors and C-suite level management from 205 leading listed companies spanning 33 countries. Over the course of the conference, attendees delved into the key themes and strategies that are shaping investment decisions across frontier emerging markets

As 2021 drew to a close, the conference came as investors in FEM markets were taking stock of both global developments and local growth stories. FM and MENA players outperformed EM indices during the year, thanks to a combination of rising retail activity and strong foreign inflows into MENA markets even when aggregate valuations were no longer cheap. The conference brought together investors and key market participants to share insights on: what the recovery looks like for 2022, the future of inflation in the US and FEM economies, the potential for a commodity super cycle, the ongoing burden of high debt levels, and the staying power of high-growth stocks.

The 2019 conference came after yet another challenging year for Emerging and Frontier Markets. In spite of improved valuations following weak performance in 2018, increased in US interest rates continued to pose a challenge for heavily indebted FEM markets. Stimulus measures offered diminishing returns to scale for the Chinese economy, regarded as an increasingly important engine for FEM growth. The year saw two strong themes throughout FEM – (1) index upgrades and the impact of passive flows on Saudi Arabia and often-overlooked Kuwait and (2) ongoing recovery in markets that have already taken steps to rebalance their economies, such as Egypt and Pakistan.

The 2017 conference came in a challenging year for emerging and frontier markets. With Brexit and the election of Donald Trump resulting in the rising risk of protectionism to EM growth, as well as the rising dollar and US bond yields, EM have relied on their own internal factors, such as economic reform and attractive demographic dynamics, to retain their growth trajectories and attract FDI. Amid conflicting signals about the global outlook and investment prospects, it was a key setting for equity investors to meet face-to-face with regional high-level executives and industry professionals in a custom backdrop designed for open dialogue and the exploration of compelling investment opportunities.