Adjiedj Bakas

Adjiedj Bakas is an industry consultant and author. He has advised leading political figures, such as Jesse Jackson, and Iceland’s president on the country’s economy.

Bakas claims to be a regular advisor to many multinational corporations, most notably: Shell, Unilever, ING, ABN AMRO, Rabobank, Air France KLM, Apple, Philips, Merrill Lynch, Nike, Pepsi, Sara Lee, Aegon, Ahold, Campina, Corio, Fortis, KPMG, Deloitte, PWC, KPN, TNT, Heineken, Maxeda, Stork, and Océ.

In the Netherlands he was voted "Black Businessman of the Year" in 2008.

Born in South America of Indian parents, Bakas has lived in Amsterdam since 1983. Bakas wrote his first book Megatrends Netherlands, which quickly became a bestseller. He has since written in Dutch the books Living without Oil and World Megatrends. Both of them will be translated and published in the UK in 2009 . He also wrote Megatrends Europe.

In his book, Beyond the crisis, Bakas predicts that the current recession will last two years, and is linked firmly to a crisis of confidence rather than lack of money. He foresees that half of the US’s 7,000 banks will cease to exist and millions of jobs will disappear as bank finances dry up for previously healthy companies. He also envisions that the oil price will reach record heights again after 2010 by the recovering world economy, which will mean countries that do not spend the next two years developing alternative energy supplies will remain in recession.

Bakas also predicts that companies such as Google and Virgin (both of which have applied for banking licences) will offer consumers alternative financial services to the established organisations. Consumers will also demand more ethical and "green" products according to their own values, forcing financial institutions to listen. Sovereign wealth funds will also impact the financial services market, as more assets will be owned through financing, particularly from the Middle East. With increased consolidation, financial services will become more global, self-regulated and ultimately more ethical.

Works

  • World Megatrends: The future of humankind (2009, ISBN 978-1-906821-07-4)