Emerge85: A New Lab for Global Connectivity
Sarah Alexander, Principal, Emerging Markets Private Equity Association
Mishaal Al-Gergawi, Managing Director, Delma Institute
Afshin Molavi, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute
October 4, 2016
The global middle-class is projected to grow by 3 billion people in the next 20 years. What will these growing economies produce and consume? How will their cities develop, and how will they connect with the world? The Emerge85 Lab is a new partnership of the Foreign Policy Institute and the Delma Institute which aims to explore these trends among the 85 percent of world population living outside of Europe and North America.
Co-directors Afshin Molavi and Mishaal Al-Gergawi were joined by Sarah Alexander for a discussion of the lab's mission and the economic and human stories it will tell. Speakers shared their personal experiences of working in the ‘85’ world and the potential for growth, investment and south-south trade in those countries. Molavi and Al-Gergawi said that as Emerge85 explores geo-economic trends, the lab will analyze how economies in the global south adapt, adopt, or challenge the typical "western-centric" models and values for growth and development. As Molavi and Al-Gergawi write in their lead essay, "the 85 world is transforming how we all produce, consume, connect, and live."
Video available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nrfKzO0nVs.