Beyond Covid-19: Reinvigorating the economy in the MENA region by focusing on mid-caps and SMEs

In this podcast, co-heads of Allen & Overy's Middle East Asset Management and Financial Services Regulatory practice Nick Smith and Jodi Norman, and Kamar Jaffer, a counsel in that practice, are joined by Taimoor Labib, founding partner at ^*Affirma Capital and Head of MENA and Chairman of Africa, to examine the impact of the pandemic on the region’s midcaps and SMEs.

They explore how governments in different countries have reacted, the stimulus measures in place across the MENA region, the wider trends and challenges they are seeing in capital raising and also how greater co-ordination and collaboration among financial services players – in particular, banks, institutional investors, private equity funds, fintechs and equity crowdfunding platforms – can help to improve the outlook of these critically important businesses. 

_{^*Affirma Capital is an independent emerging market private equity firm owned and operated by the long-standing senior leadership of Standard Chartered Private Equity. They manage approximately USD3.5 billion in assets for leading global limited partners and sovereign wealth funds. They help build and nurture national and regional champions by investing in companies backed by strong management teams and founders. Throughout their 18-year history of investing in emerging markets, they have deployed over USD6 billion in 100 companies across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.}