Singapore, Denmark and the US Are Predicted to Have the Best Business Environment From 2024–28

The Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) business environment index measures the attractiveness of the business environment in 82 countries and territories, examining 91 indicators spread across 11 different categories. According to the latest business environment index, "Singapore, Denmark and the US will be the three geographies with the best business environment over the next five years." What is more, as reflected in the chart below, "Several west European economies, alongside Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand, make up the remaining top ten best places in the world to do business. These are all advanced economies and long-standing strong performers in our index, so tend to be safe bets for investments. However, both headline and per capita GDP growth rates are likely to be fairly stable and slow."

The EIU also explains, through the image below, "geographies that see the biggest improvements in score in our index in the next five years (2024-28) compared with the past five years (2019-23). These are not the same economies that will see the fastest real GDP growth in 2024-28—although Qatar and India will grow very strongly—rather, they are places where we expect the most significant policy improvements, infrastructure investment or growth in market opportunities." The UK-based organization adds that its "model suggests that their improvement in our business environment index may subsequently result in an uptick in per-head growth in real GDP, investment spending and FDI."

Regarding those countries already in the EIU's index that scored strongly, the report points out that "Qatar has implemented a US$220bn investment program over the past decade, mainly focused on infrastructure. Its business environment has benefited from the expansion of Hamad International Airport, the road network and tourism infrastructure." Furthermore, Lithuania has long been open to trade and investment, but a major tax reform will soon make it more attractive by extending corporate tax relief and shifting the tax burden away from labor. Greece sees the biggest improvement in the business environment in our index over this period. This reflects the impact of a pro-business government, led by the New Democracy party, now in its second term, that has undertaken reforms, cut taxes and boosted business confidence."

With respect to the world's most populous nation, the EIU says "India is the only single-country market that offers a potential scale comparable to that of China." The South Asia country's "youthful demographic profile promises both strong demand and good labor availability. Alongside solid economic fundamentals, digital infrastructure and favorable demographics, more policy support is being introduced to attract manufacturing investment."

Other geographies further down the EIU's ranking where they expect a strong improvement include Serbia, which "has seen a virtuous circle from its openness to FDI in the past, which has driven growth and attracted further investment, including in higher-value-added sectors. A recent strengthening of macroeconomic policy and institutions supports market stability."

Moreover, "Argentina's sharp improvement in score largely reflects the free-market reforms that we believe the administration of the president, Javier Milei, will introduce—in particular, policies to boost private enterprise and competition and attract foreign investment. In the Dominican Republic, the current Abinader administration, which we expect to be re-elected in May, will continue its business friendly policies. It is encouraging investment into the tourism sector (for example with port upgrades for cruise ships), and improving logistics infrastructure to become a regional transport and distribution hub.

Places with weak business environments but potential for improvement include Kenya, Angola, and Venezuela. As the EIU explains:

Kenya passed a Privatization Act in 2023, which will help to trim the state’s excessively large economic footprint while boosting the private sector. Angola, while close to the bottom of our rankings, is arguably a better place to do business than five years ago, with the Lourenço administration using its improved ties with the US to revamp key legislation, bringing the country's financial sector into line with international standards and reducing the tax burden on the non-oil sector. In contrast, Venezuela is the worst ranked in our index, and will remain so despite a slight improvement after its painful economic collapse.

As I have stated previously on this forum, Southeast Asia has one of the world's most attractive business environment. Among the ten members of the Association of South‑East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the EIU highlights Thailand as a market that "saw a notable improvement in our business environment index in 2021-22, followed by an acceleration in growth in real GDP per head in 2022-23." The report says Thailand was among the first movers in ASEAN "to give special incentives to invest in electric vehicles and green industries. At the same time, many infrastructure projects were being finished—notably the mass transit expansion in the capital, Bangkok—or under way, including as part of the country's Eastern Economic Corridor megadevelopment project." The report adds that "Thailand has benefited from—and encouraged, with preferential policies—the China+1 trend as investors seek to diversify away from China, often towards India and ASEAN."

