Somalia Offers U.S. ‘Control’ Over Strategic Ports
March 28th, 2025
Via Semafor, a report on Somalia’s outreach to the U.S. over port access: Somalia’s government has offered the US “exclusive operational control” over strategic ports on the Gulf of Aden in a bid to derail any recognition by Washington of breakaway regions in the troubled Horn of Africa nation. It made the offer despite not […]
Read more »Myanmar Rebels Disrupt China Rare Earth Trade, Sparking Regional Scramble
March 28th, 2025
Via Reuters, a report on Myanmar’s rare earths industry: Ethnic army controls area accounting for nearly half of global heavy rare earths production Rebels seek leverage against Beijing, which invested heavily in rare earths and supports Myanmar’s junta Price of key mineral used in EVs and wind turbines has soared since rebel takeover India has […]
Read more »Quiet Renaissace: Cote d’Ivoire Is Africa’s Best Kept Secret
March 26th, 2025
Via The Economist, a report on Cote d’Ivoire: His parents moved to Ivory Coast in the 1980s, towards the end of a period of exceptional economic growth that economists dubbed the “Ivorian miracle”. They came to work, drawn by the country’s openness and wealth. Bernard Ayitee, a 38-year-old hedge-fund manager who combines Nigerian, Beninois, Togolese and […]
Read more »TikTok, CPEC and the Digital Battlefield
March 26th, 2025
Via Modern Diplomacy, a look at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which stands as a $65 billion flagship initiative that promises economic transformation and regional connectivity: The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) stands as a $65 billion flagship initiative that promises economic transformation and regional connectivity. However, this monumental project is increasingly becoming a target of […]
Read more »Current Ambitions: The World’s Next EV Superpower?
March 26th, 2025
Via The Economist, a look at where three Asian countries vying to become the next electric-vehicle superpower: IN A SCRAPPY office that is more startup than ivory tower, Yossapong Laoonual, honorary chairman of the Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand, strikes a bullish tone. Clinging to the internal-combustion engine is “like doubling down on horse-drawn carriages long […]
Read more »Challenges to China’s Growing Interests in Afghanistan
March 26th, 2025
The Diplomat reports on how – while Chinese investment in Afghanistan is rising, particularly in the mining sector – the operations face both local pushback and logistical headaches: In a recent post on X, Amrullah Saleh, the former vice president of Afghanistan, accused Chinese mining companies, “in collaboration with Taliban commanders,” of “rampant plundering and theft” […]
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.