Savvy is the MENA private equity investor

Using the world’s de-facto barometer of investment danger, credit default swaps (CDS), many fast growing Middle Eastern and North African economies including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Qatar are perceived as less risky investment destinations than heavily indebted, slower growing European states. For much of the month of May — even after the announcement of a 750 billion euro debt stabilization package for the European Union — the cost of a five-year Saudi CDS was lower than a French or British CDS of similar maturity, while Egyptian CDS prices remained below those of Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy. Even the Middle East’s most indebted state, Dubai, was cheaper to insure against non-payment than Europe’s most indebted state, Greece. If May’s CDS prices are a guide, it’s better to be locked into a currency union with Abu Dhabi than with Germany, the traditional model of financial probity, transparency and