Ethiopia Energy Project: China’s Ming Yang Secures License for $15 Billion Renewables
China’s Ming Yang Smart Energy Group secured a near‑$15 billion renewable‑energy investment license from Ethiopia’s Investment Commission, expanding an earlier $10 billion deal. Phase One allocates $7.47 billion to build 8.4 GW of solar‑wind capacity across South Omo, Afar and Somali regions. Phase Two earmarks $7.3 billion for green hydrogen electrolyzers, ammonia synthesis and related manufacturing hubs. The programme aims to power Ethiopia’s industrialisation, boost exports and enhance energy security.
How the U.S.‑Israel War Against Iran Is Exposing the Limits of the Petrodollar System
U.S. public debt has risen to $31.27 trillion, edging past the nation’s $31.22 trillion GDP, reviving concerns about fiscal sustainability. Gulf Cooperation Council sovereign wealth funds, which collectively own roughly $2 trillion of U.S. assets, are reassessing those holdings after the U.S.-Israel campaign...
Suriname’s Delayed Oil Boom Is Finally Ready for Takeoff
Suriname’s offshore oil sector is poised for a breakthrough as the $10.5 billion Gran Morgu project reaches 50% completion and targets first oil in 2028. The development, led by TotalEnergies and APA, will produce 220,000 barrels per day with breakeven costs...
PM Modi’s UAE Visit to Focus on India’s Energy Security: MEA
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to the United Arab Emirates on May 15 as part of a five‑nation diplomatic tour, with the primary agenda of bolstering India’s energy security amid escalating West‑Asia tensions. The talks will focus on establishing...
India Has a Strong Economic Runway for at Least Next 15-20 Years: Citi India Chief
Citi’s India franchise, now focused solely on institutional banking, has outgrown its previous combined retail‑institutional operation. The bank sees India as a long‑term growth engine, contributing over $2 billion to Citi’s roughly $80 billion global revenue—about 4‑5% of its institutional earnings. A...
Elon Musk To Join Trump On China State Visit. Tesla Stock Sinks.
Elon Musk will accompany President Donald Trump on a state visit to China, joining a delegation of top CEOs aimed at securing trade concessions. The announcement sent Tesla shares down about 5% after a brief rally. Musk hopes to address...
UAE Sees Rapidly Growing Trade with Syria, as Ties Warm
UAE‑Syria non‑oil trade more than doubled in 2025, reaching a record $1.4 billion, a 132 % jump from the prior year, according to UAE trade minister Thani Al Zeyoudi at the inaugural Syrian‑Emirati Investment Forum. The two sides signed preliminary agreements on...
‘It Is Coming, and It Is Coming Big’: Uday Kotak on Oil Price Shock
Billionaire banker Uday Kotak warned that India’s oil‑price shock from the West Asia war is about to hit the economy hard. While retail petrol has stayed at ₹94.77 per litre (~$1.14) for 18 months, oil‑marketing companies are absorbing daily losses of up...
West Asia Crisis a ‘Live Stress Test’ for India’s Balance of Payments, Says CEA V Anantha Nageswaran
India’s chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran warned that the West Asia crisis has become a live balance‑of‑payments stress test for the country, pressuring inflation, the current account and the rupee. He highlighted a 48% jump in Brent crude, a 500% surge...
Poonam Gupta: Prosperous States for a Prosperous India
Poonam Gupta addressed the Columbia Indian Economy Summit 2026, outlining India’s accelerating economic growth over four decades. She highlighted that real GDP growth rose from 5.7% in the 1980s to 7.7% in the most recent four‑year period. Gupta then examined...
Plan to Extend Mnangagwa's Term Threatens Zimbabwe Debt Relief
Zimbabwe’s effort to restructure its $23 billion sovereign debt has hit a political roadblock as a constitutional amendment seeks to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s tenure to 2030, sidestepping required referendums. The move has alarmed international lenders—including the World Bank, Paris Club,...
