Archive for February, 2024

Taliban’s Focus On Infrastructure Development

Via Eurasia Review, a report on the Taliban’s focus on infrastructure: The Taliban have advertised their efforts towards infrastructure development over the last two years, since taking over power in August 2021. The Taliban Deputy Minister of Economy Abdul Latif Nazari stated in August 2023 that “overall 3575 development projects of $1.9 billion have been […]

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The United States’ Missed Opportunity in Latin America

Courtesy of Foreign Affairs, a look at U.S.’s missed opportunity to prioritize investing in Latin America: When policymakers consider national security, they tend to think first of military capabilities: the weaponry and ammunition a country possesses, the state of its armed forces, its border defenses, its surveillance and cybersecurity. Since 2020, however, U.S. national security […]

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‘Strings Attached’: Saudi Arabia Steps Up Demands In Tech Deals with China

Courtesy of The Financial Times, a look at how Alibaba’s and SenseTime’s huge joint ventures in Gulf kingdom have come with stringent requirements around training local teams and investment: Saudi Arabia is mandating that leading Chinese technology companies invest in the Gulf kingdom in return for huge deals, as it leverages its petrodollar wealth to boost […]

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Ethiopia To Set Up Large Data Centre Amid Reported Bitcoin Mining Surge

Via Reuters, a report on Ethiopia’s efforts to develop digital infrastructure: Ethiopia has signed a preliminary agreement to develop infrastructure for data mining and artificial intelligence training operations, the government’s strategic investment arm said. Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) initially said in a social media post on Thursday that a memorandum of understanding for a $250 […]

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Bullish on “Incredible India”

Courtesy of Emerging World, a compendium of thoughts around India’s place as the “next big thing in emerging markets”: Remember the “Incredible India” tourism campaign? It’s been more than two decades since the Ministry of Tourism launched it, and you’ve probably seen one of their slick ads on CNN International, or maybe Instagram or Youtube, or […]

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China in the DRC

Via Transcend Media Service, an article on China’s involvement in Congolese cobalt mining industry: Several weeks ago here I reviewed Siddharth Kara’s book “Cobalt Red, How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives ,” which describes horrific working conditions of “artisanal miners” in the cobalt mining industry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Black Agenda Report then received […]

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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.