Mali’s Minerals Exploration Budget Slips
March 30th, 2024
Via WhyAfrica, a report on Mali’s mineral exploration budget, which declined in 2023 as the risks of doing business in the country mount: According to the report, Africa’s exploration budget was USD1.27-billion for 2023, down 3.4%, slightly more than the global average. The largest decline came from Mali as the country’s budget dropped by USD71-million, or 46%, […]
Read more »Niger, Morocco: Prime Ministers Meet Amid Plans To Diversify Port Access
February 17th, 2024
Courtesy of Rane’s Worldview (subscription required), a report that Niger and Morocco are working to advance plans to help western Sahelian countries diversity their maritime access through Morocco’s ports: What Happened: Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine met with Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch as part of a two-day trip to Morocco, Radio France Internationale […]
Read more »Can Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso Maintain Growth Outside ECOWAS?
February 13th, 2024
Courtesy of The Africa Report, a look at whether Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso can maintain growth outside ECOWAS: The three countries shaken by coups have economies with growth prospects above the regional average as they close the door on the regional bloc. On 28 January, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger jointly announced their withdrawal […]
Read more »Russia Steps Up Competition in Africa
January 11th, 2024
Via Foreign Policy Research Institute, a look at Russia’s efforts to step up its presence, and competitive position (both economically and militarily), in Africa: BOTTOM LINE The Kremlin is taking up the mantle of Wagner Group after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death, and is now moving to compete directly with the West in Africa, particularly in the […]
Read more »Scramble for the Sahel – Why France, Russia, China and the U.S. Are Interested in the Region
January 9th, 2024
Via The Conversation, a look at geopolitical and investment interest in the Sahel: The Sahel, a region 3,860km wide located south of the Sahara Desert and stretching east-west across the African continent, has been a focus of attention around the world recently. In the last decade, issues such as terrorism, insecurity and trafficking have characterised the region. Military takeovers have been a […]
Read more »How Gold From The Sahel Finances Africa’s Armed Groups
December 18th, 2023
Courtesy of The Africa Report, a detailed look at how gold from the Sahel finances Africa’s armed groups: The map of small-scale mines from which gold is extracted in the Sahel region notably overlaps with that of areas of activity of various armed groups, putting this precious mineral at the heart of an intense territorial […]
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.