Will Caspian Trade Flow into the Persian Gulf?
May 31st, 2020
Via Window on Eurasia, commentary on the potential for north-south trade in Central Asia: Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have agreed to promote the expansion of rail traffic from their countries through Iran to Oman and thus to the world ocean, a path that China will likely be the biggest beneficiary of and that will challenge Moscow’s […]
Read more »The Time Is Now for a Trans-Caspian Pipeline
May 28th, 2020
Via Real Clear World, commentary on the potential need for a Trans-Caspian pipeline: China will enter the post-COVID-19 era with many geopolitical advantages. Its lockdown is ending while many in the West are in the midst of theirs. Western policymakers have yet to reach consensus on how to decouple their supply chains from China. Beijing appears to be winning […]
Read more »Can Mirziyoyev’s Reforms Bring About a Real Free Market Economy in Uzbekistan?
May 25th, 2020
Via The Diplomat, a look at Uzbekistan, four years into its liberalization efforts: It has been almost four years since Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev embarked on a modernization mission through a series of political and economic reforms to repair his country’s poor global reputation as repressive and isolated country. By 2019, Mirziyoyev’s political opening aimed at […]
Read more »The Mekong River Is Becoming A Significant South-East Asian Trade Corridor
May 25th, 2020
Via Silk Road Briefing, an article on how – with the last major China-Laos railway tunnel completed On Lancang-Mekong corridor – the Mekong River is becoming a major South-East Asian trade corridor: The last significant tunnel to be bored to complete the China-Laotian Railway was completed on March 15th, with track now being laid at […]
Read more »Ethiopia: Placing A Call For First-Ever Telecom License Bids
May 24th, 2020
Via Quartz, a report on Ethiopia’s progress towards its first-ever bids for telecoms licenses: Ethiopia’s Communication Authority has invited bidders to send in expressions of interest as it looks to move ahead with privatizing its telecom sector, after delays due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Global accounting firm KPMG, on Thursday, presented its evaluation of the […]
Read more »A Lost Struggle To Mine Afghan Gold
May 24th, 2020
Courtesy of The Financial Times, a look at a failed Afghan gold mining venture: On Tuesday, shareholders in a private Guernsey-based company will meet electronically to discuss the likely end of a decade-long Sisyphean struggle to mine for gold and copper in the mountains of Afghanistan. Centar, set up in 2011 by investment banker Ian […]
Read more »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.