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- Bassim Haidar - the self-made billionaire CEO of Channel IT Group - gave an exclusive interview to Business Insider this week at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
- He outlined why he thinks the best business opportunities are in the East right now.
- Haidar also had some choice words for the situations in the US and UK, and shared some very terse thoughts on cryptocurrencies.
DAVOS, Switzerland - "You cannot measure a whole economy by Apple sales."
This is the first thing Bassim Haidar says when asked about a potential slowdown in China. He's seen the doom-and-gloom headlines calling for a global growth contraction, and he's not overly worried.
"When we look at China, we say they've dropped off 1%, which is not that massive in the grand scale of things," he told Business Insider at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. "It's still growing. People should see the positive side."
This is remarkably positive commentary compared to what's usually espoused publicly about China. But Haidar should know as well as anyone how much untapped potential is still left. After all, he's a self-made billionaire whose telecom company has seen its greatest success in emerging nations.
His company, Channel IT Group, provides loans to low-income customers so they can readily use mobile phones, rather than rely on prepaid cards. Focused on places like Nigeria, Dubai, and sub-Saharan Africa, the service racked up 200 million active users last year while loaning out a whopping $1.7 billion.
But what about President Donald Trump's trade war? Hasn't that made doing business in places like China immeasurably more difficult?
Yes, says Haidar, who laments the fact that Trump and his US colleagues are trying to "clip the wings" of nations like China in an attempt to preserve a degree economic dominance. But he argues that those efforts will only delay the nation's inevitable growth.
"Regarding tariffs, knowing how China works, they'll probably just shift their factories to Taiwan or Korea," Haidar said. "I don't think it will play for too long. It will all die down in a year."
This all informs Haidar's overarching view that, among all of the skepticism around doing business in the East, it's actually a far more intriguing option than the usual strongholds in the West.
"Look what's happening in the US and Europe," Haidar said. "Everything is becoming fragmented, and new allies are being created. World power is shifting to the East."
And Haidar is not just referring to China. He expects India to leapfrog the UK and France in terms of gross domestic product, making it the world's third-largest economy. He's also quite fond of Nigeria, where Channel IT was originally launched. Beyond that, Haidar sees major opportunities in Pakistan and Ethiopia.
There's a simple throughline connecting these countries: they're open for business. It's a new attitude, and one Haidar says reflects vast growth potential in these emerging nations.
"That's what we call green territory," he said. "There's growth everywhere."
Issues with the US and Europe ... and bitcoin
But Haidar's comments aren't solely focused on his fondness for emerging markets. He also has strong thoughts about why the US and Europe aren't right for a businessman like him.
When it comes to the US, one of Haidar's hang-ups is the environment of political uncertainty. That turmoil is what prompted him to exit the US stock market entirely in July. It proved to be a prescient call, as the S&P 500 tumbled 8% in the second half of 2018.
But what troubles Haidar the most about the US is the massive debt load carried by both American companies and consumers.
"What really concerns me is the declining purchase power and the trillion-dollar debt consumers have now," he said. "The more you expensive goods are, the more you spend, which means you borrow more. The question is, can they afford to pay it back?"
Haidar's main worry in the UK is, unsurprisingly, Brexit. He says it's already the "biggest disaster that will ever hit the UK."
He thinks the propensity of British politicians to favor their parties over the nation's well being is sowing the seeds of an eventual economic reckoning that will make matters even worse.
"They're actually going to pay the price in the next five to seven years, when they start to see a major recession," Haidar said. "These things take years to take hold."
And if you think Haidar's views on the US and Europe and pessimistic, don't get him started on cryptocurrencies. Needless to say, he won't be branching out into any bitcoin-related endeavors any time soon.
"We try and avoid this," he said. "We like real money, and the money of the country we're operating in. We try and focus on reality."