AI Summary
5 min readIn 2025, foreign direct investment to the developing world shrank overall, but Latin America bucked the trend: investment in the region rose to $205 billion, a sizable increase on the previous year. At least half of that increase came from the United States. The episode explores why a US president who regularly berates Latin American leaders for failing to get hard on drugs and gangs is simultaneously pouring American capital into the region, and whether the boom can last.
The Trump investment paradox
The surge is counterintuitive because Donald Trump is "not very nice about Latin America on a regular basis," as correspondent Carriean Richmond Jones puts it. He gathers leaders together to berate them. Yet the flip side of his belief that America should have more power over its southern neighbors is that it creates investment opportunities. In October, Trump extended $20 billion in swap lines to Argentina to help President Javier Milei, a Trump ally. In 2024, the Development Finance Corporation, the US government's foreign lending agency, set up its first office on the continent, in São Paulo. Richmond Jones reports that in São Paulo's swanky hotels, "there are just lots and lots of American investors looking for opportunities."
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:38) **Latin America's Trump-Era Investment Boom** - International economics correspondent Carrion Richmond Jones explains why Latin America is attracting record foreign investment despite Trump's hostile rhetoric
- 2 (05:00) **Mining and Critical Minerals Drive the Boom** - The biggest beneficiary of Trump-era investment is Latin America's mining industry
- 3 (05:56) **Geopolitical Battle with China** - Latin America becomes a battleground as China doubles down on investment in response to Trump's push
- 4 (07:09) **Will the Boom Last?** - The sustainability of the investment surge is uncertain given Trump's limited time in office and the nature of rare earth markets
- 5 (09:54) **Nigeria's Jollof Rice Becomes Unaffordable** - Reporter investigates how the cost of a beloved staple dish has skyrocketed, hitting 40% of the monthly minimum wage for a single meal
- 6 (13:30) **Ghana vs. Nigeria: Diverging Food Economies** - Ghana's economic recovery has made Jollof cheaper in dollar terms, while Nigeria's inflation remains high
- 7 (15:25) **BBC Switches Off Longwave Radio** - The BBC's historic longwave transmitters, used since 1934 and for wartime coded messages, are being shut down
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Show Notes
For all the Trumpian chaos in Latin America, no other developing-world regional economy has done so well in the past year. We examine the Donroe dividend. The cost to make jollof rice, a staple dish in Nigeria and Ghana, is a window into the countries’ economies. And the BBC waves goodbye to its long-wave radio service.
Guests and host:
- Cerian Richmond-Jones, international economics correspondent
- Ọrẹ Ogunbiyi, Africa correspondent
- Bo Franklin, senior editor
- Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
- Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- Latin America, Donroe doctrine, mining
- Nigeria, Ghana, cost of living, jollof rice
- BBC, long-wave radio
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