Do you find this report helpful in determining which countries to invest in or avoid?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

5G Will Represent 91% of Mobile Connections in North America by 2023, Up From 39% in 2022

"The US and Canada are among the global leaders in terms of 5G adoption, reflecting the ambitious rollout plans of operators and strong demand from consumers for new services," the GSMA says in its latest report on the state of North America's mobile economy. "However, following extensive 5G network buildout over the last few years, capex levels will begin to trend downwards as operators turn their attention to generating a return on investment." The UK-based organization, which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, adds: "The focus over the next few years will be on improving 5G coverage in less densely populated areas while also ramping up investment to support the growing momentum behind use cases enabled by 5G standalone (SA) and 5G-Advanced."

The report's findings include:

The 5G monetization imperative grows

"As 5G adoption grows, the monetization imperative will escalate. GSMA Intelligence research shows that the mobile ARPU trend in the US and Canada improved in the 12 months after launching 5G. The technology is also having a positive impact on revenue growth for North American operators beyond mobile services, as highlighted by fixed wireless access (FWA) momentum in the region. Looking forward, the enterprise sector is expected to be the main growth driver for operators. 5G SA brings a host of new capabilities that will be crucial to monetizing 5G investments, including improved support for network slicing. There are also synergies between 5G SA and private wireless networks, opening up new opportunities for mobile operators."

Generative AI takes center stage

"Mobile operators have utilized AI for a while now to varying degrees. However, the emergence of generative AI has pushed the envelope on AI capabilities and thrust AI technology into boardroom conversations globally. With generative AI tools, operators can attempt to automate more complex customer service functions that require a better understanding of context, improved ability to follow a conversation and advanced synthesis of information. The technology can also be used to improve network operations and deliver personalized service plans. However, ethical concerns around the technology still need to be addressed. AI regulation will therefore continue to move up the policy agenda as governments develop frameworks for regulating the use of new AI tools."

eSIM momentum builds

"The last few years have been crucial for eSIM development and commercialization, highlighted by Apple’s launch of eSIM-only smartphones in September 2022 in the US and Canada. There has since been an acceleration in operator eSIM deployments and commercial launches. However, eSIM awareness among consumers remains limited. As the main contact points with end users, operators and smartphone manufacturers have a key role to play in accelerating consumer awareness and adoption. Additionally, eSIM technology has long been seen as a major enabler and accelerator of IoT deployments across multiple sectors. This has led North American operators to partner with a range of players across the IoT ecosystem to accelerate eSIM adoption in the region."

Infographic: GSMA

The shift towards circularity gains traction

"The concept of circularity has risen up the agenda for policymakers and industry players in light of growing concerns around the generation of e-waste and unsustainable levels of consumption of natural resources. Although the technical lifespan of a mobile device is now between four and seven years, the average use period of mobile devices is only around three years. Governments and industry players have a role to play in incentivizing consumers, such as by building new channels for suppliers to collect, refurbish and resell devices and implementing awareness campaigns on sustainability. Operators and other ecosystem players in North America are already taking a lead in this regard, with a number of initiatives to drive circularity in mobile phones and other digital devices."

Growing opportunities for operators as fintech demand surges

"GSMA Intelligence survey data shows that between 2020 and 2022, the share of 4G/5G smartphone users in the US using their devices for financial services on a daily basis grew by four percentage points on average across mobile banking, online shopping, paying bills and contactless payments. This reflects growing momentum behind digital financial services as the competition heats up in the fintech market. For example, Apple recently announced the launch of a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service, which should contribute to a boost in e-commerce transactions. It has also launched a high-yield savings account through a partnership with Goldman Sachs, which reportedly brought in $990 million in deposits over its first four days. By the end of the first week, around 240,000 accounts had reportedly been opened."

Policies for growth and innovation

"The success of 5G rollouts depends on operators' 5G spectrum holdings across low, mid- and high bands to deliver both speed and geographical coverage. Additional spectrum can boost the provision of cost-efficient investment and enhance network quality in North America, which can help 5G become a central pillar of the region’s economic development strategies."

