Africa’s Donkeys Are Coveted by China. Can the Continent Protect Them?
February 23rd, 2024
Courtesy of the New York Times, a report on how African governments are seeking to curb donkey skin exports to China, where demand for traditional medicine and other products is threatening animals that rural households need: For years, Chinese companies and their contractors have been slaughtering millions of donkeys across Africa, coveting gelatin from the […]
Read more »Cambodia’s Airport Dreams Stall as Chinese Money Dries Up
February 23rd, 2024
Courtesy of Nikkei Asia, an update on Cambodia’s Chinese-funded airport dreams: For years, an airport has been slated for construction in Cambodia’s Mondulkiri province, but all that exists are concrete fence posts across the razed farmlands of an indigenous community, cleared for a runway that may never get built. Remote Mondulkiri was an odd choice […]
Read more »On Track: Nigerian Rail Projects Drive Home China’s BRI Commitment To African Infrastructure
February 21st, 2024
Via South China Morning Post, a look at Chinas BRI commitment to African infrastructure: Senior diplomat Wu Peng’s support of projects in Nigeria has reinforced China’s commitment to helping African growth But experts say a switch of banks financing a Nigerian rail project points to Beijing’s shift in focus from concessional to commercial lending Building […]
Read more »The United States’ Missed Opportunity in Latin America
February 20th, 2024
Courtesy of Foreign Affairs, a look at U.S.’s missed opportunity to prioritize investing in Latin America: When policymakers consider national security, they tend to think first of military capabilities: the weaponry and ammunition a country possesses, the state of its armed forces, its border defenses, its surveillance and cybersecurity. Since 2020, however, U.S. national security […]
Read more »‘Strings Attached’: Saudi Arabia Steps Up Demands In Tech Deals with China
February 20th, 2024
Courtesy of The Financial Times, a look at how Alibaba’s and SenseTime’s huge joint ventures in Gulf kingdom have come with stringent requirements around training local teams and investment: Saudi Arabia is mandating that leading Chinese technology companies invest in the Gulf kingdom in return for huge deals, as it leverages its petrodollar wealth to boost […]
Read more »China in the DRC
February 20th, 2024
Via Transcend Media Service, an article on China’s involvement in Congolese cobalt mining industry: Several weeks ago here I reviewed Siddharth Kara’s book “Cobalt Red, How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives ,” which describes horrific working conditions of “artisanal miners” in the cobalt mining industry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Black Agenda Report then received […]
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.