The strength of diversification

Arab stock markets make progress, but still have some way to go. Stock exchanges, in the Arab World as elsewhere, mirror the economy of a state or region. However, bourses are more than just reflections of changes in the “real” sector, especially in emerging economies. Widening share ownership is usually associated with opening up of economic systems, as business power devolves away from states or oligarchies. Bourses are also places where people or companies raise fresh capital to set up new businesses, or to expand old ones, perhaps the most important of their functions. In these and other respects, Arab bourses are laggards no more. Developing regional share markets over the past few decades have served to make doing business easier — and help people become richer. When the first oil boom began in the mid-1970s, most Arab countries did not have bourses; today, the majority of regional capitals can