An undiminished faith in the resurgent Silk Road

Over the past 10 years most European and US stock markets have generated returns close to or below zero. During the same period, markets in Africa and the Middle East generated double-digit returns. The world is shifting.

Thus runs the core rationale behind Silk Invest, an investment boutique specialising in Africa and the Middle East, set up in June 2008 by Zin Bekkali, formerly of Fortis Investments.

It is a simple prediction, says Mr Bekkali, and one his firm is not alone in making. The developed countries will face nil growth in the coming years; growth will take place elsewhere, for example in Africa where population growth is 3 per cent a year. “People on the Mediterranean see this change the best,” he says. “Japan also sees it more clearly than we do.”