Factors relating to businesses social aspects are likely to be a foremost factor in regional investors over the coming year, Craig Roberts, Regional Managing Director, MENA at global financial services provider Apex Group said.
Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) have increasingly become an important trend among the global investment community, but, in the Middle East, investors focus is firmly aimed at the social aspect of ESG, Roberts explained.
“Whilst continued ESG focus is expected globally, in the MENA region, we anticipate a significant focus on the “S” component of ESG, with the growth of impact investing, including capital flows from the Gulf into Africa. The regional appetite for impact investment is borne out by recent data from Standard Chartered which found that 74 percent of UAE investors want to leave a positive legacy through sustainable investing – above the global average of 65 percent,” he said.
Roberts noted that private capital investors are giving a “greater consideration of non-financial measures of performance and a greater acceptance of corporate responsibility,” a trend which has partly been driven by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his outlook for 2022, Roberts also called on digitization as a key area to watch. In this field, he believes further digitization will be supported by regulation, with legislators and financial centers playing the role of accommodating digital assets as confidence with handling new digital products increases.
“The key in 2022, will be striking a balance – for regulators to provide a robust, yet flexible and accommodating ecosystem for the growth of these asset classes,” Roberts said.
Investments in digital assets is booming. Virtual landscapes, referred to as the metaverse has been a particular hot topic recently, with Bloomberg Intelligence estimating the global metaverse revenue opportunity to approach $800 billion by 2024.
Outside of digitization, the Middle East is also home to some of the largest environmental investments in the world. Renewable energy investments, such as Saudi Arabia’s mega green hydrogen project in NEOM, have helped raise the profile of the region as a hub for next generation energy technology.
