Eurnekian bets on IPOs: Argentine businessman Eduardo Eurnekian is reported to be planning up to four IPOs on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) this year, arguing that conditions could be “ideal” for such a move if Argentina successfully resolves its long legal dispute with the hold-out creditors. Reuters said that Eurnekian, one of the country’s most successful businessmen, was thinking of floating shares in his airports operating company, in his energy unit Compañía General de Combustibles (CGC), in his nanotechnology group (which trades as Unitec Blue in Argentina and as Unitec in Brazil), and in his agricultural company as…

The peso has been devalued, export taxes have been slashed, and export permits are no longer required. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner – who had an epic quarrel with Argentina’s farmers when she was president from 2007-2015 – has been voted out of office. Does this mean that the good times are set to roll again? There is no doubt that Argentina’s farmers have received a big boost. Since taking office on 10 December the new centre-right President Mauricio Macri has delivered on his initial promises. The controlled official exchange which overvalued the national currency has been eliminated, with the peso…

Colombian agriculture is going to be under scrutiny in 2016, for a variety of reasons. The proposed peace settlement between the government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) insurgents contains a series of commitments on land reform and rural development. At the same time the government has passed legislation creating rural development zones (known as Zonas de Interés de Desarrollo Rural Económico y Social, or Zidres) that have met with opposition. And hanging over both these developments is the whole question of modernising the agricultural and agro-industrial sector of the economy. Traditionally a key sector of the Colombian…

The decision to choose Rio de Janeiro as the venue for the 2016 Olympic Games was taken in 2009, when Brazil expected that its commodities-led boom would continue for years. It didn’t. With the games now only seven months away (5-21 August) commodity prices are at record lows. Brazil is struggling with a double-headed political and economic crisis with President Dilma Rousseff facing impeachment proceedings. In the most dramatic scenario she might even be replaced before the games start. The economy is expected to contract by over 3% this year – the second year of shrinkage. Will all this cause…