Yemen Speciality Coffee ‘Wave’ Sweeps War-Hit Capital
July 28th, 2023
Via The Frontier Post, an article on the revitalization of Yemen’s coffee industry: Tucked amid shell-pocked buildings and roadside tributes to fallen fighters, a less obvious byproduct of wartime is spreading across Yemen’s capital: speciality coffee houses serving steaming cups of top-rated pour-over. The Arabian Peninsula’s most impoverished country, locked in an eight-year conflict between […]
Read more »Burkina Faso Fashion Designer Weaves New Life into Ancient Fabric
July 28th, 2023
Via Reuters, a report on one entrepreneur’s efforts to weave new life into Burkina Faso’s ancient fabric: Amid the rhythmic clatter of traditional wooden looms, artisans at a workshop in rural Burkina Faso spin indigo-dyed cotton into sprawling lengths of cloth, destined for modern suits designed by the nation’s foremost couturier. Twenty years ago, Paris-based […]
Read more »Why Africa Talks So Much About Infrastructure
July 28th, 2023
Via the Wilson Center, commentary on Africa’s infrastructure needs: A study by the Infrastructure Consortium of Africa shows that poor infrastructure—roads, railways, harbors, etc.—adds 30-40% to the costs of goods traded among African countries. For many years, the “grand bargain” in our development assistance for Africa is that we would work as true partners with […]
Read more »Beijing Is Going Places: Expanding Trade and Building Naval Bases
July 28th, 2023
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, a report on potential locations for China’s next overseas base, locations which often also mirror commercial interests: China famously built its first overseas base, a launchpad for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), in Djibouti in 2017. Where will it build the next one? To answer that question, the authors drew […]
Read more »Energy Politics and Turkmenistan
July 28th, 2023
Via Modern Diplomacy, a report on Turkmenistan: With vast energy resources, Turkmenistan is a strategically located nation in Central Asia. The natural gas industry is Turkmenistan’s principal source of hydrocarbons; the country has the fourth-largest natural gas reserves in the world, and hydrocarbon exports make up more than 25% of its gross domestic product (GDP). […]
Read more »Saudi Arabia’s Dizzying Scheme to Devour the Sports World
July 27th, 2023
Via The New Republic, an article on the kingdom’s insatiable appetite and how its bottomless riches are remaking global sports and culture: ILLUSTRATION BY GUSTAVO MAGALHÃES On June 6, Saudi Arabia bought the game of golf. That is an exaggeration—rest assured, America’s country clubs are still controlled by a cabal of madras-clad local oligarchs—but only […]
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.