Taliban Controls the World’s Best Performing Currency This Quarter
September 26th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, a look at Afghanistan’s currency performance: Afghani erases losses it saw after the Taliban’s 2021 takeover Foreign exchange in country traded largely via money changers Billions of dollars from humanitarian aid and rising trade with Asian neighbors has propelled Afghanistan’s currency to the top of global rankings this quarter — an unusual spot for a […]
Read more »DRC Plans New Copper-Cobalt Smelter to Serve Informal Miners
September 26th, 2023
Courtesy of Bloomberg, a report on the Democratic Republic of Congo’s plans for a new copper-cobalt smelter to serve informal miners: Government sees refinery capturing artisanal cobalt output US firm Delphos International has agreed to find financing Democratic Republic of Congo said it’s backing plans for a new domestically owned copper-cobalt plant to help formalize […]
Read more »En Route: Cairo–Cape Town Highway / Trans-African Highway 4
September 26th, 2023
Scheduled to be inaugurated in 2024, the Cairo–Cape Town Highway (Trans-African Highway 4) is the transcontinental road network being developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (ADB), and the African Union. The highway is scheduled to pass through 11 African countries at a length of 10,228 kilometers, of […]
Read more »Thailand’s “Asia’s Next Digital Hub” Ambition
September 26th, 2023
Via Modern Diplomacy, an article on Thailand and Indonesia’s digital ambitions: Thailand is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with an ambitious digital transformation program. The program is summarized in one policy called “Thai 4.0”. The Thai 4.0 policy itself is a policy that promotes digital industrial-scale transformation while establishing an economic corridor in […]
Read more »Africa’s Newest Oil Jackpot Comes With a Corruption Curse
September 26th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, a report on how the ‘giant’ oil find off Namibia’s shores could be a game changer, but officials worry about corruption, social tensions and instability: It’s touted by some as possibly the world’s biggest-ever deep-water oil find. The discovery off the shores of Namibia last year by TotalEnergies SE and Shell Plc of […]
Read more »Sudan and Ethiopia: Horn of a Dilemma
September 26th, 2023
Via National Interest, commentary on how a rollercoaster of political instability in Ethiopia and Sudan threatens to fracture the Horn of Africa, which would carry profound implications for the international economic corridor along the Red Sea, impacting the Middle East and Europe: The Horn of Africa has long been synonymous with instability and insecurity, and […]
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.