Archive for July, 2023

Why Africa Talks So Much About Infrastructure

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 […]

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Energy Politics and Turkmenistan

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). […]

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Saudi Arabia’s Dizzying Scheme to Devour the Sports World

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 […]

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Diamonds Are Not Forever: Botswana Plans A Post-Diamond Future

Courtesy of The Africa Report, a look at Botswana’s efforts to plan for a post-diamond future: With the end in sight for its mineral success story, Botswana is in a race against time to transition away from the gems that made it rich. Diamonds, it turns out, aren’t forever. In fact, the world’s richest deposit […]

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Will Mongolia’s Crackdown On Graft Unlock Its Mineral Riches?

Courtesy of The Financial Times, a detailed look at how Mongolia is making sweeping reforms to win over western investors and become less reliant on China and Russia: Thirteen hundred metres beneath the vast Gobi Desert, the heat, dust and a sense of claustrophobia are unshakeable after a rapid trip down a mine shaft in […]

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‘How India Transformed in Less than a Decade’

Via The Times of India, a look at how India transformed in less than a decade via the lens of Morgan Stanley analyses: Morgan Stanley analysed the economic transformation of India from 2013 to 2022 drawing implications on the economy and the market of relevance to investors. The purpose is to critically analyse contribution of […]

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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.