When we talk about emerging markets the first thing that comes into our minds is the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) because they are most well known emerging economies since the 1990’s.

That was two decades ago, with their growth rate on the decline, and now other nations are taking up there place.

Research firm Coface identifies only 10 “new emerging” countries which meet all the criteria. However, these countries are not the same in terms of their business environments – the weaknesses of which can stifle growth. This leads Coface to distinguish two groups in the “new emerging” countries:

Colombia, Indonesia, Peru, the Philippines and Sri Lankahave a sound business climate (A4 or B), similar to that of the BRIC countries today.

Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Bangladesh and Ethiopiahave very difficult (C) or extremely difficult (D) business environments which could hamper their growth prospects.

“Naturally, it will be more difficult for the second group of countries, who could take longer to fully realise their growth potential. However, their business environment problems are relative: in 2001, the quality of governance in Brazil, China, India and Russia was comparable to that of Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Bangladesh and Ethiopia today.”,says Julien Marcilly, Head of Country Risk at Coface.

source:bloomberg