Iraq's banking sector is struggling to put its ever-increasing assets to work, a situation not helped by the fact that it is dominated by inefficient state-owned institutions. Can an influx of foreign banks – and the technology and expertise they bring – help transform the sector, or will development hinge on the state-owned banks' ability to reform?  

The Arab Spring protests, and the months of political instability that followed, slowed FDI inflows into north Africa. But rather than pulling out of the region entirely, many investors simply put their projects on hold or moved into other more stable economies such as Morocco and Algeria.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the telecoms and mobile phone industry has become the fastest growing sector in the country after oil and gas. And the competition between the three major service providers is set to push the industry further.

The turmoil that has beset the Middle East and north African political scene over the past two years has brought about a change in its investment mindset too, with many countries in the region looking to diversify their industrial output.

The recent discovery of oil in Uganda has the potential to transform the country. However, its finance minister is keen to avoid the mistakes of others, and any oil revenues will be spent on public services and transforming the country's export strategy into a more Africa-centric one.