The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway: Still Growing 8 Years Later
February 14th, 2026
Via The Diplomat, an article on how – two years after the handover to local control – the China-built railway is not done transforming the region: After its inauguration on January 10, 2017, in Djibouti City, the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway (AADR) – the African continent’s first standard-gauge, electrified, multi-country railway – started its operation in […]
Read more »Saudis In, UAE Out? Why Djibouti Has Become The Gulf’s Indispensable Outpost
January 8th, 2026
Via The Africa Report, commentary on how – in the high-stakes game of influence across the Red Sea – Djibouti is playing the Arabian Peninsula’s rival powers off one another to secure its own sovereignty – and its future: “Officially, Djibouti has no quarrel with the United Arab Emirates, nor with Dubai,” insists a government […]
Read more »Egypt To Develop Djibouti’s Port In Bid To Pressure Ethiopia Over Nile Dam
January 2nd, 2026
Via The National News, a report on Egypt’s deal to develop Djibouti’s port in a bid to pressure Ethiopia over the GERD Nile dam: Egypt’s Deputy Prime Minister Kamel El Wazir concluded a milestone visit to Djibouti this week, where he finalised a deal to develop the Doraleh port on the Gulf of Aden. The Egyptian […]
Read more »How To Unleash African Capital
April 29th, 2025
Via The Economist, commentary on Djibouti: Djibouti, a country of just over a million people on the African side of the Red Sea’s Bab el-Mandab strait, is blessed with neither mineral resources nor agricultural land. But it does have two things: a unique geographic location at a chokepoint of global maritime trade, and political stability. […]
Read more »Africa’s Silicon Valley? Djibouti Goes Digital
April 25th, 2025
Via The Africa Report, an article on Djibouti which is going digital with 10 submarine cables: Undersea telecom cables run to Djibouti for the same reason that eight big powers came here to put up military bases – the strategic location. The country has been investing in digital infrastructure and sees itself as a springboard […]
Read more »Pesky Ports: A Look At Outside Powers Lining Up For Red Sea Ports
April 24th, 2025
Via The Economist, a look at how a new smash and grab for Red Sea ports is resulting in outside powers are lining up for a piece of the action: To grasp the importance of the Red Sea, visit Djibouti. Before missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels reduced cargo shipments by more than two-thirds in 2024, […]
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.