The founder of Surtees and Company is half British and half Ethiopian, and he grew up in the UK keenly aware of the differences between the two countries. This experience has shaped his worldview: that the differences in economic development and the standard of living, between various regions of this world, are unacceptable.

We understand that underdevelopment is not an inevitable outcome and that this condition can be corrected. The experience of countries in East Asia over the past seventy years demonstrates that rapid growth of living standards is possible when governments and entrepreneurs make the most effective use of available resources. Our company was established to help guide governments and entrepreneurs in the developing world towards achieving the same outcome.

The growth, the dynamism, and the potential which will shape the world for the rest of this century and the next, will occur in those regions which are underdeveloped today. Most people don’t see this potential, but just as change has happened rapidly and without warning elsewhere, it will happen again. There are tremendous opportunities for those with the foresight to see this. We seek to reveal these opportunities and participate in a transformation the scale of which this world has never seen.