Archive for July, 2023

Maldives: Small Island Nation with Big Role Shipping Chips to Russia

Courtesy of Nikkei Asia, a look at the Maldives’ role as a transit point for sanctions-evading shipments to Russia: Surrounded by azure waters and year-round sun, the Maldives is a popular destination for holidaymakers and honeymooners. But there is another side to this country of pristine islands and glamorous resorts. It is also a transit […]

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Rich Lode of EV Metals Could Boost Taliban and its New Chinese Partners

Courtesy of The Washington Post, an article on how the Pentagon dubbed Afghanistan ‘the Saudi Arabia of lithium’ but, now, it is American rivals that are angling to exploit those coveted reserves: Sayed Wali Sajid spent years fighting American soldiers in the barren hills and fertile fields of the Pech River Valley, one of the […]

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UAE Signs Deal to Develop Mines in Eastern DR Congo

DR Congo’s state-owned mining company Sakima has signed a $1.9 billion deal with the United Arab Emirates to develop at least four industrial mines in the provinces of South Kivu and Maniema in eastern DRC, the presidency announced Monday. Sakima has mining concessions for tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold. Last December, the DRC signed a […]

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Costa Rica Again Tops List of FDI Overachievers

Courtesy of fdi Intelligence, a look at list of FDI overachievers: Costa Rica, North Macedonia and the UAE were the world’s best foreign direct investment (FDI) performers relative to the size of their economies in 2022.  In the eighth edition of fDi Intelligence’s Greenfield FDI Performance Index, Costa Rica retained its position as the country that attracts […]

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After Years of Cynicism, Foreign Investors Now Favoring India over China

Via Forbes India, a report on how the tide of foreign investments has turned as investors pull out of China stocks and turn to India and global emerging market ETFs, excluding China, for better long-term returns: Many domestic investment managers have traditionally—for nearly three deacdes—faced unfounded scepticism as foreign investors fancied China over India for […]

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AI’s Potential Impact On The Philippines’ Business Process Outsourcing Industry

Via Rest of World, a look at how AI may impact the Philippines’ call center industry, which makes up 7.5% of the country’s economy: The Philippines is a global giant in outsourced office work. Its roughly 1.6 million workers are on the front lines for replacement by generative AI. The country’s parliament and industry are […]

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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.