Edelweiss India Conference 2011 - Post Conference Notes - Day 1

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We present the key takeaways of day 1 of Edelweiss India Conference 2011: India Discovers Africa- Building bridges, broadening horizons. The two-day event is aimed at bringing together 70 listed corporates and facilitating over 2,000 one-on-one meetings between investors and corporates.

At a time when corporates across the globe, in general, and India, in particular, are scouting for newer growth avenues, favorable demographics, improving political climate, and untapped resources have put Africa in the crosshairs of global investment decision making. Our conference is expected to provide several opportunities to investors and corporates alike to discover the potential for cross-border trade, business alliances, investments and related activities.

Participants on the first day of the conference were exposed to a holistic overview of regulations, government policies, opportunities and challenges in conducting business in Africa. Dr. Harry Broadman, Senior Vice President, Albright Stonebridge Group, delivered the inaugural address on "Why Africa?" Although social and physical infrastructure still leaves a lot of room for improvement, as Dr. Broadman pointed out, remarkably favorable demographics, abundant natural resources and improving political stability have made Africa a favoured destination for foreign investments. In fact, a substantial chunk of foreign investments in Africa is from India and China. We hope this conference will help participants gain deeper insights into the powerful growth engine called Africa.

Our interactions on the first day suggest a general mood of cautions optimism about India. Given the challenging macro-outlook and high inflation, investors were concerned about the margin outlook in general. For example, investors were closely evaluating the impact of macro issues and increasing deposit rates on BFSI sector margins. Within the FMCG sector, although investors were upbeat about the demand scenario, margins sustainability seemed to be a lingering issue given the soaring cost pressures. In the power sector, coal supplies and financial health of SEBs were some of the actively debated issues. Further, lack of clarity on airport regulation and government intervention were additional concerns within the infrastructure sector. On the IT sector, however, investors were not only optimistic about the demand environment but also took cognizance of the fact that margin concerns may be reducing. For the steel sector, our interactions with corporates suggest that steel demand remains strong and margin outlook healthy.

Apart from gaining significant insights into the opportunities in Africa, we hope this conference will provide investors the platform to interact with a cross-section of companies and highlight the plethora of investment opportunities therein.