Emerging Markets

Tanzania and Congo Bet on One Rail Route to Move Their Minerals

Congo's copper and cobalt have to reach a port. Tanzania wants that port to be Dar es Salaam rather than Durban or Lobito. The pos…

Sudan Says It Is Ready to Buy Kenyan Tea Again

A ban that began in March 2025 cost Kenya a market worth about US$70 million a year. An ambassador has now signalled a thaw. The p…

Morgan Stanley Bets Bigger on Morocco as Factory Exports Jump

The bank is raising its Moroccan position. Behind it sits a manufacturing base that now outsells the country's phosphate rock. The…

Central Africa Licences Its First Credit Rating Agency

Six countries share a securities market that has never had a licensed rating agency. That changed on 7 August. The post Central Af…

South Africa’s Unemployment Rate Climbs to 33.6% in the Second Quarter

The official rate rose almost a full point in three months. The broader measure, which counts people who stopped looking, is above…

Meta Deletes 756,000 Australian Teen Accounts Before a New Ban

Australia bars under-16s from social media in December. Meta has already deleted three quarters of a million accounts. The post Me…

Mexico’s Cruz Azul Cement Cooperative Bets US$381 Million on an Idle Plant

The worker-owned cement maker behind Mexico's famous football club will spend about US$381 million restarting the Hidalgo plant it…

Escondida Wage Talks Open at the World’s Biggest Copper Mine in Chile

The supervisors' union at BHP's Escondida mine in Chile has opened the year's biggest wage negotiation, asking for a fair sharing …

Argentina Ships First Offshore Pipes for Vaca Muerta Oil Pipeline

A supply vessel has carried the first 99 concrete-coated pipes toward Punta Colorada, opening the offshore phase of Argentina's VM…

Argentina Beef Consumption Falls to Its Lowest in Over Two Decades

Argentines now eat 46.3 kilos of beef a year, the least in more than two decades, after prices rose about 52%. Chicken has taken t…

Argentina Digital Health Plan Lands US$700 Million IDB Credit Line

A presidential decree approves a US$700 million Inter-American Development Bank credit line to digitise Argentina's provincial hea…

Brazil Electoral Fund Frees US$440 Million in Public Campaign Money

Brazil's electoral court released R$2.3 billion (about US$440 million) in public campaign money after the Workers' Party withdrew …

Brazil Justices Push to Revisit the Journalism Degree Requirement

Two Brazilian Supreme Court justices called for a fresh debate on the journalism diploma rule struck down in 2009. Nothing has cha…

Operation Sinon: Brazil Court Suspends Federal Police Officer Over Leaks

Brazil's Federal Police ran Operation Sinon on 19 August 2026 against one of its own senior officers, suspected of selling sealed …

Mérida Now Has Michelin Stars: What the Guide Actually Gave

Yucatán entered the Michelin Guide for the first time this year. Two Mérida restaurants took stars, and three took something else …

Europe Intelligence Brief August 19, 2026: Britain’s Energy Bill Lands, Sweden Barely Notices

British inflation rose to 2.9% on a 13% energy cap increase, while Eurostat's July range ran from 0.3% in Sweden to 8.2% in Romani…

USA & Canada Intelligence Brief August 19, 2026: He Says He Paused It, Nothing On Paper

Trump said he had paused the 50% Canada tariff two hours before it applied, though no legal text has been published to that effect…

Africa Intelligence Brief August 19, 2026: South Africa Gets Relief, Kenya Gets A Charge Sheet

South African inflation slowed to 4.3%, a Nairobi court heard 121 charges over US$12.1 million of farm credit, and the Kariba toll…

Why Spending US Dollars in Costa Rica Is Harder Than It Looks

Everyone takes your dollars. That is the problem. Between a strong colon and shop rates, paying in cash dollars is the expensive w…

São Paulo Ranks Eighth in a New Digital Nomad City Index

Seoul leads, Japan takes four of the top ten, and São Paulo is the only Latin American entry. Who compiled it is worth knowing bef…

Guyana GDP Per Capita Now Overtakes the United States, Adjusted for Prices

World Bank and IMF data show Guyana's income per person overtaking the United States once local prices are taken into account. In …

Buying Property in Mexico as a US Retiree: How Not to Get Scammed

The coast you want to retire on is the part foreigners cannot own outright. Here is what the law actually says, and what the US Tr…

Report Warns Argentina Central Bank Reform Could Unlock Borrowing Against Reserves

A consultancy report warns that Milei's rewrite of Argentina's central bank charter would make it easier to borrow abroad against …

Asia Intelligence Brief August 19, 2026: The Morning Seoul Had To Stop Trading

Seoul's exchange suspended program selling six minutes after the bell as the KOSPI fell 5.8%, Tokyo dropped for a second day, and …