China’s Exports To Central Asia Are Booming
March 28th, 2024
Via Asia Times, a report on China’s growing commercial engagement with Central Asia: Central Asia is becoming one of Eurasia’s main trade and transit hubs, with Kazakhstan in the forefront. Sino-Central Asian trade turnover stood atUS$89.4 billion at the end of 2023, a 27% increase over the 2022 level of US$70.2 billion, according to China’s Customs Agency. Of that total, US$61.4 billion represented Chinese exports to the region. Trade between China and Kazakhstan alone clocked […]
Read more »Wagner’s Next Act In Africa
March 27th, 2024
Via The New Statesman, commentary on how Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin’s son have rebranded the mercenary group in the Sahel: “There’s a little Russia growing inside Burkina Faso,” a Burkinabe official told me. “First you put down one settlement, somewhere you can speak safely, where you don’t have any Americans or French. Then you […]
Read more »Chinese Mega Port Developer Fights Back As Peru Moves To Scrap Exclusivity Over Peru’s “Shanghai”
March 27th, 2024
Courtesy of The Financial Times, a report on China megaport builder’s criticism as Lima reverses course on its exclusive right to operate the controversial Chancay project: A Chinese state-owned shipping company building one of Latin America’s biggest deepwater ports has criticised a move by the Peruvian government to remove its exclusive right to operate the […]
Read more »Uber Drivers ‘Melting’ Amidst Nigeria’s Historic Heat and Record Fuel Prices
March 27th, 2024
Via Rest of World, a sobering report on the impact that rising heat and fuel prices is having upon Nigeria: Uber drivers in Nigeria are suffering from heat-related health issues, but say they cannot afford to reduce their work hours. Drivers say they cannot switch on air conditioning in their cars when they don’t have […]
Read more »India’s Chipmaking Ambitions Shadowed by Infrastructure Concerns
March 26th, 2024
Courtesy of Nikkei Asia, a report on India’s chipmaking ambitions: India is accelerating efforts to become a global powerhouse in semiconductor production with three factories breaking ground this year, though its success hinges on whether it can dispel lingering infrastructure concerns. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has worked to attract investment in the field through tax […]
Read more »With Superapp Uzum, Uzbekistan Gets Its First Tech Unicorn
March 26th, 2024
Via Emerging Europe, an article on superapp Uzum, Uzbekistan’s first tech unicorn: Uzum, a leading digital services ecosystem in Uzbekistan, this week secured 114 million US dollars in funding through a combination of a Series A funding round and debt financing, making it the first tech company in Uzbekistan to achieve unicorn status with a […]
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.