The Emerging Markets Podcast with Fexingo: Developing Economies, Growth, and Investment

The strong dollar isn't a single story for emerging markets. Lucas and Luna break down three divergent paths: Chinese equities rallying on stimulus despite yuan pressure, Latin American exporters benefiting from weaker currencies, and frontier markets like Kenya and Pakistan facing debt strain. With the trade-weighted dollar index at 120.7 and China's yuan steady at 6.79 per dollar, they explore w...

Lucas and Luna explore how mobile money platforms in Africa are growing faster than traditional banking systems, with a focus on M-Pesa's evolution in Kenya and its expansion into lending, savings, and cross-border payments. They discuss the latest data showing mobile money transactions in sub-Saharan Africa surpassing $1 trillion annually, and how this is reshaping financial inclusion, monetary p...

Vietnam is quietly positioning itself as a key player in the global semiconductor supply chain, attracting billions in foreign investment from chip giants like Intel, Amkor, and Samsung. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the specific government incentives, infrastructure upgrades, and workforce training programs driving the shift — and what it means for investors tracking emerging market...

Chinese e-commerce platforms like Pinduoduo and Alibaba are expanding aggressively into emerging markets, but their strategies differ sharply. Pinduoduo's Temu focuses on ultra-low-cost goods for price-sensitive shoppers in Southeast Asia and Latin America, while Alibaba's Lazada and AliExpress target mid-tier markets with logistics infrastructure. This episode examines how these two models are pl...

SpaceX is racing to put data centers in orbit, and the implications for emerging markets are enormous. Lucas and Luna explore how orbital computing could bypass terrestrial infrastructure bottlenecks, slash latency for remote regions, and create a new competitive dynamic where countries like Nigeria and India leapfrog traditional connectivity constraints. They anchor the conversation in SpaceX's r...

Episode 100 of The Emerging Markets Podcast. Lucas and Luna examine a quiet trend: emerging market dividend-paying stocks are beating growth names year to date, even as China tech rallies and currency volatility picks up. They dig into MSCI EM High Dividend Yield index performance, compare it to the broad EM index, and ask whether the shift is cyclical or structural. With the Fed minutes showing r...

Episode 99 of The Emerging Markets Podcast. Lucas and Luna unpack how the persistent strength of the US dollar is creating a divergence between emerging markets. With the trade-weighted dollar index hovering near 121 despite a slight dip, countries with dollar-denominated debt are getting crushed while commodity exporters and FX-resilient economies are holding up better. They cite specific data: S...

Lucas and Luna examine the diverging performance of emerging market ETFs in July 2026. With the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) down 3.9% in five days, the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) off 1.3%, but the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) up 2.8%, they drill into what's driving the split. They focus on the stunning 10% drop in South Korea's EWY amid a currency crisis, and contras...

Episode 97 of The Emerging Markets Podcast examines why US companies are increasingly turning to Chinese AI models as OpenAI and Anthropic costs surge. Lucas and Luna discuss the trade-offs between cost and compliance, the role of yuan depreciation in making Chinese AI cheaper, and what this means for the global AI landscape. With specific data on the trade-weighted dollar and yuan exchange rates,...

This episode of The Emerging Markets Podcast explores how Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, trading as PDD, has surged 9.5% in the past week, reflecting a broader rally in Chinese tech stocks. Lucas and Luna break down the company's unique group-buying model, its expansion into emerging markets like Southeast Asia with Temu, and what this means for global investors. They discuss the trade-weight...

Ghana's digital payments ecosystem has grown from a niche mobile money experiment to a national infrastructure moving over $100 billion annually. In this episode, Lucas and Luna unpack how the West African nation leapfrogged traditional banking, why telcos like MTN dominate the space, and what the data says about financial inclusion in emerging markets. They discuss the role of the Bank of Ghana's...

Episode 94 of The Emerging Markets Podcast dives into Kazakhstan's rising role in the global rare earths supply chain. As China tightens export controls on critical minerals and Western governments scramble to diversify, the Central Asian country is emerging as a surprising alternative. Lucas and Luna explore the numbers: Kazakhstan already produces 40 percent of the world's uranium and holds the...

