A Crumbling Metro Reveals Failed Promise of China’s Billions in Africa
April 12th, 2024
Via Bloomberg, a look at how the $475 million light-rail system serving Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa shows how some China-funded infrastructure investments across the continent are now suffering from neglect: Almost a decade ago, the light-rail system in Ethiopia’s bustling capital of Addis Ababa was hailed as a revolutionary solution to the city’s transportation woes. Envisioned as a […]
Read more »How China Has Invested In Africa
April 11th, 2024
As initially reported by Semafor, while much of the narrative around Chinese investment in Africa over the past two decades has emphasized infrastructure such as roads and bridges, the largest chunk of loans made by Chinese institutions to African governments and entities has been in energy. That focus on energy breaks out into investments in […]
Read more »Belt & Road: Chinese Techno-Nationalism in Maldives
April 9th, 2024
Via Asia Times, a look at how the ‘Digital Silk Road’ has the potential of allowing China to play king of the castle in the Indian Ocean region: The Maldives’ recent turn toward China and away from India has boosted Beijing’s long-term push for regional control and disrupted New Delhi’s ambition to match Chinese strategic competitiveness in […]
Read more »The Dark Side of Clean Energy: China’s Copper Mine in Serbia
April 8th, 2024
Via UnHerd, commentary on a Chinese-owned copper mine in Serbia: A tiny hay-cart blocks the path to a vast Chinese-owned copper mine. From it hangs a hand-painted sign that reads “life before profits”, a message for Serbia Zijin Mining, the subsidiary of a Chinese conglomerate, which is seeking to build a road through a pretty […]
Read more »Is China Gaslighting the Developing World?
April 8th, 2024
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, commentary on how Beijing’s promises of equality are actually a guise for hegemony: When Hanoi declared its support for China’s proposed “community of shared destiny” during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam last December, it was hailed by Beijing. China wants a post-American world order of its own design, and […]
Read more »North African Railway On Track To Helping China De-Risk Its Iron Ore Supply
April 7th, 2024
Via China Strategy, an article on how a railway in Algeria may help China de-risk its iron ore supply chain: China currently depends largely on Australia and Brazil for its iron ore, the primary raw material for making steel. Beijing is hoping supply from the Gara Djebilet mine, which has reserves of around 3.5 billion […]
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.