The share price of loss-making food delivery group Zomato jumped 65% on its debut on the Mumbai stock exchange on Friday, closing the day at Rs125.85, from the issue price of Rs76. This values the company at cUS$12bn. The food delivery boom has, for the most part, been associated with developed markets and the dominant emerging market, China. But this seems to be changing, particularly in light of the difficulties for Chinese tech firms and the disappointing Deliveroo IPO in London. We have identified five markets with underrated prospects that have not received the same level of attention as the West and China. Get the full story →

India has become the latest country to explore the merits of sovereign-backed central bank digital currency (CBDC), with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announcing on 22 July that it was considering launching a pilot programme. RBI Deputy Governor Sankar said that India’s CBDC would help protect people from the volatility of private cryptocurrencies and lower the use of cash in the economy. The announcement marks something of a turnaround for the RBI, which has previously worried about the anonymity of digital currency transactions and the implications for money-laundering and terrorist financing. Paul Domjan argues that there are three paths to genuine CBDC – the EU, China and Ukraine routes. It is not yet clear whether India will implement a genuine CBDC and, if so, which of these routes it will choose. Get the full story →

Surging Covid cases in Southeast Asia are further threatening supply chains for one of the most in-demand products – semiconductors. Across Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, where many of the biggest players including Samsung have operations, tighter lockdowns are reducing the number of workers on the production lines for everything from capacitors to chip packaging. TSMC is the largest stock in the global EM index, the largest and most advanced outsourced semiconductor manufacturer and, arguably, right in the middle of the long-term tussle between the US and China over control of the Taiwan Strait and the technology supply chain. In short, TSMC on its own is as important to the semiconductor industry as the entire Middle East is to the oil industry. Get the full story →

Reports suggest Beijing is likely to impose more severe sanctions on Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi than it did on Alibaba, which was hit by a US$2.8bn fine. In addition to financial penalties, options could even include a forced delisting of Didi’s US shares or stringent management oversight. Didi’s rapid fall from grace highlights a key area of focus for China’s regulators: customer data. The country's new data security law gives the government greater access to the information collected by tech firms. And by classifying such data as a national asset, the law also places restrictions on its transfer abroad. These developments have dampened investor appetite for many US-listed Chinese firms. To mitigate these risks, we have compiled lists of alternative investments in 4 key growth segments: fintech; e-commerce and logistics; electric vehicles and internet/social media. Get the full story →

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) yesterday opted to once again keep its repo rate unchanged at 3.50%, with the decision being unanimous. The tone of the meeting was relatively dovish, and on balance, it appears that the SARB may not hike rates before the end of the year, according to analysts at ETM Analytics. The central bank still expects the economy to grow by 4.2% this year, but this isn't as simple as it appears at face value. Q1 growth came in much better than the SARB expected, but the positive effect of this has now been negated by the recent civil unrest. This has severely dented investor confidence and will impact the labour market. Get the full story →

Reports of long queues of trucks backed up on the UAE side of its border with Saudi Arabia is consistent with Hasnain Malik’s view that while the disagreement over oil output has been resolved for now, the increased competition between the two GCC neighbours in non-oil sectors will have a lasting impact. Road freight has been a victim of temporary friction between the two countries before. This time, however, Saudi has introduced higher tariffs on GCC imports that do not have a sufficient local component, which likely permanently reduces the competitiveness of freezones in the likes of Dubai. Saudis also represent about 6% of purchasers of Dubai real estate. Get the full story →