Cobalt Red: How DRC’s ‘Dirty’ Mines Power ‘Clean’ Energy
February 2nd, 2023
Via NPR, a look at how ‘modern-day slavery’ in the Congo powers the rechargeable battery economy Smartphones, computers and electric vehicles may be emblems of the modern world, but, says Siddharth Kara, their rechargeable batteries are frequently powered by cobalt mined by workers laboring in slave-like conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kara, a […]
Read more »DRC, Niger, Senegal: Trio Driving Growth in 2023
January 24th, 2023
Courtesy of The Africa Report (subscription required), a report on the optimistic growth prospects of DRC, Niger, and Senegal: With an average growth forecast of 3.5%, sub-Saharan Africa is resisting global malaise, but inflation and debt remain a threat to the continent’s economies. Kristalina Georgieva, Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has sounded the […]
Read more »DRC To Construct First Hydrogen Plant In Central Africa
January 24th, 2023
Via the DRC’s AGC Press, a report that Kinshasa signed a memorandum of understanding with a French firm for the construction of a hydrogen plant: A memorandum of understanding was signed on Thursday in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between the provincial executive of Kinshasa and Hydrogen of France SA (HDF Energy) […]
Read more »Congo President Demands More From $6.2 Billion China Deal
January 20th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, an article on Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi’s recent criticism of a $6.2 billion minerals-for-infrastructure contract with China Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi criticized a $6.2 billion minerals-for-infrastructure contract with China, saying the world’s largest producer of a key battery metal hasn’t benefited from the deal. Congo, Africa’s second-largest nation […]
Read more »Could Africa Replace China As The World’s Source of Rare Earth Elements?
December 30th, 2022
Via Brookings Institute, commentary on the potential for Africa could replace China as the world’s source of rare earth elements: Rare earth elements—a group of 17 metals—are critical for both human and national security. They are used in electronics (computers, televisions and smart phones), in renewable energy technology (wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicle […]
Read more »Minerals and China’s Military Assistance in the Democratic Republic of Congo
November 3rd, 2022
Via The Diplomat, an article on how Beijing’s growing investments in strategic resources in the DRC go hand in hand with increased military assistance intended to secure those assets: China’s growing investments in the mining sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) allow it to demand special treatment. The Congolese army has been deployed […]
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.