China’s Expensive Bet On Africa Has Failed
May 10th, 2020
Via the Nikkei Asian Review, commentary on how the coronavirus driven crash in commodity prices has wasted $200 billion in Chinese investment and loans to African nations: China’s commercial activities in Africa, such as investments, infrastructure projects and bank lending, have long attracted scrutiny and criticism. Critics have accused Beijing of practicing a new form […]
Read more »The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor at Five
April 6th, 2020
Via the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a look at the result so the first five (5) years of The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that was officially launched in April 2015: KEY FINDINGS Scaled-back Ambitions: Of 122 announced projects, a quarter (32 projects) have been completed, […]
Read more »In Shadow of BRI: The Great Railway Game
April 1st, 2020
Via Reconnecting Asia, a look at how the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is complemented by two other initiatives: the Chabahar International Transport and Transit Corridor; and the proposed Russia-Pakistan (Ru-Pak) Corridor The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), examined in the first part of this series, has developed slowly but steadily during its twenty years of existence. Although mired […]
Read more »In Shadow of BRI: Eurasian Corridors on the North—South Axis
April 1st, 2020
Via Reconnecting Asia, an article on the North-South routes which consist of a bundle of land and sea multimodal corridors and connect South Asia to Northern Europe via the Persian Gulf and the Caspian region: While most heads were turned to the East-West transport arteries spearheaded by China’s Belt and Road investments, activity along the lesser […]
Read more »The Hidden Dangers of China’s Digital Silk Road
March 13th, 2020
Via The National Interest, an article on signs that China’s ambitions with the Belt and Road Initiative—and all its digital components—are part of the sticky power of a new hegemony: China switched on the largest commercial 5G network to date on October 31, 2019. That’s when China’s three state-owned wireless carriers, China Mobile, China Unicorn, and […]
Read more »The Greater Caspian Region: A New Silk Road, With or Without A New Belt
March 7th, 2020
Via The Atlantic Council, an interesting look at Central Asia and the new Silk Road: With the signing of a US-Taliban peace agreement, now might be a good time to look ahead to how Afghanistan might strengthen its economic connectivity with both its neighbors and more distant markets. Now, there will be a 135-day period of […]
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.