Archive for 2014

Afghanistan’s Natural Resource Strategy

Courtesy of The Diplomat, a look at Afghanistan’s natural resource strategy: The pending outcome of the Afghan presidential election run-off on June 15 will decide a host of measures that will guide the country’s future development. While the presidential candidates have largely been opaque as to the methodology of their many and bold promises, it […]

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From New York Heroin Dealer To Afghanistan’s Biggest Oil Man

Via Reuters, an interesting story on Afghanistan’s nascent oil industry: One-eyed Rateb Popal’s debut as an Afghan businessman was not promising: he was caught smuggling heroin and locked up in a New York federal prison for almost a decade. Popal had better luck once back in Afghanistan, where he emerged from obscurity to make millions […]

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The Rise Of Emerging Market Television

A very interesting new PwC report on TV subscription and license fees that shows the rise of emerging markets is taking place in TV, too, with China set to pass the U.K. in 2014 and Germany in 2016 to become the second most valuable TV market behind the USA.  It notes that all BRIC countries […]

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Glencore Arranges $1bn Oil Loan For Chad

Courtesy of the Financial Times, a report on Glencore’s interest and involvement in Chad: Glencore has organised a plus-$1bn loan backed by crude oil to allow Chad to buy the assets of Chevron in the country, the latest sign of the commodities house’s interest in the central African nation. The pre-export finance deal enabled the […]

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In Emerging Markets, What Scares Most Investors Entices Others

Courtesy of the New York Times, a look at Justin M. Leverenz, who runs America’s largest emerging markets mutual fund: Jodi Hilton for The New York TimesJustin M. Leverenz in Istanbul. Since 2009, the assets in his emerging market fund have soared to $41 billion. The day has been long for Justin M. Leverenz, who […]

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Uzbekistan To Launch A New Smartphone Company

Courtesy of Eurasia Review, an interesting article on a new Uzbek company: Uzbekistan, the only Central Asian country making smartphones, should reap economic benefits from the growing mobile technology industry, industry watchers said. Olive Telecom is planning to release its first batch of smartphones this July, becoming the third smartphone manufacturer in Uzbekistan, behind Artel […]

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ABOUT
WILDCATS AND BLACK SHEEP
Wildcats & Black Sheep is a personal interest blog dedicated to the identification and evaluation of maverick investment opportunities arising in frontier - and, what some may consider to be, “rogue” or “black sheep” - markets around the world.

Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.