Yesterday in Egypt, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao offered $10 billion in concessional loans to Africa over the next three years, describing China as a “true and tested friend” of the African people. Wen also pledged to build 100 new clean energy projects for Africa in an effort to support the development of green economies in some of the world’s poorest countries. Reaction to the deal was mixed. Some lauded China’s move as a much needed step to help the continent develop technology and infrastructure needed, while some Westerners have expressed that China is only interested in African resources. [click to continue…]
Energy giant Exxon Mobil has agreed to buy a minority stake in an oil field off the coast of Ghana for $4 billion, the company’s first major purchase in nearly ten years. Exxon is purchasing a 23.5% stake in the Jubilee field from Dallas-based Kosmos Energy, an oil and gas exploration company that was part [...]
The ETF industry has expanded by leaps and bounds in recent years, with new issuers entering the arena and countless new product launches that offer investors the ability to gain exposure to various geographic regions and investment styles. The first ETFs were essentially “plain vanilla” products that mirrored widely-followed equity benchmarks. Today, the vast majority [...]
“The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa, for he has so much to look forward to”. – Anonymous 19th century quote
News that the Egyptian President is visiting Washington to meet with President Obama is certain to be major news in the north African nation. But coverage of Hosni Mubarak’s trip to D.C. this week has been focused not on the topics to be covered with Obama (the two leaders will discuss the Middle East peace [...]
Many investors who had the resolve to keep their equity holdings in place as global markets plunged to new lows in the first few months of 2009 were the beneficiaries of a familiar gift from an old friend. Emerging markets, which have regularly enhanced investor returns in recent years (well, prior to 2008 at least) [...]
Although it’s doubtful that anyone keeps track of such things, I’d venture to guess that ‘crisis’ has become one of the most popular words in the American lexicon over the last two years. The prevalence of the word in newspaper headlines and everyday conversation is an indication of just how bad the past few years have been. [...]
