Calling Dear Leader: Orascom’s North Korean Mobile Licence
February 3rd, 2008
As reported in Arabian Business, Orascom Telecom – the fourth-biggest Arab mobile phone operator by market value – announced that its subsidiary, CHEO Technology (in which the North Korean government also owns 25%), won the first mobile phone licence in North Korea. Orascom stated that it plans to invest $400 million on infrastructure and licence […]
Read more »A Scramble to Exploit Africa’s Significant Gas Reserves
January 28th, 2008
As reported in a recent Financial Times article, with Europe concerned over Russia’s political motives in exploiting its energy wealth and big international companies shut out or deterred from investing in the Middle East, many eyes have turned to Africa in the hope of securing future supplies of gas. However, as companies scramble to gain […]
Read more »Challenges & Opportunities Facing Emerging Markets in the Middle East & North Africa
January 10th, 2008
In a recent article published by Knowledge@Wharton, Howard Pack (a professor of business and public policy at Wharton) and Marcus Noland (a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics) examined how Arab countries are coping with globalization & exploiting the recent influx of hydrocarbon-based money into their economies. We found the following notes […]
Read more »Middle Eastern Markets
December 11th, 2007
Via Bloomberg, an interesting review of the equity markets in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman where – as oil revenues spur construction and increase demand – profit growth is projected to exceed other emerging markets around the word. As the article notes: “… The MSCI GCC Countries Index of […]
Read more »Lafarge: Cementing Its Reach In Emerging Markets
December 10th, 2007
As noted in The International Herald Tribune, Lafarge – the world’s biggest cement maker – agreed to buy Egypt’s Orascom Cement for $12.8 billion in a deal that would raise its earnings and exposure to high-growth emerging markets, particularly in Africa. The deal will see Nassef Sawiris, a shareholder in Orascom Construction Industries, take an […]
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.