China Is Lending Billions to Countries in Financial Trouble
November 7th, 2023
Courtesy of The New York Times, a look at how China is shifting its focus from lending money for highways and bridges to providing emergency rescues for previous borrowers: After lending $1.3 trillion to developing countries, mainly for big-ticket infrastructure projects, China has shifted its focus to bailing out many of those same countries from […]
Read more »Bill Gates-Backed Mining Startup Wants to Expand Into Congo
November 7th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, an article on a Bill Gates-backed mining startup that wants to expand into Congo: KoBold Metals invested in copper project in neighboring Zambia The Central African country is world’s top source of cobalt KoBold Metals, a mining start-up backed by Bill Gates that’s developing a copper project in Zambia, is getting closer to investing in […]
Read more »Europe, US Racing to Challenge China’s Dominance over Vital African Minerals, but will They Succeed?
November 6th, 2023
Via The South China Morning Post, an article on European and U.S. efforts to challenge China’s dominance over vital African minerals market, but will they succeed? Countries in the West are attempting to challenge China’s lead in the mining and refining of vital minerals including cobalt and copper The EU and the US have agreed […]
Read more »A Tale of 3 Nations: Debt Restructuring in Ghana, Zambia, and Sri Lanka
November 6th, 2023
Via The Diplomat, a look at what Ghana, Zambia, and Sri Lanka can tell us about the global debt problem – and China’s role in both debt distress and debt relief: The issue of global debt distress is a matter of great concern, not just for the affected developing nations but also for developed countries […]
Read more »The U.S. Can Counter China’s Control of Minerals for the Energy Transition
November 6th, 2023
Courtesy of The New York Times, commentary on U.S. efforts to counter China’s control of strategic minerals: China recently rattled the world’s electric vehicle supply chains by announcing new export controls on graphite, a key component of lithium-ion batteries. If China uses the export controls, which take effect on Dec. 1, to reduce exports of […]
Read more »North Korea Closing Some Diplomatic Missions: A Sign of Economic Trouble?
November 6th, 2023
Via AP News, a report that North Korea is closing some diplomatic missions in what may be a sign of its economic troubles: North Korea confirmed Friday that it’s closing some of its diplomatic missions abroad, a move that rival South Korea suspects is likely the latest sign of the North’s economic troubles amid persistent international […]
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.