Know What's Happening in Emerging Markets
Know What's Happening in Emerging Markets
Taiwan Secures Major LNG Supply Backing Amid Middle‑East Tensions
Taiwan’s economy minister announced that a leading LNG‑producing nation has pledged to meet the island’s natural‑gas needs, offering extra cargoes on request. The move follows concerns that the Iran‑Russia war could disrupt Middle‑East supplies. A separate agreement with the United States will provide 1.2 million tonnes of LNG each year.
Japan announced a new subsidy scheme to support overseas installations of flexible perovskite solar cells, aiming to accelerate the export of its homegrown renewable‑energy technology. The program targets projects in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia and Thailand identified as early beneficiaries. Sekisui Chemical, a leading Japanese chemical firm, is spearheading the development of bendable perovskite modules designed for mass production. The initiative reflects Tokyo’s broader strategy to position Japan as a global supplier of next‑generation solar solutions.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s snap election has steadied the government‑bond market, halting a sharp rise in long‑term yields. Foreign institutional investors, who had been offloading JGBs, have paused sales and begun modest buying. Domestic investors are...
Hong Kong’s government has earmarked the Kai Tak commercial site for student housing, marking the first use of open‑market land sales to spur such development. The move aims to offset shrinking land‑sale revenue while addressing a surge of mainland and other...
Vietnam has introduced fines of up to $12,000 to deter illicit gold trading, marking a decisive shift after ending a 13‑year state monopoly on gold production and sales. The new penalties target black‑market dealers and unlicensed jewelers, aiming to bring...
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with France’s Port of Marseille Fos to deepen cooperation on trade facilitation, port innovation and energy transition. The pact will create an IMEC Ports Club to coordinate the...
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has condemned the interim India‑US trade agreement, branding it anti‑farmer and urging President Droupadi Murmu to halt its signing. The coalition demanded the removal of the commerce minister and the IAS officer who signed a...
Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, will attend the inaugural Trump Board of Peace meeting and has pledged up to 8,000 troops for a humanitarian peacekeeping mission in Gaza, with 1,000 ready by April and the remainder by June. The offer is...
The episode explains why global financial markets largely ignore Middle‑East geopolitical turmoil, despite oil price spikes of about 10% this year. It argues that diversified oil production outside the region and modest growth forecasts mean investors see limited macro‑economic impact...
The Economist: “Last month the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, another state-backed trade group, appears to have deferred the publication of its weekly sales data—a sure sign of growing anxiety over weakening numbers.” https://t.co/feytAJBiP2
The United States is deploying and upgrading MQ‑9 Reaper drones across the Indo‑Pacific, stationing them at bases in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and other locations. The expansion creates a persistent ISR web that allies such as Japan, Taiwan and...
Renault Korea has reversed a sales slump by launching the Aurora Project and a hybrid‑first Grand Koleos, boosting domestic sales 31.3% to 52,271 units in 2025. The model’s 86.5% hybrid mix drove 40,877 domestic deliveries, while exports dropped 46.7%, signalling a...
Nigeria’s states received a record N33.27 trillion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee between January and November 2025, far exceeding the N25.46 trillion allocated in 2024. Despite the surge, per‑capita spending on health and education remains dismally low, with implementation rates of only...
China and Nigeria celebrated 55 years of diplomatic ties, marking a shift toward deeper economic integration. The partnership, upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in September 2024, now emphasizes higher‑value trade and industrial transformation. A new Zero‑Tariff Agreement grants qualifying...
India’s alternative investment fund (AIF) sector has crossed the ₹15.05 lakh crore mark, underscoring rapid scale and emerging maturity. Equity‑oriented AIFs have delivered roughly 8.7 % alpha over the BSE Sensex across multiple cycles, highlighting consistent outperformance. Domestic investors now contribute about 55 %...
Nigeria’s indigenous oil producers are surviving on razor‑thin margins of $5‑7 per barrel despite crude prices hovering around $70. Production costs sit near $40 per barrel, but spiralling security expenses and operational losses from theft and pipeline vandalism push total...
