Private equity, the high-return-oriented asset class channeling third party capital to companies looking to grow or streamline operations, is a burgeoning business in many emerging markets, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is no exception. It is an alternative to methods of investment and financing, generating interest among Arab investors willing to invest in their domestic or regional economies and can prove valuable in the medium term. In the past, oil booms providing excessive liquidity to Gulf financiers was spent on projects in North America, Western Europe, and industrialized Asia, fuelling political economy debates. In a new direction for this asset class, money is flowing within the MENA region rather than leaving it. According to a speech by Gary Long, Investcorp’s President and Chief Operating Officer, in 2002 nearly 85% of the region’s wealth was sent overseas to dollar-backed investments; in 2007 this had dropped to 75%,
