While War Rages, Congo’s Neighbors Smuggle Out Its Gold and Mineral Wealth
April 11th, 2025
Via the Wall Street Journal, a look at how – while war rages – the DRC’s neighbors are smuggling out its gold and mineral wealth: During the 19th century’s Scramble for Africa, European countries raced to secure territory and wealth across the continent. Now, African powers are grabbing resources from a neighbor crippled by infighting and […]
Read more »US Closes In On Critical Minerals Deal With DR Congo
April 7th, 2025
Courtesy of The Financial Times, a report on U.S. efforts to close in on a critical minerals deal with DR Congo: The US is closing on a deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo that would see American companies take more control of critical mineral assets in return for greater backing for the embattled Kinshasa […]
Read more »Minerals Become Ultimate Bargaining Chip in Trump’s Diplomatic Deals
April 5th, 2025
Via the Wall Street Journal, an article onWashington’s desire to establish critical mineral pacts worldwide: President Trump is pressing for access to mineral rights across the globe, hoping to outduel China in a global competition for raw materials to fuel U.S. military and industrial might. He has pushed the State Department to make mineral deals […]
Read more »Building Critical Minerals Cooperation Between the United States and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
March 29th, 2025
Via CSIS, a new report on potential critical minerals cooperation between the U.S. and DRC: The Issue The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the world’s most resource-rich countries, and in 2024, it attracted the largest volume of mineral exploration investment in Africa. Enhancing U.S.-DRC cooperation is critical to counterbalance China’s dominance. […]
Read more »Congo’s Desperate Minerals Offer
March 11th, 2025
Via The Economist, commentary on the DRC’s latest mineral offer to the U.S.: At the bar in Fungurume, in the Congolese copper belt, the drinkers were unimpressed with the Chinese lanterns. The decorations had been donated by representatives of the Tenke Fungurume Mine (TFM), one of the largest copper-cobalt mines in the world. A Chinese […]
Read more »China, America, and the Great Railway Race in Africa
March 7th, 2025
Via The Diplomat, a look at how China and the United States are engaged in a battle for access, resources, and influence along railways in Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, and the DRC, echoing trends from the colonial era. The Mukuba Express had been motionless for eight hours, stopped in a small village about 50 miles west […]
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.