Communities as Counterparties: Preliminary Review of Concessions and Conflict in Emerging and Frontier Market Concessions

Grounded in an ongoing examination of 100 case studies, this analysis describes the overarching patterns of conflict between companies and local communities in emerging and frontier market concessions. Identifying those patterns is the first step to establishing best practices for managing the risks. Findings admittedly subjective but suggest 3 interesting conclusions for investors: more resources should be devoted to managing risks at the inception stage of operating a new concession; risks resulting from conflict with local populations can be managed by maintaining strong environmental standards; and more time and resources should be given to the identification and development of relationships with reliable local counterparties.