The Founder and Chairman of Efficient Network Consultants answers questions on the firm's organisation, its presence in Iraq, the geopolitical context, and its ambitions for the years ahead.
We follow a light-footprint model. We have three divisions — Diplomacy, B2G and Consulting — and for each of them, Efficient Network relies on a core of companies, multidisciplinary experts and local partners. In other words, we work only on what we know and what we understand. That is the key to our success.
That success comes down to four words: expertise, skills, credibility and trust. Efficient Network was built with the objective of supporting companies in the emerging markets of Africa and the Middle East. With us, our clients have the effective ability to make their voice heard — and above all, to be listened to. Efficient Network is a partner of strong standing, notably in Iraq, where we have been established for nearly twelve years.
Efficient Network understood Iraq's potential very early. We went there at a time when few believed in the country, because they held a preconceived and mistaken idea of it. Our determination met that of Iraqi investors and business leaders, who recognised the importance of building a rigorous economic reference — for themselves, and for all those who wish to join them in taking part in the country's reconstruction.
The geopolitical and geostrategic stakes have never been higher. We are living through a period of uncertainty in international relations. Strategic anticipation now sits at the heart of every major move of consolidation or international expansion by economic actors. Every major investment project, external-growth operation and foreign-market entry is concerned.
The wars — Ukraine, the Near East, Sudan — play an amplifying role in this context, creating still more uncertainty and exposing the tensions in the markets for energy and strategic commodities.
My idea has always been to give our clients a realistic view of emerging markets. Efficient Network masters the disciplines of economic intelligence, business diplomacy, public affairs and strategy consulting to help its clients control their exposure to risk: political risk, economic risk, export risk, security risk, and risk to image and reputation.
The coming years should allow us to establish ourselves even more deeply in Africa and the Middle East. I also want us to strengthen our capacity to support our clients before the European institutions. That is the purpose of the representative office we opened in Brussels in 2023.
We are also preparing the opening of a new hub in Geneva, to continue supporting our clients in commodity trading.
Africa is a continent where we are already well established, which represents an important market for us, and where we intend to grow stronger. Some today are belatedly describing Africa as the new frontier of the world economy. The opportunities, risks and challenges of a continent — and of states that differ greatly from one another — must be analysed on their own terms. Africa will double its population by 2050 to around two billion people, more than 20% of the world's population, with a growing weight of youth; and the rapid adoption of technology makes the continent fertile ground for innovation.
Efficient Network — MEA Strategy & Development Consulting.