Afghanistan: Money Talks
October 22nd, 2023
Via AirMail, commentary on Afghanistan and the flow of international money to support the nation: At this year’s meeting of the General Assembly in the U.N.’s splendid Turtle Bay headquarters, there was a lot of hand-wringing over what’s going on in Afghanistan. The country was taken over two years ago by the revanchist Taliban, following […]
Read more »China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Taliban’s Economic Dreams
October 18th, 2023
Via The Diplomat, commentary on how the specter of insecurity in Afghanistan has been replaced by a lack of governance and widespread incompetence. Investors from China or any other country can be expected to be deeply wary; On October 17 and 18, leaders, delegations and representatives from more than 130 countries gathered in Beijing for […]
Read more »China Courts The Taliban
October 10th, 2023
Via Eurasia Review, a look at China’s efforts to court Afghan leaders: On September 13, China’s newly appointed ambassador to Afghanistan, Zhao Xing, arrived at the presidential palace in Kabul to present his credentials to the acting prime minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Mohammad Hassan Akhund. Uniformed Taliban members welcomed him to the […]
Read more »Taliban Urge Japan To Invest In Afghanistan’s Minerals, Metals
October 4th, 2023
Courtesy of Nikkei Asia, a report on the Taliban’s outreach to Japan for mineral investments: Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have called on Japan to invest in the country’s unexploited minerals and metals amid a rush by Chinese investors into the country. The Taliban is banking on investments in its untapped minerals to lift the country out […]
Read more »China-Afghan Relations: The Economic and Geopolitical Dimensions
October 1st, 2023
Via The Geopolitics, commentary on the Chinese-Afghan relationship: On Sept. 12, 2023 Afghanistan welcomed China’s new ambassador to Afghanistan Zhao Sheng. China is one amongst a handful of nations to have kept working missions in Kabul ever since the Taliban captured power in Afghanistan – in August 2021. Diplomats currently stationed in Kabul with the […]
Read more »Taliban Controls the World’s Best Performing Currency This Quarter
September 26th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, a look at Afghanistan’s currency performance: Afghani erases losses it saw after the Taliban’s 2021 takeover Foreign exchange in country traded largely via money changers Billions of dollars from humanitarian aid and rising trade with Asian neighbors has propelled Afghanistan’s currency to the top of global rankings this quarter — an unusual spot for a […]
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.