Chinese BRI Investment Isn’t All Bad—or Good
March 2nd, 2021
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, commentary on how – as Sri Lanka shows – when it comes to Chinese debt, small states have agency and great powers have responsibilities: In the last few years, the question of whether China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is predatory has been ripe for debate, with some arguing the loans Beijing […]
Read more »Sri Lanka’s Economy Hemmed In By COVID-19 and Geopolitical Tensions
January 11th, 2021
Via East Asia Forum, an article on Sri Lanka’s economic challenges: The unprecedented disruptions of COVID-19 are causing a geopolitical reset — and as the global order is redrawn, small emerging market economies like Sri Lanka are vulnerable to the fallout. Sri Lanka straddles vital shipping routes and is at the centre of diplomatic spats between China […]
Read more »Regional Rivalries Over Sri Lanka’s Ports
June 19th, 2019
Via East Asia Forum, a look at how foreign investments in Sri Lanka are made within the tapestry of regional and global power rivalries: When it comes to Sri Lanka’s national security and sovereignty, nothing seems more guaranteed to generate heated discussion than the spectre of foreign involvement in seaport developments. After years of wrangling, […]
Read more »A Chinese Company Reshaping the World Leaves a Troubled Trail
September 22nd, 2018
Via Bloomberg, commentary on CCCC, Belt and Road’s biggest builder, which is besieged by allegations of fraud, corruption, and environmental damage: Christopher Fernando knows the price of rapacious development. It has eaten his kitchen. Only the sink remains along what was once an outer wall of Fernando’s seafront home on the west coast of Sri Lanka, about […]
Read more »Three Asian Markets Worthy of Attention: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam
August 18th, 2018
Via Investment Week, a look at Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam: The consumer boom in Asia shows no sign of slowing down. With more than half the world’s population, and home to over half of the world’s ten fastest growing major economies, Asia enjoys growth that the West can only dream of. And it is […]
Read more »Is China’s Belt and Road working?
April 2nd, 2018
Via the Nikkei Asian Review, an interesting look at the progress of China’s BRI initiative: The idea of transforming the ancient fishing village of Gwadar into a bustling port city has been around since at least 1954, when Pakistan commissioned the U.S. Geological Survey to examine its coastline. Their conclusion: Gwadar, which sits on the […]
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.