|
MSFS-533 Investment Strategy in Emerging Markets
Spring only
Gibian, Tom
The course is designed to give students an improved understanding of the organization and skill sets associated with private equity investing in some of the World’s least developed markets. The course will begin with a discussion of the investment criteria, corporate structure and governance requirements underlying a successful private equity business focused on Africa’s frontier markets. The course will then transition from the consideration of organizing and building a viable investment platform to focus on opportunities and challenges associated with implementation of a disciplined investment approach across a variety of commercial sectors and a complex political and economic geography. Interwoven in the presentation and discussions will be the notion that for a private equity business to be sustainable it must consistently achieve high rates of return, thereby building a competitive track record among large regional and global investors, while taking into account the sometimes intricate social contract formed between successful African businesses and their host communities. We will give special focus to constructing a framework to quantify the real risks of doing business in Africa in the context of the often exaggerated perception of Africa having a unique risk profile risk that defies approaches that are well demonstrated across other emerging markets.
The course will commence with a presentation of the concepts that will be used for the remainder of the term. During this conceptual phase of the course, in addition to looking at organizational and decision making issues associated with managing a “frontier market” private equity firm, we will be reviewing the discernable patterns of market reforms in the BRICs (and possibly other emerging markets) and the utility that certain reforms and improved transparency have had on the investing climate with particular focus on telecom, banking, electricity, capital markets and infrastructure. Noting successful reforms as demonstrated by other emerging market countries, we will then take a look at market and economic reforms in Africa since 2000 and their impact on economic growth. We will then drill down through a series of case studies to understand some of the practical issues of investing in Africa including feasibility work, risk mitigation, selection of local partners, capital raising and, in particular, the role of governance.
The last phase of the course will recognize the role of other non-private equity players including the NGO community in Africa’s economic development and seeks to assess some of the non-financial impacts associated with private equity investing in Africa, how these impacts can be measured and communicated to investors and other interested parties.
Credits: 3 credits
Prerequisites: None
|
 |
More information
Look for this course in the schedule of classes.
The academic department web site for this program may provide other details about this course.
|
