June 16th, 2018
Via Capital Economics, an interesting look at North Korea: • Tomorrow’s historic summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Singapore has raised the (distant) prospect of international sanctions against North Korea being lifted, a move that one day could even pave the way for the country’s integration into the global economy. While North […]
Read more »North Korea: Opening For Business?
June 12th, 2018
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on the potential for North Korea to open its economy: North Korea is one of the world’s most isolated countries. It is ruled by an unpredictable dictator with his finger on the nuclear button. So, who wants to invest there? Well, basically nobody. But leading up to […]
Read more »June 12th, 2018
Via OCCRP, a detailed look at an opaque gold deal in Tajikistan: Sitting in rows upon rows of plastic blue chairs, hundreds of men and women in colorful traditional dress listened attentively to their president. Known in his country’s press universally as the “Founder of Peace and National Unity” (the use of the title is […]
Read more »Ethiopia Opens Door to the World With Unprecedented Privatization Plan
June 9th, 2018
Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, an article on Ethiopia’s announced privatization plan, a move that present one of the biggest business opportunities in Africa to foreign and domestic private investors, but also one of the most complex: Ethiopia said it plans to sell stakes in some of the country’s most-prized assets after decades of state […]
Read more »June 6th, 2018
Via Ozy, an interesting look at investing in Somaliland: Hong Kong–based American business developer Robby Zirkelbach has set up small firms in South Sudan, Iran and North Korea. But Somalia was too risky even for the former U.S. Marine sniper with a stomach for adventurous investments, until he stumbled upon the country’s north, the self-declared Republic of […]
Read more »BRI: A Web of Silk?
June 3rd, 2018
Via The Economist, a report on China’s efforts to build a “digital Silk Road: CHINA’S vague but much-vaunted Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been providing buzzword fodder for government leaders and official sloganeers since 2013, when the country launched the scheme to extend its political and economic influence abroad by investing in infrastructure and other […]
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