China’s $4.5 Billion Headache: The Niger-Benin Pipeline and the Limits of Non-Interference
April 16th, 2026
Via The Diplomat, a look at how the question is no longer whether Beijing is meddling in African affairs, but how much longer it can pretend that it isn’t: In February 2026, the Chinese Embassy in Niamey sent out a warning to its citizens in Niger, urging them to avoid high-risk areas and to activate their emergency […]
Read more »Why Did China Buy Up the World’s Ports?
April 15th, 2026
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, a look at how Beijing’s port acquisition strategy is less focused on acquiring sovereign control, more so in assuring its own strategic security: After debating whether it was about regime change, nuclear weapons, or the defanging of regional proxies, the United States and Israel’s war with Iran reached an impasse at […]
Read more »How Iran War Is Reshaping China’s Geo-Economic Cooperation with North Africa
April 11th, 2026
Via the Stimson Center, commentary on China’s shifting energy strategy toward North Africa amid Hormuz disruption, deepening oil diversification and accelerating green cooperation with Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt: A distant war is quietly redrawing the map of global energy, and most people haven’t noticed. As disruptions in the Gulf expose the fragility of China’s oil […]
Read more »Turkey’s High-Risk, High-Reward Wager in the Horn of Africa
April 11th, 2026
Via World Politics Review, a look at Turkey’s engagement in the Horn of Africa: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his first trip to Ethiopia in over a decade in February as part of a regional tour that included stops in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He received a red-carpet welcome in Addis Ababa, where Prime Minister Abiy […]
Read more »The Soda War: How a Coca Cola, Pepsi, and M&M Ingredient is Fueling Conflict in Sudan
April 10th, 2026
Via The Africa Report, commentary on how gum arabic – the ingredient that puts the gloss in Coke, Pepsi and M&Ms – is fuelling the conflict in Sudan In Sudan, in the savannahs of Kordofan and Darfur, millions of families depend on the acacia tree for their livelihood. They score its bark and collect the […]
Read more »South Africa Startup Cracks Athleisure With NBA, Man City Deals
April 10th, 2026
Courtesy of Bloomberg, an article on South African startup shaking up the global athleisure market: A South African clothing startup is taking on the global athleisure market, going from a college dorm room to partnerships with sports giants such as the National Basketball Association and Manchester City Football Club in just seven years. It all started when brothers Daneel […]
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.