Economist identifies new waves of global deal-making

An economist, Ayo Teriba, has identified cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and cross-border green-field investments as two major new waves of global deal-making.

A green-field investment, according to economists, refers to a type of foreign direct investment (FDI) where a parent company creates a subsidiary in a different country, builds its operations from the ground.

Both green-fields investments and M&As can contribute positively to accelerating growth in any economy.

Speaking at the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) 60th anniversary lecture, Wednesday in Lagos, on Evolving Ecosystem of Global Wealth Creation, Teriba, who is the CEO of Economic Associates, also identified growing wave of innovations. These are growing trade in intangibles – ideas, knowledge, knowhow and growing trade in services.

In her speech, Patience Ehizogie Anabor, chairman of Council of NIM, said the Institute, established in 1961, had done a good job of fulfilling its mandate by bequeathing an enduring professional management practice to the nation.

“With about 200,000 individuals and 400 corporate membership strength that cut across all professions made up of high net worth professionals and blue chip organizations, NIM has grown to become the foremost, largest and biggest multidisciplinary professional management Institute in Africa,” Anabor said.

According to Anabor, since the core mandate of the Institute is capacity building especially in the areas of management and leadership development, the Institute has been in the forefront of capacity building in the critical sectors of the nation’s economy.

“NIM has done very well in this direction as it has successfully delivered professional management, capacity building, consultancy, re-engineering and human capital development solutions to many organisations in public and private sectors of the economy which it collaborates with both locally and internationally,” she said.

As the institute journeys into the next 60 years, it will not only deploy the best means of getting things done but will work smart to achieve the right result for the benefit of all its stakeholders to perpetuate our tradition of mutually beneficial relationship, she said.