A Jihadi Gold Rush Is Fueling Violence In Africa’s Sahel
June 28th, 2021
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on instability in the Sahel and how a jihadi gold rush is fueling violence in Africa: On the side of a rural highway leading south from the city of Kaya in central Burkina Faso, Boureima Ouedraogo mixes gold ore slurry with soapy water in a rusted oil drum, […]
Read more »Mozambique: Militant Activity Disrupting Economic Growth
June 28th, 2021
Via FrontierView, a report on Mozambique: After a mild contraction of 1.4% YOY in 2020, the economy is forecast to grow by 3.2% YOY in 2021 on sharply stronger export revenues—especially coal—vis-à-vis 2020, and looser COVID-19 commercial restrictions. However, this rate reflects a recent deterioration in the growth outlook for 2021 as foreign direct investment […]
Read more »Iran’s Raisi: Facing A ‘Do or Die’ Economic Dilemma
June 28th, 2021
Via Asia Times, an article on the new Iranian leader’s most urgent task which is to fix the nation’s beleaguered economy but it’s not clear yet he has a plan: Speculation is rife in Iran over who will steer the economy under President-elect Ebrahim Raisi, the conservative cleric and judicial head who clinched an easy […]
Read more »From Togo to El Salvador: Every Platform Wants To Be A Super App
June 26th, 2021
Via Rest of World, an article on how – from Togo to El Salvador – real and wannabe super apps have proliferated across the world, aspiring to become the next WeChat or Alipay: “We were selling a dream.” That’s how Emeka Ajene and his co-founder Greg Costamagna described traipsing around the motorbike parks of Lomé, […]
Read more »Turkmenistan: Gradually Opening To The World Via Belt & Road Trade
June 26th, 2021
Via Silk Road Briefing, an article on Turkmenistan: Turkmenistan in most regards has been closed off to the world. However, due to its need to see infrastructure and energy projects move ahead, the country is beginning to become more accessible, on a gradual, step by step basis. Curiously, it is the much-maligned Chinese Belt & […]
Read more »Cambodia’s Economy At A Covid Crossroads
June 26th, 2021
Via Asia Times, a report on Cambodia’s economy: No one is sure who first said it, yet it remains a truism that there are three types of lies: “Lies, damned lies and statistics.” Recent reports from China’s Xinhua and several Phnom Penh-based newspapers about Cambodia’s economic prospects this year have given some reason for cheer. According […]
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.