Author Archive

China: BRI Financing to Remain Low, Leaving Global South in the Lurch

Via RANE Worldview, analysis of China’s BRI financing in 2023: What Happened: According to a study conducted by the Global Development Policy Center at Boston Univerity, China has significantly reduced the scale of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) financing in recent years as part of a strategic shift that has seen Beijing focus on more […]

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North Korea Mines New Revenue Sources in Its Trade With China

Via The Diplomat, a report on the latest data which shows Pyongyang is continuing to adapt to U.N. sanctions, while trade is beginning to rebound from pandemic lows: North Korea has spent much of the pandemic financing its weapons programs and imports with stolen cryptocurrency. However, with trade between North Korea and China expanding in 2022, there […]

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Cuba’s Deepening Economic Crisis Is Putting Diaz-Canel in a Bind

Via World Politics Review, a look at Cuba’s current economic crisis: Cuba is suffering. That was the inescapable conclusion from a recent trip to the island. The aged electrical grid is collapsing for lack of maintenance and spare parts, causing sporadic blackouts across the island. Factories bereft of raw materials and electricity are only operating […]

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Can UAE Help Revive Zambia’s Solar Dream After World Bank, China Disappointments?

Via The Africa Report (subscription required), an article on Zambia’s hopes that new UAE cooperation will revive its solar dreams:  Drought-prone Zambia hopes the $2bn direct investment from the UAE will help to reboot its quest for more renewable power sources after previous similar attempts in cooperation with the World Bank and China stagnated on […]

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U.S. Grants License To Trinidad And Tobago To Develop Venezuelan Gas Field

Via OilPrice.com, a report that the U.S. has granted a license to Trinidad and Tobago To develop a Venezuelan gas field: The U.S. Treasury has granted a license to Trinidad and Tobago, allowing the Caribbean nation to develop a gas field offshore Venezuela and do business related to the gas field with Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA, […]

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Pakistan’s Economy Nears Collapse As Foreign Currency Reserves Plunge

Courtesy of The Financial Times, a look at Pakistan’s dire economic condition: Pakistan’s economy is at risk of collapse, with rolling blackouts and a severe foreign currency shortage leaving businesses struggling to operate as authorities attempt to revive an IMF bailout to relieve the deepening crisis. Shipping containers full of imports are piling up at […]

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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.