Via Ozy, an interesting look at Colombia: Ten years ago, the world had written Colombia off as a tangled wreckage of drug cartels, Marxist guerrillas and paramilitary death squads, where violence was the norm and hope was for the naïve. But now many Colombians are dreaming of what only a few years ago seemed unthinkable […]
Read more »Via Emerging Frontiers, an updated look at Iraq: It might seem surprising that Asia Frontier Capital recently attended an investor conference in Iraq, as news coming out of the country usually focuses on Iraq’s turbulent security situation and ongoing sectarian violence. However, instability is just one side of the story. Crude oil production in Iraq […]
Read more »Via the BBC, a report on a major infrastructure project that could redefine commerce in East and Central Africa: Kenya has formally launched a new, Chinese-financed railway which should extend across East Africa to reach South Sudan, DR Congo and Burundi. The first section will link the Kenyan port of Mombasa to the capital, Nairobi, […]
Read more »Via Reuters, an interesting article on China’s control of Ecuador’s oil: China’s aggressive quest for foreign oil has reached a new milestone, according to records reviewed by Reuters: near monopoly control of crude exports from an OPEC nation, Ecuador. Last November, Marco Calvopiña, the general manager of Ecuador’s state oil company PetroEcuador, was dispatched to […]
Read more »Via Bloomberg, an interesting article on a report that that Venezuela’s Central Bank and Goldman Sachs are ready to sign an agreement to swap or exchange international gold reserves with a start date in October 2013 until October 2020: A while back Greece had a problem. The problem was that it wanted to borrow more […]
Read more »Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), a detailed analysis of Sudan’s economic woes: Sudanese protesters gather after the government suspended fuel subsidies in September. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Sudan’s descent into economic disrepair continues. Khartoum is struggling to lower its budget deficit and stabilize the exchange rate of the Sudanese pound against the U.S. dollar. Ever since […]
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