Making the Most of FDI: Shenzen vs. Penang
February 23rd, 2024
Via Project Syndicate, an interesting comparison of the success of foreign direct investment in China and Malaysia: Few experts doubt that foreign direct investment can bolster economies by bringing in critical know-how, expanding local production, and creating jobs. It is no surprise, therefore, that attracting FDI has long been a top priority for developed and […]
Read more »Why American, European Companies Need to Invest in Africa’s Mining Sector
February 10th, 2024
Via The Premium Times, an interview with US Institute of Peace expert, Tom Sheehy, sheds light on mining challenges and opportunities in Africa: In the shadows of the African mining sector, a complex web of great power competition, security concerns, and conflicting interests unfolds. Amidst this backdrop, the fate of critical minerals hangs in the balance, […]
Read more »America Should Not Allow its Trade Programme with Africa To Die
February 8th, 2024
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an argument that America’s Growth and Opportunity Act should be reimagined and made fit for an era of renewed great power competition in Africa: It is often said that Africa does not matter to America. Unlike China, the US does not pursue a policy of exporting surplus industrial capacity to […]
Read more »Mapped: Africa’s Population Density Patterns
February 7th, 2024
Via Visual Capitalist, an interesting graphical look at Africa’s population density patterns: Africa, the world’s second largest continent, spans over 30 million km2, home to the not only world’s biggest desert but also the second-largest tropical rainforest, and of course, approximately 1.4 billion people. In this infographic, we map out the continent’s population density patterns. It’s a […]
Read more »Global Race For Critical Minerals: Was Ukraine Merely The Preliminary Heat?
February 4th, 2024
Via Belt and Road blog, commentary on the global race for critical minerals: In summer 2021, Ukraine and the EU Commission signed a ‘Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials and Batteries’. Thierry Breton, Internal Market Commissioner with extended responsibility for defense and space, praised the “great potential of critical raw materials in Ukraine” to “reduce strategic dependencies”. The […]
Read more »Europe and Africa Forging a New Relationship
February 2nd, 2024
Via Modern Diplomacy, a look at efforts to forge a new relationship between Europe and Africa: Late January 2024, prominent African leaders and corporate business executives attended the summit intended to forge a new relationship between Europe and Africa. It was hosted by Italy’s hard-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who who came to power in […]
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.