Archive for the ‘North Korea’ Category

Calling Pyongyang … Orascom Eyes Cell Phone Venture in North Korea

Via The Financial Times, news that Orascom is looking at setting up a mobile phone venture in North Korea.  As the article notes “…Setting up a mobile phone service in North Korea – an authoritarian state that has banned mobiles – may sound like a misguided venture but Egypt’s Orascom reckons it can defy conventional […]

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South Korea Deals for Russian Gas

Via Reuters, news that South Korea agreed on a $90 billion deal to import Siberian gas that should allow Russia to diversify away from Europe while bringing North Korea closer to its neighbour via pipeline diplomacy.  As the article noted: “…South Korea’s Energy Ministry said in a statement the country wanted to import up to […]

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Russia’s Far Eastern Frontier: Energy as a Political Tool

As recently reported in The Japan Focus, Russia’s Far Eastern frontier is now turning into the place where energy export becomes a political tool in shaping the country’s relations with regional neighbors.  China, the two Koreas, and Japan are hungry for energy, natural resources and, at the same time, seek economic and political cooperation. In […]

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Frontier Funds

As recently reported by The Financial Times, the subprime-driven credit crisis is causing some people to look at frontier markets for unconventional, uncorrelated returns.  As the article notes: “…Godvig Capital Management’s Babylon Fund, which aims to profit from the rehabilitation of Iraq, is one of a growing band of ‘frontier funds’ which seek returns in […]

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Calling Dear Leader: Orascom’s North Korean Mobile Licence

As reported in Arabian Business, Orascom Telecom – the fourth-biggest Arab mobile phone operator by market value – announced that its subsidiary, CHEO Technology (in which the North Korean government also owns 25%), won the first mobile phone licence in North Korea. Orascom stated that it plans to invest $400 million on infrastructure and licence […]

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North Korea’s Future Exports?

As noted in Portfolio, North Korea is increasing its production of exportable goods in advance of what some feel will be a more relaxed trade environment in future months. Last year, North Korea sold $1.75 billion worth of products abroad, to such buyers as China and the European Union. As the article speculates, future North […]

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WILDCATS AND BLACK SHEEP
Wildcats & Black Sheep is a personal interest blog dedicated to the identification and evaluation of maverick investment opportunities arising in frontier - and, what some may consider to be, “rogue” or “black sheep” - markets around the world.

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.