Archive for January, 2025

Despite Barrick’s Woes, Miners Unlikely To Quit The Sahel

Via The Africa Report, a report on why – despite Barrick’s woes – miners are unlikely to quit the Sahel: The Mali junta is seizing control over its mineral wealth, perhaps freeing up cash to spend on Russian mercenaries. But how much more are mining companies willing to take? Mining company Barrick Gold has suspended […]

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A Spymaster Sheikh Controls a $1.5 Trillion Fortune. He Wants to Use It to Dominate AI

Via Wired, an article on Tahnoun bin Zayed al Nahyan—the UAE’s chess-obsessed, jiujitsu-loving intelligence chief—controls vast sums of sovereign wealth. America’s AI giants are scrambling for a piece of it. For a while in the mid-2000s, a refrigerator-sized box in Abu Dhabi was considered the greatest chess player in the world. Its name was Hydra, and it was a […]

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Dubai’s Chocolate Diplomacy

Via Modern Diplomacy, a report on the Dubai Chocolate Bar which – starting from early 2024 – has been an internet and social media phenomenon: Starting from early 2024, the internet has gone wild and curious about the chocolate bar that went viral on social media platforms, especially TikTok, which is a platform for sharing […]

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Stakes Rise in Southeast Asia’s Casino Race as Singapore’s Rivals Place Bets

Via Nikkei Asia, a look at how growing casino industries in Thailand and Philippines are threatening Singapore’s regional leadership in the space: When Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands (MBS) integrated resort went almost completely dark during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, the absence of guests in the three gleaming towers, with their casinos, hotels, malls and event spaces, symbolized the […]

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After Half-Century Hiatus, Ethiopia Launches New Stock Exchange

Via The Africa Report, a report on how the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) aims to ‘buck the trend’ among African bourses, where listings and liquidity are often lacking: A new stock exchange officially opened in Ethiopia is the country’s first since the fall of Haile Selassie’s imperial regime in 1974. Government officials say the launch of ESX […]

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Mali to Get $1.2 Billion From Miners After Talks

Via Bloomberg, a report on Mali’s mining sector: Cash-strapped junta brought miners to the negotiating table Miners had already paid 500 billion CFA francs by December Mali is set to get 750 billion CFA francs ($1.2 billion) from miners in the first quarter this year following an overhaul of its mining sector. In late December, […]

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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.