Pro-democracy protests in Yemen have derailed the progress that the country was making in attracting FDI, with a 50% decrease in the number of foreign businesses obtaining investment licences in the country in 2011. Until the political situation is resolved, it is likely that this downward trend will continue, despite the abundant investment opportunities in the country.

As the EU imposes an oil embargo on Iran and the screws tighten on neighbouring Syria, foreign companies doing business with the affected countries are scrambling to stay on the right side of the law while hedging against their losses. 

Across central Asia, from China to Kazakhstan, economies are set to benefit from the re-opening of trade routes along the historic Silk Road. Significant investment has already been made to improve the infrastructure along the route, but further investment, more cohesion between the central Asian countries involved and more politically stability in the region as a whole is needed if this great passageway between Asia and Europe is to return to its former glory.
 

Iraq has made solid progress in developing its oil capabilities and has ambitious plans to increase production further, according to its minister of oil, Abdul Karim al-Luaibi.

Iraq's dated oil infrastructure desperately needs updating and expanding so it can meet increasing demands. The government has ambitious plans, but can it engage the international oil companies to invest in them?

Kazakhstan is putting the hard lessons learnt during the financial crisis into practice as it embarks on a major programme of privatisation intended to wean the country off an overdependence on oil and put it on a sound macroeconomic footing

Francophone Gabon is not the most high-profile of African countries, but with a new prime minister, the hosting of a major football tournament and investors being drawn to its resource-rich land, could that change?