Archive for February, 2023

China’s South Asia Troubles

Via the Soufan Center, commentary on China’s South Asia troubles: China’s efforts to build economic and political influence in South Asia are running into significant headwinds, including with its longtime ally, Pakistan. Chinese relations with historic rival India remain tense over periodic border clashes and New Delhi’s participation in several U.S.-backed regional security groupings. Pakistani […]

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Middle East Tech Startups Are A Hot Emerging Market

Via Forbes, an interesting look at the growth of Middle East tech startups: The Middle East and North Africa tech startup scene is sizzling, fueled by rapid growth in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, a new crop of cash-rich investors and Egypt’s newest unicorn. There’s a new entrepreneurial energy from Rabat to Riyadh, […]

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Should Somalia Fast-Track Its Membership To The EAC?

Courtesy of The Africa Report, a report on Somalia’s EAC membership strategy: Somalia’s geographical location and its citizen’s inherent entrepreneurial spirit to explore new markets have contributed to the country’s desire to join the EAC. Efforts to join the regional block started years back but stalled after the fall of the central government in 1991. […]

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Venezuela Claims Nearly Three-Quarters of Guyana

Via The Washington Post, a report on the Venezuela/Guyana border dispute: For decades, maps and charts produced by Venezuela have represented the 61,000-square-mile territory — nearly three-quarters of Guyana — as an integral part of … Venezuela. It’s what governments in Caracas of all ideologies have argued, what generations of schoolchildren have been taught. It’s […]

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What’s Behind Russia’s Charm Offensive in Africa?

Via the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, commentary on Russia’s recent engagement in Africa: Africa is becoming a battlefield of artificial narratives. The Kremlin pretends it is creating a “second front” and challenging the rules-based order, while the West feigns concern over the Kremlin’s actions there, while knowing perfectly well that the main threat to […]

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After Temporary Suspension, What’s Next for the Trans-Afghan Railway?

Via The Diplomat, an article on the trans-Afghan railway, which was re-opened from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan after a recent suspension was lifted: A temporary suspension of the transit of freight wagons from the Galaba railway station in the city of Termez, Uzbekistan to the Hairatan railway station in Afghanistan just across the river was lifted on February 10. […]

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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.