Days of protest threaten the age of growth

Economies in the Middle East and North Africa emerged as some of the fastest growing in the world over the past decade, thanks to vast natural resources and burgeoning populations.
Yet significant foreign direct investment ineconomies of the Mena region began only in the past few years, led largely by Gulf countries.
Fast-forward to February 2011, and the region has undergone a seismic shift. New political powers are rising in countries where autocrats ruled for decades. And entire new regulatory frameworks could be in the works.
The implications for businesses are considerable. Take the case of the property consultancy Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL), which deployed staff last year to Egypt because it saw the country as the centre of the region's new property boom.
JLL was working on about six deals worth more than US$100 million (Dh367.2m) - acquisitions of buildings and investments in projects - but the turmoil and the powerful protests in Egypt that ousted Hosni Mubarak from the presidency have changed the prospects for those deals.
"Certainly, in recent days and weeks, we have been back in contact with people," said Blair Hagkull, the head of the regional office of JLL.
"The long-term fundamentals remain very strong, but people are taking a wait-and-see approach . There are various risk factors with the broader evolution of the country now."
With a better understanding of the way to do business in the region and growing reserves of cash, GCC investors have focused on property development, energy projects and major infrastructure works.
An agreement that Morgan Stanley's $4 billion infrastructure fund signed last year with Orascom Construction Industries, one of Egypt's largest companies, was a sign that established international groups were becoming comfortable with investing in the region.
What is more, the forced transfer of political power in some countries will bring new scrutiny of deals made in the past.
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