How a Country’s Economy Was Siphoned Dry
December 5th, 2024
Courtesy of the New York Times, a look at how Bangladesh’s currency was battered by what the new head of the central bank says was the looting of the banks under the deposed prime minister: The new governor of Bangladesh’s central bank, Ahsan Mansur, calculates that about $17 billion was siphoned from the country’s financial […]
Read more »Mapping Afghanistan’s Untapped Natural Resources
December 5th, 2024
Via Al Jazeera, a report on Afghanistan’s untapped natural resources: Deep beneath the ground in one of the world’s poorest countries sits at least $1 trillion of untapped mineral resources, according to a report published by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum [PDF]. The South Asian country of 38 million people is estimated to hold […]
Read more »Apple To Offer Indonesia $1B in Investment
December 3rd, 2024
Via Nikkei Asia, a report that Apple plans to offer Indonesia $1bn in investment to end the country’s iPhone 16 sales ban: Indonesian Minister of Investment Rosan Roeslani has said tech giant Apple has expressed an intention to invest $1 billion in the country, 10 times the amount it offered last month, in a bid […]
Read more »China Deepens Its Engagement With Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan
December 3rd, 2024
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a look at China’s vastly increased economic engagement with Afghanistan as it eyes a new node in the Belt and Road Initiative: On August 15, 2021, the Taliban took over Kabul and forced the U.S.-installed government of President Ashraf Ghani to escape overseas. From then on, the Taliban have ruled Afghanistan. […]
Read more »Critical Metals Key to Deepening South Korea-Kyrgyzstan Relations
December 3rd, 2024
Via The Diplomat, a report on growing relations between South Korea and Kyrgyzstan: Hours before he declared martial law in a shocking televised address, South Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol held talks with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov. The two presidents agreed to elevate relations to a comprehensive partnership and vowed to deepen cooperation in trade, energy, mining, and other fields. Japarov’s state […]
Read more »The Billion-Dollar Railways Driving Biden’s Last Overseas Trip
December 3rd, 2024
Via Bloomberg, a report on US support for African infrastructure aimed at countering Chinese influence in the region: Twice a week, a cargo train groaning under hundreds of tons of copper concentrate pulls into the Angolan port of Lobito from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The locomotive is made by Pittsburgh-based Wabtec Corp. but many of […]
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.