Infographic: GSMA

GSMA points out that "5G connectivity is already proving to be a powerful driver of GDP growth, with 5G's contribution to GDP in North America expected to surpass $200 billion in 2030 (16% of the overall annual economic impact of mobile in the region)." What is more, "Beyond its contribution to GDP, the mobile ecosystem also supports 2.1 million jobs (directly and indirectly) and makes a substantial contribution to the funding of the public sector, with $130 billion raised through taxation in 2022. This economic contribution underlines the importance of stakeholders taking the right steps to sustain the impact of mobile services on the digital economy, with spectrum availability a key driver of affordable 5G for all."

What do you thinking of the report's findings? Do you see the North American mobile sector more attractive for investment compared to other geographic markets?

​Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

Report Says North America's Mobile Sector Is Showing Climate Leadership in Helping Achieve UN's Climate-Related Sustainable Development Goals

According to its latest report on the state of the mobile economy in North America, GSMA Intelligence says that "[b]y the end of 2020, 327 million people in North America subscribed to mobile services, representing 83% of the region's population. This places North America among the world's most developed mobile markets. However, increasing market saturation also means that subscriber growth is slowing, a scenario that is also occurring in other advanced markets around the world."

GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the GSMA, a UK-based organization that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, further asserts: "By the end of 2025, 5G will account for almost two thirds of total mobile connections, which is equivalent to nearly 270 million connections. 5G will also account for 98% of mobile capex over the next five years as operators step up deployments of mid-band spectrum."

Operators in the region are looking to bring new suppliers and technologies into the network. "The GSMA Intelligence Operators in Focus survey indicates that expanding 5G coverage and open RAN deployments are the top RAN priorities in North America, while virtualization investments, security and edge computing are crucial for the core network," the report explains.

With respect to policies enabling digital advancement, the report suggests the "speed, reach and quality of 5G services depends on governments and regulators supporting timely access to the right amount and type of affordable spectrum, under the right conditions. Policy also has a role to play in the shift towards open and virtualized networks, by creating an enabling environment that will support the deployment of new RAN infrastructure."

Other key findings include:

• Mobile operators in North America will invest $300 billion in their networks between 2020 and 2025, of which 98% will be dedicated to 5G.
• 5G coverage and open RAN top RAN priorities, while virtualization investments and security are critical for the core network.
• Despite growing confidence in open and virtualized RAN, there is recognition that accelerated measures are needed to ensure equipment interoperability, security, reliability, and sufficient systems integration capabilities and skills.
• As indicated in the chart below, the urgency to deploy IoT projects is stronger in the U.S. than in other countries, with around two in five companies planning to deploy IoT within a year, and one in five targeting deployments within two years. "The pandemic has increased the urgency of enterprise digitization among many firms as they look to boost productivity and efficiency, which will escalate adoption of IoT, AI and 5G, among other technologies."
• The UN's Race to Zero campaign declared that the mobile industry made a critical 'breakthrough' in early 2021, as more than a third of operators by revenue had committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.

Regarding the mobile sector's efforts to help achieve the UN's climate-related sustainable development goals (SDGs), GSMA Intelligence says "North American operators are making strong progress on SDG 13: Climate Action, with mobile at the forefront of efforts to tackle climate change." Furthermore, "at the end of 2020, 80% of operators by revenue disclosed their climate impacts, while almost two thirds of operators by revenue had set science-based targets to cut their carbon emissions rapidly over the next decade. In North America, several operators have set a science-based target of 1.5°C, which is in line with an ICT sectoral target-setting approach recently developed through a collaboration between the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), the GSMA, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). These targets support the Paris Agreement’s central aim of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change."

Lastly, "Switching to renewable energy will play an essential role in the mobile industry reaching net-zero carbon emissions. Most emissions within the direct control of operators are from electricity and diesel consumption by power networks."

In addition to switching to renewable energy, how can North America's mobile sector help achieve climate-related SDGs including including SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG 15: Life On Land?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.