The topic chosen for our discussion, namely whether or not there is still a case for investing in emerging markets (including South Africa) may have sounded incongruous two or three years ago, when emerging countries were at the forefront of the global economic recovery, and capital flows into the emerging world had resumed at a strong pace following the 2008–09 financial crisis.
In fact, Enzo was himself often on the critic’s bench, as when he vividly criticized the World Bank for lending to middle income countries without proof that these loans would achieve better and more effective (additional) development results than commercial loans. For those familiar with the aid debate, Enzo’s point was an early call for the certification of “additionality” of aid money.