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African Leaders Push Credit Reforms at Nairobi Summit with France
African leaders at the Nairobi Africa Forward Summit urged reforms to credit‑rating methodologies, arguing that perceived risk inflates borrowing costs. French President Emmanuel Macron pledged support for a first‑loss guarantee to de‑risk African investments and will lobby for it at...
Ramaphosa’s Political Peril Earns Shrug From Investors for Now
South Africa’s rand remains steady despite looming impeachment talks against President Cyril Ramaphosa. The president rebuffed calls to resign in a televised address, while a court ruling on May 8 revived a 2022 farm‑theft scandal that fuels the political drama. Investors appear...
The New Contest for Africa Is Digital, and Africa Must Define the Rules
The Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi highlighted a new digital scramble for the continent, with Gulf sovereign wealth funds committing over $100 billion to AI and connectivity projects and China’s cloud and surveillance networks reaching nearly every African nation. France is...
Does PM Narendra Modi’s Speech Signal Interest Rate Hike in the Next RBI MPC Meeting?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged tighter control of gold, fuel, fertilizer imports and reduced overseas travel to safeguard India’s foreign‑exchange reserves amid the US‑Iran conflict. The call sparked a sell‑off in equities as investors feared domestic economic strain, while crude...
Canada to Invest $2 Million in Economic Hub Backed by Philippines, US and Japan
Canada announced a US$2 million investment in a new economic hub on the Philippines’ Luzon island, part of the Luzon Economic Corridor backed by the United States and Japan. The funding supports a future project that dovetails with a trilateral infrastructure...
The World Needs Africa. That Does Not Mean Africa Wins
Africa’s vast critical‑mineral reserves have thrust the continent into the center of the emerging global order, yet it captures less than 1% of clean‑energy manufacturing value. The competition among China, the United States, the European Union and Gulf states now...
InvestHK Pitches Hong Kong as African Enterprises Gateway to Asia
Invest Hong Kong’s Associate Director‑General Loretta Lee is on an eight‑day tour of Johannesburg and Kigali to pitch Hong Kong as the premier springboard for African firms entering the Chinese mainland and broader Asia‑Pacific markets. The mission highlights Hong Kong’s...
Hedge Funds Hit Decade-High Buying Spree in Asian Equities
Global hedge funds have dramatically increased exposure to Asian equities, with weekly purchases in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan hitting their highest level in over a decade, according to Morgan Stanley data. Net inflows for the week ending May 7 pushed...
US Communications Regulator Targets Chinese Tech for Security Risks
The Federal Communications Commission announced a series of measures aimed at curbing security risks posed by Chinese‑origin communications equipment. The rules require carriers to identify, assess, and, where necessary, replace hardware and software from firms such as Huawei and ZTE...
Chinese Aviation Expert Lays Out Plan to Sanction-Proof Domestic Passenger Planes
Chinese aviation veteran Zhang Yanzhong warned that the C919 passenger jet depends heavily on Western components, including the Leap‑1C engine, Honeywell APU, and avionics from GE and Collins Aerospace. He highlighted the risk of export controls and geopolitical decoupling cutting...
Panda Power: Pakistan to Tap China Debt Market with First Sale of Yuan-Priced Notes
Pakistan will issue up to $250 million of yuan‑denominated panda bonds, the first tranche of a $1 billion program, with AIIB and ADB guaranteeing 95% of the debt. The three‑year sustainable‑development notes aim to tap lower Chinese borrowing costs after Pakistan raised...
Trump-Xi Summit May Not Yield a Deal but Is Still Significant
President Donald Trump will make a state visit to China from Wednesday to Friday for talks with President Xi Jinping, marking the first China trip of his second term. While the bilateral relationship is crucial for global stability, analysts caution...
Late-Stage Deals Dominate Latin American Funding in Q1
Latin American startups secured $1.03 billion in venture capital during Q1 2026, a 12% year‑over‑year increase but a 6% dip from the previous quarter. Late‑stage and growth rounds dominated, attracting $761 million—up 158% YoY. Mexico emerged as the regional leader, raising $404 million,...
