South Asia: Mango Diplomacy and Production
August 24th, 2024
Courtesy of The Economist, a look at South Asia’s mango production: “Hindustan is a country of few charms,” observed Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, after conquering India in the 16th century. The founder of the Mughal empire was unimpressed by the handicrafts, horses, markets, people—and especially the fruit. He complained constantly about the lack of decent melons. But even […]
Read more »India’s ‘Cement War’
August 23rd, 2024
Via Nikkei Asia, an article on India’s ongoing ‘cement war’ between billionaires Adani and Birla: Two of India’s richest men are locked in a battle for cement supremacy as they snap up rivals to corner a soaring market fueled by a homegrown infrastructure boom. The latest chapter in what is being dubbed as a clash […]
Read more »Shipshape: India’s Port Infrastructure
August 21st, 2024
Via The Economist, a report on India’s quiet efforts to transform its ports: IF THERE IS one thing about which both supporters and critics of Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, can agree, it is that his biggest achievement has been to overhaul India’s infrastructure. Tens of thousands of miles of motorways have been built, fast intercity […]
Read more »A $2 Trillion Reckoning Looms as Ports Become Pawns in Geopolitics
August 21st, 2024
Via Bloomberg, an article on how ports have become pawns in geopolitics, as these gateways to global trade face costly conversions to retool in new era of rivalry, automation and green energy: For centuries, control of the world’s biggest shipping centers helped expand empires, spark and settle wars, ease poverty and build middle classes while […]
Read more »Global Trade Needs a China Alternative. India Needs Better Ports.
August 20th, 2024
Via the New York Times, a report on how efforts to build new ports and expand existing docks could determine whether India emerges as a legitimate option for global factory production: The Rishiri Galaxy, a Panamian-flagged tanker one and a half times the length of a football field, sat tethered to the dock on a […]
Read more »Is India on the Way to Number Three?
August 12th, 2024
Via Foreign Policy In Focus, a look at how – with one million people turning 18 each month – India stands on the precipice of a demographic dividend—or disaster: The rise of India has reshaped regional and global landscapes over the past decade. Since Narendra Modi stormed to power in 2014, India’s economy has advanced […]
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.