Moscow-based Renaissance Capital could lay claim to being the first non-western broker-investor to recognize the interconnected power of the worlds emerging markets.
RenCap ploughed into Africa in the mid-2000s, branching out into Europe and parts of Asia. In so doing, it has patched together a brokerage that claims to be, in the words of Alexander Merzlenko, deputy CEO and head of Russia and CIS investment banking, the worlds "leading emerging market-focused global player".
So do such claims stack up? In part, they do. Few global players have shown an inclination to venture into Africas hairier reaches. RenCap has six offices across the continent, and offers probably the best sub-Saharan Africa...