Iran War Deadlock Fuels Market Uncertainty
Iran’s ongoing war deadlock has left the Strait of Hormuz effectively blocked, reigniting a surge in oil prices as the market grapples with supply uncertainty. President Donald Trump floated a federal gas‑tax holiday to ease pump prices, but the proposal...
PM Modi Issues 2nd Warning in 24 Hours: Indians Need Major Changes as West Asia War Hits World?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Indians to curb fuel consumption as the U.S.-Iran clash fuels volatility in global oil markets. He highlighted that Middle‑East instability is inflating India’s crude import bill and straining foreign‑exchange reserves. Modi urged greater use of...
FDI Hit 3-Month High of $590M in February
Net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the Philippines rose to $590 million in February, marking a three‑month peak. The figure remains 31 percent lower than a year earlier and the first‑two‑month total of $1 billion is down 34.8 percent YoY. Equity‑capital placements reached...
New Trump Sanctions on Chinese Firms: Leverage on Xi or Overkill?
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned ten mainland China and Hong Kong entities and individuals for supplying Iran with drone materials, missile components, and satellite‑imagery support. The designations target carbon‑fiber suppliers, procurement agents, financiers, and two satellite‑imagery...
The Hormuz Crisis and China’s Energy Security Dilemma
The escalation of the Israel‑U.S. conflict with Iran has disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, turning a long‑standing strategic risk into an immediate constraint on China’s oil supply. China imports roughly 4 billion barrels of crude each year, with about...
Trump’s Coming Kowtow to Chinese Dictator He Admires and Envies
On May 14, Donald Trump will travel to Beijing for the first of four planned meetings with President Xi Jinping. While the agenda was billed as a step toward stabilizing the U.S.-China trade war, the dominant issue is Iran, where...
Founders Still Building in MENA Understand What Others Miss
MENA startup funding slipped 37% year‑on‑year to $941 million in Q1 2026 as geopolitical risk dampened investor sentiment. Yet high‑net‑worth consumers in Dubai, Riyadh and other Gulf cities kept spending, and sovereign programmes such as Saudi Vision 2030 continued to pour capital into...
Forget U.S. Debt, China’s Total Borrowing Is in ‘a League of Its Own’—Much Worse and Deteriorating Faster, Analyst Says
China’s total debt‑to‑GDP ratio, excluding the financial sector, has surged past 300%, roughly double its 2010 level, making it the world’s most leveraged economy after Japan. The rise stems from aggressive borrowing by corporations, central and local governments, while household...
How the U.S. Is Trying to Ensure the Dollar’s Dominance During Economic Turmoil
The Trump administration is negotiating new dollar currency‑swap lines with Gulf and Asian partners to reinforce the greenback’s reserve‑currency status amid rising use of the renminbi and crypto for oil trade. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading talks with the...
Trump Invites Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Larry Fink and Other CEOs to Join China Trip for Xi Summit
President Donald Trump has extended invitations to CEOs of Tesla, Apple, BlackRock, Boeing and other major U.S. firms to accompany him on a diplomatic trip to China this week. The delegation will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss trade,...
View From Tokyo: Has Iran War Changed Confidence in the US?
The article assesses how the U.S.‑Iran war under the Trump administration is eroding confidence in the United States among Japanese media, scholars and some policymakers, while trust in the broader U.S. government remains more resilient. Recent Japanese polls show 75‑86%...
Luzon Economic Corridor Draws in 7 New Countries
The Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) has added seven new partners—Australia, Denmark, France, Italy, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom—to the original Philippines‑U.S.-Japan coalition. Launched in April 2024 under the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, the corridor targets...
Iran War Chokes ‘Major Driver’ of Global Economy
The U.S. war in Iran has choked the Strait of Hormuz, trapping roughly 15 million barrels of crude and 5 million barrels of petroleum products each day. The resulting supply squeeze pushed U.S. diesel prices 60 percent higher than a year ago, the...
