The contraction in the economy of the United States to an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the first three months of 2014 has caused the IMF to predict just 1.7 percent growth this year, the weakest since the recession ended five years ago. Introducing the new forecasts, the IMF's chief economist Olivier Blanchard (pictured) said: "The recovery continues, but it remains a weak recovery, indeed a bit weaker than we forecast in April." The reduction also reflects a number of downgrades to the outlook for several other individual economies.

When a young Welshman by the name of Herbert Evans first arrived in Johannesburg in 1889 he probably would never have believed that in 2014 a company would exist that traces its history back well over a century. It was however the young Mr Evans who introduced the production of floor polish, carriage varnish and ready-mixed tinted paints to the country of South Africa.

Previously seen as being hindered by years of mismanagement, Nigeria has risen like a Phoenix in recent years with the economic reforms of the past decade contributing towards the country finally beginning to realise its immense potential. In the last two years alone Nigeria’s expanding financial, service, communications and technology sectors have contributed towards it being recognised as Africa’s largest economy, being ranked 26th in the world in terms of GDP and being on course to become one of the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020.

“Quattro was incorporated in 1993 and is the brainchild of its founders, Graham White and Dimitri and George Klironomos,” explains Administration Manager, Sanjika Phiri. “Beginning life with just a single eight seat minibus, Graham surrounded himself with a strong management team, and together with the company’s employees built it into the business that it is today, a multi-million dollar operation with a fleet of more than 500 vehicles.”

El Salvador’s Executive Autonomous Port Commission (CEPA) is the organisation charged with managing the country’s transportation infrastructure – its ports, airports and railways. Tracing its origin back to the 1950s it has accrued responsibility for a number of projects over the years in a piecemeal way. Over this period El Salvador has attracted international attention for some of the wrong reasons, taking attention away from the considerable strengths that derive from its strategic location at the heart of the Americas.

Hiring the right people is immensely complex – it is no surprise that so many mistakes are made. Getting recruitment right will pay huge dividends, but is enough rigor applied to the process? Though luck will play its part, businesses need the right people to be available and attracted to your organisation. If there are two things that are critical it is to assess people’s values and leadership.

Nobody’s perfect. What quality or ability do you wish you had?
I wish I was someone who could function perfectly well on 4 hours sleep a day. There is so much to experience and achieve that sleeping 8 hours a day seems a waste.

What is the best business book you have ever read, and why?
I don’t as a rule read business books, but “Who Moved My Cheese” provided some valuable insights when I first read it in the 1990’s and those lessons have stayed with me.

Every businessman and woman knows the importance of meetings. A necessary evil they may be, meetings are vital for providing and receiving updates, communicating, planning, brainstorming and making decisions.

All too often, however, meetings take up an inordinate amount of time. But by focusing on meeting productivity, individuals and businesses can greatly reduce time wastage. In a business climate where time is precious, that’s an advantage many of us can’t afford not to take.

Zinc and aluminium prices reached unexpected levels on July 21 with zinc hitting a seven year high. London Metal Exchange zinc futures on the London Metals Exchange (LME) have risen to $1,255.50 a tonne - a price not reached since November 1997. Demand for the metals is driven by China which, as we have reported recently, has indicated above-expectation performance results in manufacturing and construction. AME Mineral Economics has said that world zinc consumption could rise 260,000 tonnes in 2005, resulting in a global deficit of 280,000 tonnes.