In episode 93 of The Emerging Markets Podcast, Lucas and Luna examine the remarkable rise of India's IT services industry from low-cost call centers to a $250 billion global powerhouse driving digital transformation for Fortune 500 companies. Using the recent World Cup surge in prediction market volumes as a real-time example, they explore how firms like Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services now b...

India's IT services sector is undergoing a massive transformation. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the rise of generative AI, the push for digital public infrastructure, and a new generation of homegrown startups are shifting India from a low-cost outsourcing destination to a global hub for high-value tech services. With $254 billion in annual revenue and over 5 million employees, the...

Episode 91 of The Emerging Markets Podcast digs into a striking divergence in July 2026. While currencies across developing economies remain under pressure—the trade-weighted dollar still near 121 and the yuan pegged at 6.80—Chinese tech stocks listed in the U.S. are staging a notable rally: Baidu up nearly 9% in a week, PDD up 7.6%, JD up almost 5%. Lucas and Luna explore what's driving this disc...

Episode 90 of The Emerging Markets Podcast explores how climate-linked bonds and sustainability-linked loans are transforming the $4 trillion emerging market debt landscape. Lucas and Luna examine the case of Chile's landmark sovereign green bond issuance, which has inspired copycats from Indonesia to Egypt. They discuss new data showing that ESG-labeled EM debt now accounts for 18% of total issua...

In this episode of The Emerging Markets Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore Mexico's rapid transformation into a tech and nearshoring powerhouse. As of July 2026, the trade-weighted US dollar index has eased to 120.9, and the China +1 strategy is accelerating companies like Tesla and Foxconn building production capacity in Mexico's industrial north. We look at how Mexico's educated workforce, proximit...

Kenya banned single-use plastics in 2017, but the global ripple effects are only now hitting full force in 2026. Lucas and Luna explore how emerging markets from Indonesia to Rwanda are wrestling with the economics of plastic alternatives, why the $600 billion plastic packaging industry faces a slow-motion disruption, and what India's new Extended Producer Responsibility rules mean for multination...

Nigeria's central bank launched the eNaira two years ago with limited success. Now a private-sector consortium called AfricaNCI is building a real-time gross settlement system that bypasses SWIFT entirely. Lucas and Luna unpack how this network works, why it matters for intra-African trade, and what it means for the broader emerging markets payments landscape. They look at the numbers: Nigeria's $...

With the Fed signaling no rate cuts and the dollar staying strong, emerging market M&A has hit a two-year low. Lucas and Luna break down what the dry powder waiting on the sidelines means for countries like Mexico and Vietnam, and why a pullback in US acquisitions could actually create opportunity for local champions. Specific data: EEM down 1.9% in five days, KWEB up 6.9% as Chinese tech rallies...

In this episode of The Emerging Markets Podcast, Lucas and Luna drill into one specific case: the explosion of Nigerian tech talent and what it means for global outsourcing. With Nigeria's tech workforce growing at 25 percent compound annual growth rate since 2020, companies from Google to local fintechs are tapping Lagos and Abuja for software engineers, product managers, and data scientists. Luc...

Indonesia now controls more than half of the global nickel supply, and that is reshaping not just the battery supply chain but the entire emerging market investment thesis. Lucas and Luna break down how a country that barely processed the metal a decade ago became the indispensable link in the electric vehicle boom. They look at the specific policy decisions that pulled it off, the environmental t...

In this episode of The Emerging Markets Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore a surprising shift in global trade routes: Egypt's emergence as a logistics and manufacturing hub. With the Suez Canal already handling 12% of global trade, new infrastructure like the Suez Canal Economic Zone, expanded ports, and industrial parks are attracting foreign investment. The hosts discuss how geopolitical tensions,...

Brazil's agribusiness sector is booming, with the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ) up 1.5% over the past five days as of June 29, 2026. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how Brazil has become the world's largest exporter of soybeans, corn, and beef, and how this agricultural dominance is reshaping the country's economy and its role in emerging markets. They discuss the infrastructure challenges...

South Korea's currency crisis has deepened through June 2026, with the won hitting 1,615 per dollar and the Korea ETF (EWY) dropping nearly 10% in a single week. Lucas and Luna drill into why Korea — a $1.8 trillion economy with strong exports — is facing a currency collapse that reeks of 1997, and what that means for other emerging markets. They look at the Bank of Korea's depleted reserves, the...