First Quantum Starts Output at Africa’s Biggest Nickel Mine
July 29th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, an article on Zambia’s nickel industry: First Quantum Minerals Ltd. started production at what is set to turn into Africa’s biggest nickel mine, furthering Zambia’s aim of becoming a key supplier of battery metals for the electric vehicle revolution. Output at the Enterprise mine in the country’s North-Western Province has commenced, with a new […]
Read more »Why VinFast is Struggling In the US Electric Vehicle Market
July 28th, 2023
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a look at how the Vietnamese automotive firm’s planned conquest of the American EV market has hit a number of hurdles: Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast made waves when it announced it would be jumping directly into the U.S. auto market and constructing a $4 billion manufacturing facility in North Carolina. […]
Read more »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 »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 »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.