Beijing’s Plans For A Post-Karzai Kabul
June 22nd, 2013
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, some analysis of China’s role in Afghanistan post-2014: Hamid Karzai’s derailment of this week’s planned U.S. peace talks with the Taliban may have been a disappointment to Washington’s hopes of ending its longest war — but it disappointed Beijing, too. China welcomed the breakthrough in the Qatar process, and sees a […]
Read more »Afghanistan After The United States And NATO Leave: Economic Boomtown, Or A Disaster Waiting To Happen?
May 26th, 2013
Via the International Business Times, a look at Afghanistan’s economic future: In the armored splendor of the Serena Hotel — all sparkling cream-colored marble, ornate dark woods and vibrant Afghan carpets, behind three layers of security and imposing blast walls — the new Kabuli elite mingle relentlessly. Businessmen clad in Western-style suits, and a few […]
Read more »Commerce In Kabul
May 17th, 2013
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an interesting article on doing business in Afghanistan: Hassina Syed, founder and chief executive of Afghanistan’s Syed Group, seems remarkably calm for a mother of three who has spent time in a crowded Kabul jail for failing to pay protection money to the police and has sent her older children […]
Read more »Apple…In Afghanistan
April 24th, 2013
Via Quartz, an interesting article on Apple’s popularity in Afghanistan: Where do people in Kabul go when they want to buy an iPhone? The same place as everybody else: an Apple Store. But one thing separates the Apple Store in, say, New York, from the one in Kabul: Apple either doesn’t know it exists, or […]
Read more »Afghanistan Has What China Wants
April 20th, 2013
Via Foreign Policy, a look at China’s interest in Afghanistan: As we near the date of withdrawal for U.S. combat forces in Afghanistan, the debate about the country’s largest neighbor has shifted. No longer are American analysts worried about Chinese investments free-riding on U.S. and NATO stability efforts. Now, the hope is that China’s massive […]
Read more »How Afghanistan Is On The Leading Edge Of A Tech Revolution
March 3rd, 2013
Via Time Magazine, an article on Afghanistan’s mobile money initiative: In the eyes of the rest of the world, war-torn Afghanistan is a place with a beaten-down infrastructure, the minimum of modern amenities and certainly none of the services made possible by the latest technological advances powering the Internet, financial services and telecommunications. Surprisingly, however, […]
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.