This month, research on which country’s equities market generated the best returns for investors in 2014 came up with a surprising result – Egypt. The North African country’s equities market generated gross returns of 29%, according to the MSCI index.

The figures - four years to the month since the country's revolution and 18 months since its military coup - came shortly after a public bidding war for Egyptian snack maker Bisco Misr erupted between emerging markets-focused private equity firm Abraaj Group and US food giant Kellogg. Abraaj opted out of the bidding last month after Kellogg tabled a higher offer, ending a two-month takeover battle that highlighted Kellogg's ambitions to increase its presence in emerging markets such as Egypt.