At last the summer is here, very welcome after a generally morose winter in Europe, and hopefully with the better weather we will have a more go-ahead drive in business. For over a year we have had 1 step forwards and 2 steps backwards from both European and Russian/CIS perspectives.
ALGERIA, MENA Region - We at Advent UK prefer to reach out to growing markets, so we have started our expansion into the MENA Region (Middle East and North Africa), and we have just returned from our first visit to the north of Algeria; our Algerian colleagues Mr Bendahou and Mr Nouacer treated us royally in all respects, including 3 police car escorts during the whole visit like Ministers! There is better security at their airports than in Europe; road checks are regular too, though in Algiers it is advisable to watch your belongings as in any Metropolitan city.
The Algerians are an extremely friendly and respectful people, highly intelligent, hardworking and open for partnerships/Joint Ventures with European companies. There is a need for technology transfer and know-how into the country to create or improve industry, and a need for products too. We met Algerian authorities from different departments and private businessmen and presented our company activities, and we also met the Trade and Investment department at the British Embassy who agree that we should get more British companies linked into Algerian businesses, all very positive. We are very optimized by the opportunities and the relationships we have established, and we feel there is a real need for the Advent UK interface with our experience in opening markets, sourcing partners & our fluent French.
What an extraordinarily beautiful country with over 1,000 kilometers of coastline, apricot sand, green hills behind, and into the region of Constantine & Batna vast sweeping valleys of wheat and barley and biblical shepherds keeping their flocks of sheep and goats, surrounded by hills like the west coast of Scotland with scattered trees and brush, all very green and lush at this time of year. And a vast magnificent Roman town in Timgad as big as Pompei! Algiers (10 million inhabitants in the Bay of Algiers) is like a vast Marseille/Monaco mix with Haussmann architecture in the centre, a huge busy port, a Kasbah, esplanades rising up the hills, an amazing huge botanical garden, bougainvillea and wisteria flowering everywhere. I can’t wait to return!
GLOBAL DIRECTOR’S FORUM – RUSSIAN/CIS PE CONVENTION LONDON 10/11 June
We are moderating at the Global Director’s Forum in Mayfair on 10:11th June with other major players in Private Equity targeting Russia/CIS. This is a very original convention with round tables for discussions on different topics, and we look forward to participating and hearing about the future perspectives for this region.