China met its official 5.0% GDP target in 2025, largely on the back of robust export growth to Asia, Europe and Latin America. Manufacturing investment, particularly in electric vehicles and electronics, remained resilient, while overall fixed‑asset investment fell 3.8% and...
State Street SPDR Portfolio Emerging Markets ETF (SPEM) remains a buy, backed by strong technical momentum, low valuation and a 0.07% expense ratio. The fund holds $16.7 billion in assets, offers a 2.58% dividend yield and provides broad EM exposure. Its...
In late 2025 President Vladimir Putin announced Russia’s willingness to build a small modular reactor (SMR) in Kyrgyzstan, aiming to address the country’s chronic electricity shortages. Kyrgyzstan relies on over 90% hydropower, making its grid vulnerable to droughts and aging...
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Kazakh President Kassym‑Jomart Tokayev are returning to Washington for the inaugural Trump‑administered Board of Peace, joining Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and possibly Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev. The gathering will focus on Gaza’s reconstruction while offering a...
The Bocconi Institute proposes six pragmatic reforms to close Europe’s “scale‑up gap” and boost venture‑capital financing for innovative firms. Using Dealroom data on 64,500 EU start‑ups, the report shows that VC investment in scale‑ups is under 10% of U.S. levels...
Kalshi, a CFTC‑approved designated contract market, operates a quote‑driven prediction platform where makers post offers and takers accept them. An analysis of over 300,000 contracts shows that prices generally track event probabilities but suffer a pronounced favourite‑longshot bias, with cheap...
The episode examines Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s remarks on Japan’s growing regional role and the backlash they provoked in China, set against escalating China‑Japan tensions and a recent diplomatic spat at the Munich Security Conference. It highlights how surveys...
Ukraine granted its first defense export permits in February 2026, allowing domestic defense‑tech firms to sell abroad as the government prepares ten export centers across Europe. The sector, proven in combat with rapid development cycles, now faces the need to...
The Marketing‑Interactive team is launching Expand 2026, a one‑day, invitation‑only forum in Sydney on July 29 aimed at senior Australian brand leaders. The event will explore how growth is increasingly driven by Asia‑Pacific trends such as social commerce, super‑apps, and creator‑led retail....
U.S.‑brokered peace talks aim to end the Ukraine war by early summer, but analysts warn that a deal lacking robust security guarantees could free Russian forces to pursue expansion in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Recent recordings and leaked...
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani arrived in Caracas, marking his first visit since the U.S. raid that ousted President Nicolás Maduro. The trip focuses on strengthening bilateral ties, including agriculture and investment, while Qatar positions...
two rounds of iran talks, very little progress so far. unless trump is prepared to accept a limited deal (focused on nuclear capacity, not missiles or support for regional proxies), military strikes in coming weeks looking likely.
Drones now account for the majority of casualties in the Ukraine War. With Russia improving its strike range by mounting Starlink terminals to drones, Elon Musk has finally stepped in. Full analysis available on Patreon ➡️ https://t.co/LYlet7MIHM #dronewarfare #starlink #ukrainewar #geopolitics
The inaugural African Travel Commission (ATC) Summit in Lagos called for urgent reforms to visa policies, border regulations, and regional aviation to unlock Africa’s tourism potential. Delegates noted tourism generated roughly $225 billion in GDP and supported 30 million jobs in 2025,...
Industrial policy, again: "India’s Solar Manufacturing Excesses Turn a Boom Into a Glut" https://t.co/VEeIUwYmoM https://t.co/r4CohxBgDI
The Department of Expenditure has urged Indian states to fast‑track pending proposals under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure (SASCI) scheme as the March 31 deadline approaches. To date, ₹1.04 lakh crore has been released, and the FY26 Union Budget has...
India’s demographic and economic potential remains strong, but political dysfunction and empty rhetoric are eroding its long‑term outlook. The country suffers from unreliable statistics, a slowdown in innovation, and worsening air quality, all signs of institutional decay. Author Kaushik Basu’s...
