Author Archive

Uzbekistan Built a $580M Tourist Draw, but Will They Come?

Courtesy of Nikkei Asia, a look at Uzbekistan’s ambitious tourism strategy: A canal surrounds Uzbekistan’s Silk Road Samarkand Tourist Complex. Opened in 2022, the site is at the center of efforts to draw more international visitors. (Photo by David Andreas) At a cost of $580 million, the Silk Road Samarkand Tourist Complex is a testament […]

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Saudi Arabia’s Neom Seeks $2.7 Billion Loan to Build Futuristic City

Via Bloomberg, an article on Saudi Arabia’s efforts to secure a $2.7 Billion Loan to build Neom: Saudi Arabia’s Neom, the company developing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s flagship megaproject, is looking to raise a 10 billion riyal ($2.7 billion) loan, according to people familiar with the matter. Neom, a unit of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth […]

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The Emerging World’s Diabetes Problem

Looking at the Visual Capitalist’s diabetes rates by country in 2021, a worrying trend quickly becomes clear: developing countries such as Pakistan, Egypt, Mexico, and the Pacific Island states are facing significant challenges ahead: Mapping Diabetes Rates by Country in 2021 Despite advancements in healthcare lengthening life expectancy across the world, there are still many […]

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Why the U.S. is Losing Africa to China and Russia

Courtesy of Modern Diplomacy, commentary on why the U.S. is Losing Africa to China and Russia: The presence of Chinese in Africa has generated differing debates about the real reason they are there.  Some have suggested that Africa is on the verge of re-colonization.  The real reason the Chinese are in Africa may have yet […]

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Angola’s New Oil Refinery Brings Hopes and Fears

Via AllAfrica, a report on Angola, a nation rich in crude oil but which currently has to import the fuel it needs.  A new refinery could change that: Wearing a hard hat, safety glasses and high-visibility vest, project manager Martin Jooste gives a tour of the rain-sodden construction site that he oversees in the tiny […]

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Can India Become a Green Superpower?

Courtesy of Foreign Affairs, a look at India’s critical role in the globe’s battle against climate change: When climate negotiations opened in October 2021 at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Glasgow, the environmental outlook was gloomy. Carbon emissions around the world were rapidly rising. Seemingly every part of the planet was routinely being […]

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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.