The Mine Is American. The Minerals Are China’s.
April 17th, 2025
Courtesy of the New York Times, a report on how a Brazilian rare earths mine backed by American investors illustrates China’s grip over the strategic minerals that underpin the modern economy. The gaping pit alongside a tiny town in rural Brazil has all the elements to solve the West’s sudden problem of finding critical rare earth metals […]
Read more »Nubank Has Conquered Brazil. Now It Is Expanding Overseas
April 12th, 2025
Via The Economist, a report on Nubank – a rising South American fintech star: Brazil may not be an obvious place to look for the future of retail banking. Yet in just over a decade Nubank, based in São Paulo, has transformed its home market by offering cheap, branchless banking to millions of customers ignored by […]
Read more »Brazil: Champion Decarbonizer In The Making?
February 10th, 2025
Via The Economist, an article on how Brazil’s ragged finances are holding back its green ambitions Visitors to the Port of Açu may struggle to determine its industrial nature. No warehouses or piles of containers block the view of the Atlantic Ocean. Swathes of restored restinga, a local broadleaf forest, hug the shoreline, which bustles with loggerhead […]
Read more »China’s Growing Influence in Latin America
January 8th, 2025
Via the Council on Foreign Relations, a look at China’s growing influence in Latin America: Summary China is South America’s top trading partner and a major source of both foreign direct investment and energy and infrastructure lending, including through its massive Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing has invested heavily in Latin America’s space sector and has strengthened its […]
Read more »Brazilian Miner Boosts Rare Earths Output in Challenge to China’s Grip
January 2nd, 2025
Via Bloomberg, a look at a growing Brazilian rare earth mining company: Serra Verde mulls partnerships to expand through supply chain Executive expects annual output to reach 5,000 tons in 2026 Brazilian miner Serra Verde Group is boosting production of rare earth metals at a time of growing trade friction between the US and China, […]
Read more »Brazil-China Partnership: Redefining the Belt and Road Initiative in Latin America
December 30th, 2024
Via The Diplomat, a look at how Brazil’s calculated approach to the Belt and Road Initiative reflects the unique nature of Latin American politics: Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Brazil in November, China reportedly pushed to have Brazil formally join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Ultimately, Brazil’s government declined to sign […]
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.