Power Play? A Troubled New Power Plant Leaves Jordan in Debt to China
July 10th, 2023
Via AP News, an article on a troubled new power plant which has left Jordan in debt to China, raising concerns over Beijing’s influence: Jordan’s Attarat power plant was envisioned as a landmark project promising to provide the desert kingdom with a major source of energy while solidifying its relations with China. But weeks after […]
Read more »In Afghanistan’s Taxi Industry, the Taliban Show How They Govern
July 10th, 2023
Via New Lines Magazine, a report on the Afghan taxi industry and how new uniform cab colors aim at demonstrating the regime’s abilities: On May 20, days after the Kabul General Directorate of Traffic Police and the Ministry of Interior announced a color change for taxis in the city, I was sitting in a dark-colored […]
Read more »Move Over Dubai. This Tiny Emirate Wants to Be the Next Haven for Billionaires
July 10th, 2023
Courtesy of Bloomberg, a report on how Ras Al Khaimah looks to lure rich from around the world From the top of the RAK International Corporate Centre, foreign tycoons can catch a glimpse of a city transforming. A long stretch of desert lies toward the north. Luxury villas dot the Persian Gulf coast to the […]
Read more »How Wagner Teamed up with the CAR’s Diamond Mafia
July 10th, 2023
Courtesy of The Africa Report, a look at how the Wagner group has taken control of the Central African diamond sector: A stone’s throw away, the river Kotto flows slowly, waiting to empty into the Oubangui, situated nearly 200km further south on the border with DRC. A little further on, on the ochre laterite road […]
Read more »In Iraq and Algeria, TotalEnergies Signs Major Deals
July 10th, 2023
Via Al Monitor, an article on new deals between Iraq and TotalEnergies that aim to help Iraq fix its longstanding power issues: French energy giant TotalEnergies has signed major deals with Algeria and Iraq in the past two days. Iraq’s Ministry of Oil and TotalEnergies signed a long-delayed $27 billion deal aimed at developing Iraq’s energy sector. […]
Read more »UAE Secures Rights to DRC Gold Exports for 25 Years
July 10th, 2023
Via Middle East Monitor, a report on a recent agreement between the DRC and UAE for export rights to locally extracted gold: The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has signed an agreement which gives a company in the UAE exclusive export rights of locally extracted gold for 25 years as well as […]
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.