Frontier Markets Hold the Next Wave of Growth
Frontier markets—home to a billion people and classified as the UN's Least Developed Countries—receive less than 1% of global foreign direct investment, creating a massive financing gap. British International Investment (BII) and partners have launched the African Resilience Investment Accelerator...
China’s Malacca Dilemma, After Hormuz
The Iran‑Israel conflict showed that insurance premiums can choke oil flows as effectively as naval blockades. When war‑risk rates for the Strait of Hormuz spiked to double‑digit percentages, Chinese imports were hit despite diplomatic guarantees. The article argues that China’s...
Why Is China Watching India-Vietnam Relations Carefully
India and Vietnam upgraded their ties to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, expanding defense cooperation such as submarine training and a possible BrahMos missile transfer. The deeper partnership gives India a strategic foothold in Southeast Asia and the contested South...
José Luis Escrivá: Capital Flows, Exchange Rates, and Geopolitics - the Value of Trust in a Changing Global Order
In a BIS speech, José Luis Escrivá warned that the global geoeconomic order is shifting from multilateral cooperation to the use of economic tools as instruments of pressure, while rapid technological change reshapes money and payments. He argued that tariffs...
Latam Producers Take Strait Shot at Investment
At the Offshore Technology Conference, Brazil, Guyana and Argentina – Latin America’s fastest‑growing crude producers – emphasized that their non‑strait exports provide a secure alternative amid the Middle‑East war. Combined output now tops 6 million barrels per day, dwarfing Venezuela and...
Iran Says Its Response to US 'Reasonable, Generous'
Iran's foreign ministry described its response to the latest U.S. peace proposal as "reasonable" and "generous," countering President Donald Trump's label of it as "totally unacceptable." Tehran emphasized safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and broader regional security, while...
China Believes America Will Flame Out
China is quietly positioning itself to assume global leadership as the United States wrestles with internal political turmoil, strained alliances, and renewed Middle‑East conflict. Rather than confronting the U.S. directly, Beijing is pursuing a patient strategy that emphasizes self‑reliance, technological...
Gold’s Grim Message
Central banks are accelerating purchases and repatriation of gold, a move the author ties to rising deglobalization. Emerging‑market central banks have more than doubled their gold reserves since the 2008 financial crisis. The surge comes amid heightened geopolitical tension, notably...
Philippine Data Center Boom Attracts $170-Million IFC Investment
International Finance Corp. (IFC) is set to invest up to $170 million in YCO Global Cloud Centers to expand data center capacity beyond Metro Manila. The package includes a $20 million quasi‑equity stake and $150 million in senior loans for two 50 MW facilities...
The Drive to Deepen China-Africa Clean Tech Cooperation
China’s renewable sector is pivoting toward Africa, where solar panel exports rose 17% last year. The South‑South Cooperation Renewables Centre, launched by the China Renewable Energy Industries Association, facilitates matchmaking, technology showcases and skills transfer across 16 African nations. The...
Meet the LP: Schroders Capital
Schroders Capital, the UK‑based institutional investor, is ramping up its use of artificial intelligence to evaluate venture‑capital managers, according to head of global venture investments Steven Yang. The LP is especially bullish on opportunities in China and India, citing strong...
As Trump Heads to China, Here’s How Much the Dollar Is Overvalued, According to Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs says the Chinese renminbi is about 20% undervalued versus the dollar. The firm expects the upcoming Trump‑Xi summit and China’s expanding trade surplus to push the yuan toward 6.50 per dollar within 12 months, implying roughly 4.5% appreciation...
Deutsche Bank Flags Dual Inflation Risks From ‘Super’ El Niño, Middle East War
Deutsche Bank Research now sees a "super" El Niño persisting through July, adding to inflation pressure in the Philippines already heightened by the Middle East war. The bank lifted its 2024 inflation forecast to 6.5%, above the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas'...