Starlink in DRC: Elon Musk’s Rocky Bid to Conquer African Skies
May 7th, 2025
Via The Africa Report, a report on Starlink’s efforts to conquer African skies: The satellite internet firm is pressing ahead with its African expansion. Since January, Starlink has launched services in six new countries, with DRC becoming the fourth to grant an operating licence. But can Elon Musk meet his target of covering nearly three-quarters […]
Read more »Erik Prince Returns To DRC Amid U.S. Mineral Security Push
April 21st, 2025
Via The Africa Report, a report on Erik Prince’s planned return to the DRC: The controversial founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, has struck a fresh deal with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help the country secure and monetise its vast mineral reserves. Here’s a timeline of his actions in the […]
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 »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 »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 »The Age of Metals Diplomacy: Critical Minerals Take Center Stage In Global Politics
March 5th, 2025
Via Reuters, commentary on how critical minerals are taking centre stage in world politics: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump today to sign a critical minerals deal as a way of securing continued U.S. backing in the war against Russia. It initially started as a rare earths deal […]
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.