China Wants Its Investments in Afghanistan to Be Safer Than in Pakistan
May 3rd, 2022
Via Foreign Policy, a look at how Beijing could profit handsomely from Afghan resources and exports, but new ventures risk exposing Chinese nationals to violence: Kabul is awash with Chinese businessmen. Walk out of Kabul International Airport, and you are greeted by a big billboard advertising Chinatown, a housing and business compound in the city that […]
Read more »TAPI’ng Out?
April 14th, 2022
Via The Diplomat, commentary that the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project seems to have far more going against it than pushing in its favor: India has restarted efforts to revive the much-delayed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project. The pipeline was discussed during a recent three-day state visit to Turkmenistan by Indian President Shri Ram Nath Kovind. TAPI remains […]
Read more »Uzbekistan Looks South for New Trade Routes
April 2nd, 2022
Via The Diplomat, a report on Uzbekistan search for new trade routes to the south: Uzbekistan has received its first transit shipment via Pakistan and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. For Uzbekistan, this means prioritizing a southern-looking policy, as it seeks to assert its own identity in the region and establish viable alternative trading partners. A private trader in […]
Read more »China Eyes Investment in Afghanistan’s Mes Aynak Mines
March 28th, 2022
Via The Diplomat, an article on China’s renewed interest in Afghanistan’s Mes Aynak mines: The ancient Buddha statues sit in serene meditation in the caves carved into the russet cliffs of rural Afghanistan. Hundreds of meters below lies what is believed to be the world’s largest deposit of copper. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are pinning their hopes […]
Read more »Obstacles To Energy Security In Central and South Asia
March 19th, 2022
Via East Africa Forum, an article on obstacles to energy security in Central and South Asia: On 25 January 2022, an unprecedented blackout spread across much of southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. This is not the first time that Central Asia has experienced power outages, which have increased alarmingly in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. In […]
Read more »Iran In Talks With Afghanistan To Resume Ambitious Rail Project
March 9th, 2022
Via The Frontier Post, a report that Iran is in talks with the Taliban to resume an ambitious rail project: Iran is holding talks with the Taliban to resume construction of an ambitious rail project that ultimately aims to connect at least five Central Asian countries, according to an Iranian official. Iran is ready to make […]
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.