U.S. Apathy Paved the Way for China in Africa
May 24th, 2023
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, commentary on the need for the U.S. to rethink how it engages Africa around true competition and tangible deliverables, meaning things that Africans need and want: In April 1997, toward the end of the protracted demise of the United States’ longtime Cold War client Mobutu Sese Seko, the U.S. ambassador to […]
Read more »South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe: Descent Into Energy Darkness?
May 24th, 2023
Courtesy of The Africa Report, strong insight into Southern Africa’s energy poverty: To observers, it’s incomprehensible that countries with active perennial waterways – via Zambezi River – teeter on the verge of energy poverty. Electricity generation is meant to be a feat of simple engineering, though requiring substantial investment. Moreover, for countries that have eternally […]
Read more »Beijing and Washington Are Battling Over Africa’s Green Future
May 24th, 2023
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, an article on how the global energy transition depends on building partnerships with African states. In March 2023, three renewable energy players—Conjuncta from Germany, Infinity from Egypt, and Masdar from the United Arab Emirates—signed an agreement with Mauritania’s government to develop a colossal green hydrogen project in the country, worth a […]
Read more »International Competition Over Turkmenistan’s Transport Routes Intensifies
May 23rd, 2023
Via Jamestown Foundation, a report on how international competition over Turkmenistan’s transport routes has intensified: As Turkmenistan has been closed off from the rest of the world for most of the period since 1991 and as Ashgabat’s commitment to neutrality has meant that it is not a participant in many multilateral forums, Turkmenistan frequently has […]
Read more »Nusantara: Building A New “Green” Capital From The Ground Up
May 21st, 2023
Indonesia is attempting to build a green, walkable city from scratch. It’s a big, bold idea championed by Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo and motivated, in part, by the fact that the capital Jakarta is sinking. And yet only 15 months before Widodo’s deadline to inaugurate the nation’s replacement capital, bulldozers are still clearing acres of […]
Read more »Last-Mile Delivery Startups Are Saving The Day For Nigeria’s Small Businesses
May 21st, 2023
Via Rest of World, a look at how inconsistency and theft by independent couriers previously plagued small shops in Nigeria, but now more organized apps benefit riders and sellers alike: As e-commerce booms in Nigeria, small businesses are gaining new customers through social media. But theft and delays by traditional delivery riders have affected sales. […]
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.