The release of the shocking statistic that Africa receives less than 1% of global FDI by UK prime minister Tony Blair’s recently launched Commission for Africa should be a wake-up call.

The commission, launched earlier this year, has been greeted with cynicism – the last thing Africa needs is another rich-country initiative to sort out its problems. Unless, that is, this one can help break the deadlock over cleaning up rich countries’ less-than-perfect economic policies towards the African subcontinent.

The Commonwealth Business Council, along with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) and the South African government will host a conference on private investment in Africa. The Africa Investment Forum 2004 will be held in Johannesburg on September 14-16.

Client travel in the past several weeks has brought me virtually around the world, focused on technology talent and the strategies that various companies and countries are employing to assure that they have some. In addition to the obvious investments that societies make in preparing their young for a brighter future, some have clearly determined that while homegrown is good, it is not always good enough.

Scottish Enterprise’s signature on a bilateral co-operation agreement with the US state of Massachusetts could open the door for a round of copycat deals between other development agencies and individual regions. The idea behind the agreement is to leverage each other’s services to benefit companies from both regions.

The offshoring of services has triggered a heated policy debate, especially in the US. So what is happening?

Lord Oxburgh’s appointment as non-executive chairman of Shell in March, replacing Sir Philip Watts, is seen as a step towards improving Shell’s image.

With global FDI in life sciences down about 27% in the first half of 2004, the question many economic development agencies must be asking as they enter their 2005 planning cycle is whether to continue their efforts to attract investment from this sector.

Last month I presented quarterly figures showing an increase of investments projects announced in the ICT sector of almost 10% during the first quarter of 2004. This growth was not sustained in the second quarter: fewer investment projects were recorded relative to the second quarter last year. Comparing the first six months in 2004 with 2003, it appears that the total number of investment projects worldwide has remained almost the same.

A fundamental change has been occurring in the automotive industry that should soon shift attention on to suppliers – at least from a direct investment perspective. Driven by the need to cut costs and focus more on building brands and market share, vehicle producers have slowly but steadily been transferring critical activities to their suppliers.

Globalisation of the commercial real estate market continues at a frenetic pace. In the next 12 months, many investors, users and owners will acquire, develop or invest in real estate (RE) assets outside their home countries. Here are some of the main factors driving this trend:

Investment is badly needed to unlock the commercial potential of nanotechnology developments. Karen E Thuermer reports on the collaborations, joint ventures, government funding and private investment that are beginning to push the science into mainstream industry.

France wants to capitalise on the strength of its fundamental research to become Europe’s leader in nanotechnologies. Paris, Grenoble and Toulouse are already emerging as major R&D centres, as Blanca Riemer reports.

From Baku to Belfast, the applications came – but finally, fDi can announce the results of the first heat in this year’s quest to find Europe’s top city or region. Charles Piggott reports.

The competition for European Cities and Regions of the Future is in three parts.

A major port, a thriving aviation industry and some of the world’s biggest players vying for office space give Hamburg a bright future.

Central Bosnia and Herzegovina is the European region of the future 2004/05 for south east central Europe region.

Friuli Venezia Giulia is the heart of a Euro region of innovation, advanced services and global logistics.

As parts of northern Europe move close to saturation point with contact centres, Belgium’s northern region of Flanders offers room for growth as well as a highly educated and motivated multilingual workforce.

Companies have long used shared service centres to keep costs down while standardising systems, and they preferred a pan-European approach. Now they are investigating other ways to make savings. Wendy Atkins reports on the latest trends in the sector, such as new locations and the sub-regional option.

Barcelona offers an unbeatable combination of high-tech efficiency in a high-quality, low-cost, environment.

The call centre industry is maturing, with businesses focusing less on cost-efficiency and more on service quality. That means that competition is getting tougher for India and other low-cost locations. Wendy Atkins reports.

Makers of traditional Chinese medicine are seeking niches for their products in other parts of the world. But to succeed, many will have to clean up their managerial acts, Kazuhiko Shimizu reports.

At the end of July the 147 member countries of the WTO finally agreed to a framework for the completion of the Doha round. Just prior to this, World Trade Organization director general Supachai Panitchpakdi talked to fDi editor Brian Caplen about the challenges of trade negotiations.

Asia is home to what is regarded today as the largest growing economic market in the world. And right at the heart of this bustling market is the Kingdom of Thailand.

Head of Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Administration, Michailo Vyshyvaniuk outlines his plans for seeking business partners and investors for the region to Yuri Bender.

In the face of fierce regional competition, South Korea is showing strong economic performance and can boast a highly skilled labour force. Moves to attract investment, including the establishment of special economic zones, look set to transform the country into a regional hub from which foreign companies can expand into other parts of Asia, says Jihyun Kim.

The government’s bid to recapture foreign investment that is now headed for China includes the three free economic zones (FEZs) it has set up, which are supported by lower taxes and regulation, and impressive infrastructure.

Can business thinking help tackle the challenges of third world poverty? Kurt Hoffman, director of the Shell Foundation, believes it can and outlines the foundation’s efforts in this direction.

With rising oil prices and a growing uncertainty about Middle Eastern supplies, the UK’s Premier Oil is well placed to capitalise on its focus on exploration in west and central Africa.

Namibia has a stable political and economic environment, and good regional infrastructure. Now it needs to concentrate on building the skills needed to bring investment and jobs. Ashleigh Lezard reports.

Namibia Breweries attracted the attention of two beverage giants that were seeking a way into South Africa’s beer market. Ashleigh Lezard reports on the potential of the joint venture for all partners.

Namibia’s former trade & industry and foreign affairs minister, Hidipo Hamutenya, talks to Ashleigh Lezard about Namibia’s focus on regional integration and making technical and managerial training for industry a priority.

One result of the internal reorganisation of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), under the direction of Yukiko Omura, the new executive vice-president, is the closing of the Paris office at the end of August. The new structure is intended to streamline the way MIGA does business, maximise value for its clients, integrate its technical assistance and guarantee products more effectively.

Free zones and export processing zones (EPZs) need to secure continuous political support from their own and investors’ governments.

For the first time, the Annual World Free Zone Convention (WFZC) will take place in South Africa, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The event, from October 28-30, will focus on investors, including transnational companies and national corporations, private investors, institutions and those representing them.

Peru: The National Commission of Free Zones of Peru has set up Exportation, Transformation, Industry, Commercialisation and Service Centres in Ilo (Moquegua), Matarani (Arequipa) and Paita (Piura).

In the second quarter of 2004, global cross-border investment suffered a substantial drop on the previous quarter, down from 2702 to 2144, a drop of over 21%. This was coupled with a year-on-year fall of 1% in the number of projects, compared to a year-on-year rise for the previous quarter of over 15%. However, the number of jobs created in the period, while down on the previous period, was up year on year by nearly 9%.

World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies’ new president, Kai Hammerich explains what IPAs can gain through collaboration with Waipa.