Vroom, Vroom: Cheap Asian Motorcycles Are Transforming African Cities
August 19th, 2024
Courtesy of The Economist, a look at how inexpensive Asian motorcyles are transforming African cities: At the Haojue showroom in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, Gaston Kamo dusts the latest model’s ruby-red fuel tank. “With motorcycles you can go everywhere, even muddy roads,” says the salesman for the Chinese manufacturer. The gleaming 125cc bike costs 1.25m Rwandan francs […]
Read more »Africa’s Two Most Populous Economies Brave Tough Reforms
August 13th, 2024
Via The Economist, a report on Ethiopia’s and Nigeria’s new economic reforms and whether they will be able to stick to them: When times are tough, politicians reach for metaphors. In Ethiopia, which floated its currency and entered a $3.4bn IMF programme on July 29th, the prime minister Abiy Ahmed (pictured) compared reform to “the pain of surgery, […]
Read more »Dangote’s Standoff With Nigeria Intensifies, Risking Investments
July 23rd, 2024
Via Bloomberg, an article on Dangote’s standoff with Nigeria: Billionaire scraps plan to invest in a domestic steel plant Tycoon says his refinery produces the ‘best’ diesel in Nigeria Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, says that diesel produced by his massive refinery is the best that’s sold in Nigeria, even as lawmakers consider a probe […]
Read more »Where Will the Next Billion Internet Users Come From?
July 21st, 2024
Courtesy of Visual Capitalist, an illustrated look at where the next billion Internet users will come from: Internet adoption has steadily increased over the years—it’s more than doubled since 2010. Despite its widespread use, a significant portion of the global population still isn’t connected to the internet, and in certain areas of the world, the number of […]
Read more »Rise of Chinese Surveillance Tech in Africa: Development or Espionage?
July 11th, 2024
Courtesy of The Africa Report, commentary on the growing deployment of Chinese CCTV equipment in African cities: Chinese technology companies like Huawei and ZTE are contributing to smart city development on the continent, but analysts warn that their tools provide authoritarian governments with the means to spy on citizens and promote repression. More than a […]
Read more »Will Shock Therapy Revive Nigeria’s Economy – Or Sink It Further?
July 9th, 2024
Courtesy of The Financial Times, a report on Nigeria’s economic predicament: Fatai Oluwa, a patternmaker in Lagos, Nigeria’s teeming commercial capital, has started sleeping in the tailor shop where he works, often on his cutting table, so he can save on soaring commuter costs. Since the snap removal last year of petrol subsidies by Nigeria’s […]
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.