Frontier Strategy Group - Emerging Markets Insights

FSG held its annual Moscow breakfast with clients in September, where clients indicated their concerns over pressure from corporate to hit rising revenue targets in 2018 after a mild uptick in demand in 2017. However, nearly all firms noted that rising costs were a concern in the market and therefore high pressure on margins causing companies to increasingly focus on getting more value out of their channel in order to improve profitability. In this podcast, FSG's Senior Analyst for Europe Mark McNamee discusses the outlook for the market in 2018 and how companies are preparing to respond to it in their Russia strategies.

FSG's CEO Richard Leggett and MENA Practice Leader Zeynep Kosereisoglu discuss how MNCs must adapt their value offering to their customers in the GCC to manage the region's economic slowdown and its increasingly complicated operating environment

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.

Western European markets will grow by 1.7% YOY in 2017—South Europe will exceed this growth, with Spain and Portugal leading the way. South Europe suffered the most from the 2008/2009 financial and 2012/2013 debt crises, but since then has been recovering because of strong exports—primarily tourism—and consumer demand. South Europe will be an attractive opportunity for B2C and B2B MNCs because of its improving fundamentals and low-cost environment

Ukraine has faced an extremely tumultuous period over the past three years and is beginning to recover and exit its recession. As MNCs are increasingly trying to anticipate the outlook for the market in the coming years and make strategic decisions regarding investments in the country, Ukraine is starting to return to focus. Our Senior Analyst for Europe, Mark McNamee, discusses his latest view on the market and insights from the ground from his most recent trip to Ukraine.

Political uncertainty subsides for the region, and economic fundamentals slowly strengthen, creating additional opportunities for multinationals. However, an acceleration in growth beyond current levels is unlikely, as unemployment remains high and reforms are slow. In this podcast, FSG's Western Europe analyst Athanasia Kokkinogeni discusses the outlook for Western Europe and its impact for multinationals ahead of H2 2017.

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.

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.

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 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.