Frontier Strategy Group - Emerging Market Insights

China is currently undergoing a once-in-a-lifetime transition to a consumption- and services-based growth model. To facilitate this transition, the government has embarked on an ambitious urbanization drive to turn tens of millions of rural farmers into urban consumers. The government has a detailed blueprint outlining how it intends to implement this project. A key component is targeting city clusters as the country’s core economic structure over the coming years. Companies who familiarize themselves with this program and adopt a clustering strategy of their own will benefit from additional scale and a more efficient use of resources. To that end, FSG has developed a tool that will enable MNCs to identify the cities and clusters of most value to their business. Executives should consider using this tool to align their organization’s approach to China with the government’s city-cluster development model.

FSG's CEO Rich Leggett and Director for Global Economics Antonio Martinez discuss the outlook for the healthcare industry in Latin America, focusing on the short-term outlook, long-term opportunities and challenges, and strategies for success in a changing landscape for pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

Western European markets are recovering at a moderate pace as market conditions gradually improve. However, a number of downside risks in the political sphere and the region’s banking sector will weigh on business and consumer confidence during 2017, making planning more complex for multinational companies looking to accelerate growth in the region

Mexico confronts potential disruptions to its economic model due to the renegotiation of NAFTA and the increasing likelihood of a populist president coming to power in 2018. FSG's Director for Global Economics Antonio Martinez discusses what's next for Mexico and how multinationals can prepare for persistent uncertainty over the coming year.

After a turbulent week with a government reshuffle and sovereign ratings downgrades, executives need to adjust expectations about South Africa, but also assess which aspects of the market environment are likely to remain unchanged. In this podcast, FSG's Senior Analyst for Sub-Saharan Africa William Attwell discusses what's next for the market and how multinationals need to adjust.

FSG's CEO Rich Leggett and EMEA Research Managing Director Martina Bozadzhieva discuss the outlook for EMEA over the next several months, and the risks EMEA leadership teams should be monitoring that could derail relatively strong economic performance in Q1 2017. They also cover emerging opportunities across the region, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and industries benefiting from shifts in market conditions.

FSG's CEO, Richard Leggett, and Practice Leader for South Asia, Pratima Singh, discuss the India Subnational Prioritization report, including the importance of state-level prioritization in India, the methodology, and the main findings of the state prioritization exercise.

Senior Analyst for Russia, Mark McNamee, and Western Europe Analyst Athanasia Kokkinogeni, discuss Russia's medium-term political and economic outlook. As multinationals review their three- to five-year plans for Russia, it's essential for them to link these macro trends to both the risks and opportunities their businesses would need to navigate over the next several years.

FSG's CEO, Richard Leggett, and Southeast Asia Analyst Chua Cheng Siew, discuss the outlook for Vietnam as it implements reforms to improve business conditions. They examine the drivers behind the country's fast growing economy, as well as the trends and risks in an increasingly urbanized Vietnam.

FSG's CEO, Richard Leggett and Managing Director for FSG's Global Channel Practice, Ryan Brier, discuss the management interventions that tend to yield the greatest improvements in distributor performance in emerging markets.

FSG's CEO, Richard Leggett, and Senior SSA Analyst William Attwell, discuss the outlook for Ethiopia as it recovers following a period of political unrest and severe drought. They assess the drivers behind the country’s robust economic growth, examining how MNCs can capitalize on the country’s 100-million strong population, and the government’s ambitious investment-driven development program.

FSG's CEO, Richard Leggett, and Global Economics Practice Leader Antonio Martinez discuss the Events to Watch for 2017 report, including the the methodology behind the report, the events that may disrupt multinational business performance and operations, and the importance of contingency planning in emerging markets

FSG's Middle East & North Africa team discusses the recent economic reforms in Egypt and their impact on MNCs' pricing strategies in the market.

FSG's CEO Richard Leggett and lead MENA Analyst Zeynep Kosereisoglu discuss the implications of the OPEC deal for MENA markets and the Outlook for Qatar in 2017

The market is set to exit its severe slowdown in 2017 thanks to a minimal increase in energy prices and rising public investment. MNCs can get ahead of the competition to capitalize on growing opportunities into 2018 by increasing their focus on their channel and targeting more resilient customer segments

As Russia exits its two-year recession, primarily thanks to the mild rise in energy prices, MNCs will see very gradual improvements in the market in the next 12 months. Consumer and business demand will only increase moderately as inflation slows and industrial activity picks up minimally. Firms should ecxpect increasingly conservative government spending in 2017, as fiscal conditions remain tight

FSG's CEO, Richard Leggett, and Global Economics Practice Leader Antonio Martinez discuss the Global Outlook for 2017, including the trajectory for the emerging global growth drivers, the priority actions for multinationals, and the outlook for major markets and geographies in 2017.

The minor rise in oil prices in 2017 will limit growth across CIS. The major energy exporters will continue to struggle because of their over-reliance on energy revenues while energy importers will see growth rebound more strongly. MNCs should focus on customer segmentation while identifying opportunities in smaller markets with stronger growth potential to offset slower growth elsewhere.

The Philippines is a rising star among the Southeast Asian economies after recording high growth for the past few years. Domestic consumption will be the main growth engine. While the previous administration tried to tackle crime and infrastructure woes with little results, the new president, Rodrigo Duterte, is going all out to change things

Nigeria's economy remains under pressure from currency depreciation, slowing growth, and policy uncertainty. In this podcast, we discuss what MNCs should include in their plans for the market going forward, what risks they should prepare for, and where in the market opportunities remain.