Archive for June, 2024

‘Made In Ethiopia’: New Documentary About China’s Expansion Into Africa

Ethiopia’s state-backed bid to drive industrialization and transform its economy over the last couple of decades has had plenty of support from Chinese investors and operators to create jobs and opportunities for a rapidly growing population.  And, while that support has been welcomed, it’s been rare for policymakers or civil society to take a step […]

Read more »



The Green Treasure Chest Buried in Ukraine

Courtesy of The Financial Times, a slightly dated report on how war-torn Ukraine holds large deposits of critical minerals used in green technology Ukraine is sitting on a treasure chest to fuel the energy transition. Another week, another wave of depressing news from Ukraine. As Kyiv launches its counteroffensive, striking against targets such as the […]

Read more »



China Springs BRI Surprise On U.S.

Via Indian Punchline, commentary on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project: The report of the death of China’s Belt and Road Initiative [BRI] was an exaggeration, after all. Within days of the US President Joe Biden’s acerbic remark during an interview last week with the Time magazine that the BRI has “become a nuisance graveyard initiative,” a trilateral […]

Read more »



UAE Strengthens Senegal Trade

Via WhyAfrica, an article on UAE efforts to strengthen trade with Senegal: Senegal is the second-fastest growing economy in Africa and the fourth-fastest growing economy in the world, positioning this West African country as a key market of great strategic importance for countries in the Middle East. Dubai International Chamber, one of the three chambers operating […]

Read more »



Pakistan-China Agree to Upgrade CPEC

Via The Diplomat, a report that – during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing – Pakistan sought to reassure China of its stability and security concerns. But will it deliver on its promises? During Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to China — his first since his victory in general elections in February — […]

Read more »



Georgia’s Anaklia Deep-Water Port Becomes Chinese Geopolitical Project

Via the Jamestown Foundation, a report on Georgia’s Anaklia deep-water port project: Executive Summary: The Georgian Dream government has announced that a Chinese-Singaporean consortium dominated by the Chinese state won the tender for the construction and management of the strategic Anaklia deep-sea port. The port could drastically change the geoeconomic and geopolitical situation in the region, […]

Read more »


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.