Beijing is backing Amina Mohamed to become the next director-general of the WTO. China has invested heavily in Kenya and knows that an African would be more sympathetic to China retaining its “developing” country status while blocking some liberalization rules. By contrast, Washington is supporting former New Zealand trade minister Tim Groser, a staunch free trader. U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to threaten U.S, withdrawal from the WTO if it becomes a quasi-China-led organization. It should be noted that Nigeria has nominated Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the job so this leadership opening also threatens African unity. Separately, the polarization around China is expanding. Tokyo had passed on joining a western message chasti...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.