The World Needs More Belts and More Roads, Chinese-Style
February 13th, 2024
Via South China Morning Post, commentary from influential author Parag Khanna how the Belt and Road Initiative is exactly the blueprint needed in this age of uncertainty and instability: A new generation of Western doom-and-gloomers about China has emerged. Many point to admittedly serious problems, some of them chronic and structural, and argue the country […]
Read more »The New Great Game
February 12th, 2024
Courtesy of The Wire China, a thoughtful commentary the ‘New Great Game’ with a particular look at the economic prowess of China: The world has changed. Over the past decade, we have witnessed a distinct shift toward a renewed competition between the great powers. The bipolar struggle between the U.S. and China is the new […]
Read more »New Railway From China Boosts Tourism In Laos’ Ancient Capital
February 12th, 2024
Via Nikkei Asia, a report on the positive impact that a new railway in Laos is having upon tourism: In the scenic ancient capital of Luang Prabang, tucked away in the northern part of Laos, the local tourism industry is seeing a significant upswing thanks to an influx of Chinese tourists following the full opening […]
Read more »How an Afghan Drug Kingpin Became Beijing’s Business Partner in Kabul
February 11th, 2024
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, a report on Bashir Noorzai – who was once serving a life sentence in the United States – is now the key conduit for growing business ties between China and the Taliban: A drug kingpin whose heroin empire helped fund the Taliban’s long war in Afghanistan—and who was released early from […]
Read more »China Plans To Spend $1B To Revamp Tanzania-Zambia Railway
February 10th, 2024
Via South China Morning Post, a report that China plans to spend US$1 billion to revamp Tanzania-Zambia railway in race to control critical mineral trade routes: The Tazara rail line, first built in the 1970s with Chinese funding, will be updated through public-private partnership The project connecting Zambian copper belt with Dar es Salaam will compete […]
Read more »In Ethiopia, Chinese Bitcoin Miners Find a Xanadu
February 9th, 2024
Courtesy of Bloomberg, an article on how cheap power and friendly relations with China have made the Horn of Africa country a top pick for Chinese Bitcoin miners: Last spring, cargo containers began appearing near electricity substations connected to the recently built Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Africa’s largest. Inside were stacks of powerful, energy-guzzling computers. It […]
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.