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 »Ethiopia-Somalia Rapprochement and its Potential Geopolitical Implications
April 13th, 2025
Via the Emirates Policy Center, commentary on Ethiopia-Somalia rapprochement: Key Takeaways The Somalia-Ethiopia rapprochement following the signing of the Ankara Declaration in late 2024 represents a substantial shift in alliance dynamics within the Horn of Africa. This development carries significant geopolitical and security implications, potentially altering the balance of power and influencing key actors. Ethiopia […]
Read more »Ethiopia: Grain of Untruth
March 15th, 2025
Via The Economist, an evaluation of Ethiopia’s prime minister claims to have made Ethiopia Africa’s breadbasket. The numbers disagree: AFRICA HAS a new breadbasket—or so says Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister. Thanks to a state-led programme of agricultural modernisation the country, once a byword for famine, claims to have gone from importing around a quarter of […]
Read more »Ankara Declaration: A Positive Development Imbued with Regional Risks
January 31st, 2025
Via African Arguments, a look at the Ankara Declaration and what it may mean for Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and Somalialand: Ethiopia and Somalia have agreed to de-escalate yearlong tensions in Türkiye-mediated negotiations resulting in the Ankara Declaration. The two countries agreed to forgo contentious issues, cooperate in mutually advantageous bilateral arrangements, and decided to finalize negotiations […]
Read more »After Half-Century Hiatus, Ethiopia Launches New Stock Exchange
January 12th, 2025
Via The Africa Report, a report on how the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) aims to ‘buck the trend’ among African bourses, where listings and liquidity are often lacking: A new stock exchange officially opened in Ethiopia is the country’s first since the fall of Haile Selassie’s imperial regime in 1974. Government officials say the launch of ESX […]
Read more »Global Mining’s Dangerous New Reality: Guns, Hostages, Arrests
January 6th, 2025
Via the Wall Street Journal, a report on how – with the U.S. and China intensifying demand for critical metals and minerals – host countries are making hostile plays for more of the profits: Neil Warburton was finishing up his breakfast of porridge and local honey when the armed soldiers converged. The Australian veteran mining executive […]
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.