In Africa, the population is struggling with a life-or-life dilemma that could help infrastructure, agriculture and water-related exchange traded funds (ETFs).
For years, the countries in North Africa have drained aquifers, sucked the salt from seawater and diverted the Nile River in order to make deserts bloom, says Andrew Martin for the New York Times. The projects to do so were so expensive that importing food was more practical, and today, some countries import at least 90% of their staples....
...As these countries work to find cost-effective solutions to the problem of rising costs and dwindling resources, some ETFs might see their numbers shift, including:
- iShares S&P Global Infrastructure (IGF), down 15.2% year-to-date
- Macquerie/First Trust Global Infrastructure/Utilities Dividend Income Fund (MFD), down 19.4% year-to-date
- PowerShares Water Resources (PHO), down 4% year-to-date
- Claymore S&P Global Water (CGW), down 11.2% year-to-date
- MLCX Grains Index (GRU), down 4.4% year-to-date
- PowerShares DB Agriculture (DBA), up 12.4% year-to-date
