Morocco’s Atlantic Gambit: Linking Restive Sahel to Atlantic Ocean
June 29th, 2025
Via Al Monitor, a look at Morocco’s efforts to link the restive Sahel to the Atlantic Ocean: A planned trade corridor linking the landlocked Sahel to the Atlantic is at the heart of an ambitious Moroccan project to tackle regional instability and consolidate its grip on disputed Western Sahara. The “Atlantic Initiative” promises ocean access […]
Read more »Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger To Have Access To The Atlantic Ocean
May 4th, 2025
Via Africa News, a report on the landlocked countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger which have endorsed an initiative by Morocco to give them access to the Atlantic Ocean: The foreign ministers of the three military-ruled West African nations shared their countries positions during a meeting Monday with King Mohammed VI in Rabat, the […]
Read more »How To Make Money In Africa’s Coup Belt
February 24th, 2025
Via The Economist, a report on how mining multinationals are learning to do business with juntas: THE BOSS of Barrick Gold, a Canadian mega-miner and the world’s second-largest gold producer, is no stranger to bust-ups with African governments. In an interview with The Economist at a big annual African mining conference in Cape Town this month, Mark Bristow […]
Read more »Has West Africa Become ‘Un-Investable’?
February 17th, 2025
Via The Assay, a look at whether West Africa has become uninvestable: Despite gold being among the best-performing asset classes in 2024, the gold equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs), for major precious metal producers, (GDXJ +13% and GDX +9%) did not deliver the expected leverage. Among a peer group of 17 gold mining companies, IAMGold Corp. […]
Read more »West Africa Bloc Offers Junta-Led States Six Months To Rethink Exit
December 22nd, 2024
Via Reuters, a report on ECOWAS’s efforts to persuade Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to stay within the bloc: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will have a six-month grace period after their scheduled exit from West Africa’s main political and economic group next month during which the ECOWAS bloc will try to persuade them to […]
Read more »Turkey Eyes Niger Mining Projects Amid Competition for Uranium
October 22nd, 2024
Via Bloomberg, an article on Turkey’s interest in Niger’s mining sector: Niger and Turkey sign provisional pact for mining exploration Junta revoked French, Canadian companies’ permits last year Turkey and Niger signed a provisional pact to boost cooperation in mining, a sign of closer ties between the countries as new powers jostle for access to […]
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.