One of the most heavily shorted stocks in the FTSE 100 and United Arab Emirates’ largest private healthcare provider share price dropped significantly in December and January. More than £2bn was wiped from the value of NMC Health PLC (LON: NMC) after there were “serious doubts” about the group’s finances in a report by US…

Sub-Saharan Africa suffer from significant levels of financial exclusion, in particular concerning bank-based activity. Traditional banking have failed to comprehensively understand their customers’ needs and to assess financial risks, resulting in less accurate financial service provision. The positive outcome of the introduction of M-Pesa on the Kenyan economy and consumers, however, shows that other sub-Saharan…

On 15 January, Putin’s state-of-the-union speech took Kremlin-watchers by surprise. He announced the resignation of former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev along with the entire cabinet, as well as a number of constitutional reforms. The latter includes granting parliament greater powers over the cabinet, judges and security services, and increased powers to the State Council. This…