Guyana is the biggest winner from Maduro's ouster in Venezuela. "It removes the biggest barrier for foreign investment," said CSIS's Henry Ziemer Lower risk premium, faster development, higher upside. https://t.co/1Tpj1OK8dp #oil #Guyana #Exxon #geopolitics #energy
The Basel III regulatory package, delayed to a full 2027 rollout, tightens capital quality, leverage and liquidity requirements for banks worldwide. African banks risk higher capital costs because their sovereign debt is risk‑weighted more heavily, potentially limiting credit to the...
MTN Group announced a $6.2 billion cash acquisition of IHS Holding, offering $8.50 per share—a 2.53% premium to the prior close. The deal will be funded by $1.1 billion of MTN cash, $1.1 billion from IHS’s balance sheet, and a rollover of existing...
Global demand for copper, driven by AI, renewable energy and electric vehicles, is spurring a rapid expansion of Zambia’s mining sector. Since 2022, more than $12 billion has been poured into the industry, lifting 2024 output by roughly eight percent to...
The episode reviews the latest developments in the Ukraine‑Russia conflict, focusing on the relocation of the third round of peace talks to Geneva. Kyiv cautions against overly optimistic expectations, noting the limited progress in previous rounds and the complex diplomatic...
Private participation in infrastructure across the Global South reached $100 billion in 2024, a 20% rise over the previous five‑year average. The article highlights India’s PPP surge, which drove infrastructure credit to over 15% of bank lending but also triggered an...
Notable acceleration in the fx securities book of the Chinese state banks (And their reverse repo/ other funding of global financial institutions) in January -- consistent with the $90b monthly increase in the reported fx balance sheet https://t.co/PNDncW2w2s
The royalist‑conservative Bhumjaithai Party has captured a decisive parliamentary majority, reinforced by the military and judiciary, positioning it to govern Thailand for the next four years. Its victory ends a 26‑year period marked by street protests, coups, and judicial interventions,...
Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trade agenda, saying it marks a decisive break from the Congress era of policy paralysis. He highlighted nine free‑trade agreements signed since 2014 that give India preferential access to 38 developed economies and...
For energy policy making, a key week in Paris as @IEA energy officials gather Feb 18-19 for a biennial ministerial meeting. The IEA’s drift toward net-zero advocacy and overtures to China will be tested as US officials push to a return...
Rwanda’s mineral exports jumped 46.2% in 2025, driven by soaring tin, tungsten and tantalum prices and increased mechanised mining. The surge helped narrow the country’s trade deficit from $3 billion to $2.7 billion, with raw tin even achieving a positive balance with...
A few of our weekly inputs have come in for US growth. We continue to rebound hard cyclically. EURUSD down, US assets (soon) up, and ISM PMI towards 60 by summer. Our Nowcast IQ is telling a VERY contrarian story to...
Somalia has been granted official authorization to adopt and print the East African Community (EAC) e‑Passport, a key step in its regional integration. The decision was handed to Somalia’s Minister of Internal Security and the Director‑General of Immigration in Dar...
India and the United States announced a trade deal that lowers Indian export tariffs from 25% to 18% and removes the extra 25% levy on Russian crude. In return, New Delhi has pledged to buy $500 billion worth of U.S. goods,...
china’s two ai model company minimax and zai have grown 2x in public markets in the last month they’re now $30-35b companies surely that should prompt western labs to go public already
India's National Highways Authority (NHAI) has been allocated Rs 12,357 crore for FY 2025‑26 to monetize highway assets, falling short of the Rs 15,000 crore budgeted amount. The agency plans to monetize 24 road assets covering 1,472 km, with Maharashtra receiving the highest number of projects....
The African Union’s 2019 African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was built on eight regional economic communities, yet integration progress remains sluggish. A new analysis identifies four core obstacles: lingering colonial dependencies, the predominance of informal cross‑border trade, the tendency...
A member of the Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF) has secured a contract to ship 5,000 tonnes of basmati rice to a United States buyer. The agreement arrives shortly after the India‑US trade pact lowered tariffs on Indian goods from 25% to...
