Thirty years ago, it was clear that companies wanting to have real staying power in a global marketplace needed to have a presence in China and India. Companies that took the chance to invest in these “emerging” markets have since reaped tremendous rewards, not only with impressive financial returns, but in knowing that their investments created economic opportunity.
Within 20 years of opening its doors to encourage private investment, the proportion of Chinese people living in poverty fell from 53 to 8 percent. India’s economic reforms were once called “the most effective antipoverty programs in history,” credited with pulling more than 400 million people out of poverty.
Today, Africa is the new frontier, ripe for foreign investment.