Read the full story and analysis at Bloombergs
Archive for March, 2009|Monthly archive page
Brazil’s oilfields and the price per barrel
In Brazil, Elections, Energy, Investments, Oil, Politics on March 31, 2009 at 7:23 pmPanama growth at least 3 pct in 2009
In Economy, Panama, Ports on March 31, 2009 at 6:58 pmPanama’s economy will grow at least 3 percent this year and in the worst case scenario, the country could register a fiscal deficit of 1 percent of its gross domestic product in 2009, Economy Minister Hector Alexander said on Sunday.
Read the full story at Reuters
Angola: 92 percent growth in four years
In Angola, Economy on March 31, 2009 at 6:44 pmAngolan minister of Economy, Manuel Nunes Júnior, said Monday in Luanda that the country’s economy recorded an average growth rate of 9.6 percent between 1989 and 2007 and a 92,4 percent real growth from 2004 to 2007.
Read the news feature at Angop
EIU forecast South Africa, March 30th
In Economy, Elections, Politics, South Africa on March 30, 2009 at 8:13 pmRead the forecast at the Economist Intelligence Unit
EIU forecast for Brazil, March 11th
In Brazil, Economy, Elections, Facts and figures, Oil, Politics on March 30, 2009 at 8:10 pmRead the forecast at the Economist Intelligence Unit
Brazil’s oil industry has big hurdles to clear
In Brazil, Oil on March 30, 2009 at 8:08 pmIn the past two years Brazil has discovered the largest oil deposits in the country’s history and the world’s most promising fields since the discoveries made in Kashagan in Kazakhstan in 2000. This has put Brazil well on its way to becoming a major producer in the future, but technological and financial hurdles will have to be overcome first.
Read the full briefing in the Economist Intelligence Unit
SA Gautrain drives employment growth
In Economy, Infrastructure, South Africa, Tourism, Travel on March 29, 2009 at 1:44 pmThe Gautrain fast rail network around Johannesburg is expected to create about 148 000 direct, indirect and induced jobs over the next twenty years.
Read the full story at South Africa the good news
Surinam news update, March 29th
In Banking, Biofuels, Books, Economy, Oil, Surinam, Tourism on March 29, 2009 at 1:42 pmTOURISM
Surinam is to get a national website dedicated to tourism promotion. The project will be funded by the EU.
BANKING
De Surinaamsche Bank N.V. (DSB) closed the year 2008 with a net profit of SRD 22,7 million.
BIOFUELS
Staatsolie, Surinam’s staterun oil company, is working on a future project to develop production of biofuels, together with Brazilian partners, Minister for Natural Resources Gregory Rusland announced.
ECONOMY
Surinam is in a much better position to survive negative effects of the global recession. A good position of the SRD, a comfortable monetary reserve and the prudent monetary policies of the last years are some of the reasons of the country’s “pole position“. This was the message of two IMF-economists, Gamal El Masri and Bernhard Fritz-Krockowoek, while presenting their publication ‘Suriname Toward Stability and Growth’.
(De Ware Tijd)
Angola news update, March 29th
In Angola, Banking, Energy, Investments, Ports on March 29, 2009 at 1:41 pmBUSINESS
Angolan company Desco, a firm that deals in the supply of automatic power generators and constructions, invested about USD 60 million over the last few years in the country (Angop).
Dutch multinational Philips, world leader in manufacturing electronic products, intends to invest in Angola, setting a strategic agreement with the government and local enterprises said on Wednesday here, the company’s market manager, Jan Hoogstra (Angop).
INVESTMENT
Brazilian group Odebrecht plans to invest between US$800 million and US$1 billion in various economic sectors in Angola, the Angola press reported Thursday (Macauhub).
PORTS & LOGISTICS
The general director of Company Sabmiller/Angola, Samuel Jerónimo, suggested on Thursday greater effectiveness from staff of Luanda Port and the creation of work shift at the weekends in order to diminish the difficulties registered by entrepreneurs and port workers (ANGOP).
The Drago group has announced the launch on 4 April of the first logistics station integrated in Angola Business Park, a project which includes construction of production centres in all provinces, at an overall investment of some US$700 million (Macauhub).
The trading port of Lobito in Angola dealt with 564 million tonnes of cargo unloaded from 103 ships in the first quarter of the year, the port’s director, José Carlos Gomes said Tuesday (Macauhub).
BANKING & FINANCE
The issue of Angolan Treasury Bonds approved Wednesday by the Council of Ministers, will be carried out in stages and subject to the conditions of free subscription by investors, the Angolan Finance Minister, Severim de Morais said in Luanda (Macauhub).
The Standard Bank is looking for acquisition opportunities to expand its operations in Angola and Brazil, amongst other markets, the chiefexecutive of the South African bank said in Accra Thursday (Macauhub).
Angola’s Banco de Comércio e Indústria (BCI) plans to provide funding of uS$400 million for investments by small, medium and large Angolan companies, the bank’s chairman, Adriano Pascoal said Tuesday (Macauhub).
Cape Verde news update, March 29th
In Airports, Banking, Biofuels, Cape Verde, Investments, Ports, Real estate, Security, Tourism, Travel on March 29, 2009 at 1:41 pmSECURITY
In 2008, Cape Verde’s Judiciary Police seized 36% more drugs that the year before, mostly cocaine and cannabis. The information comes from Judiciary Police director Óscar Tavares and was announced during last week’s Coordination and Strategic Planning meeting, which took place in Praia (A Semana).
AIR TRAVEL
São Pedro Airport on the island of São Vicente will close between 8:30 am and 6:30 pm beginning today, March 25, for construction work in the airport’s maneuvering zone. Between today and May 9, all flights to and from the island will take place at night (A Semana).
BIOFUELS
Geocapital is negotiating the set up of a biofuel research and development centre in Cape Verde, the Macau-based holding company’s chairman and shareholder, Jorge Ferro Ribeiro said Thursday (Macauhub).
PORTS & LOGISTICS
The Cape Verdean government is “very soon” due to launch the public tender to award the contract for construction work to expand and modernise the Port Novo dock, a source from national ports management company, Enapor told Cape Verdean news agency Inforpress (Macauhub).
REAL ESTATE
uthorities linked to the tourist real estate sector in Cape Verde called Friday for an investment fund of 100 million Euros to be set up and listed on the local stock exchange, to support companies in difficulty (Macauhub).
Brazil news update, March 29th
In Airports, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Investments, Mining, Oil, Security, Telecom, Tourism, Travel on March 29, 2009 at 1:40 pmECONOMY
BRASILIA, March 27 (Reuters) – Brazil’s government will announce in the coming days the extension of tax breaks for the automobile industry that were set to expire next week, a source at the presidential palace said on Friday (Reuters).
Brazil’s government unveiled an ambitious $15 billion housing plan on Wednesday for low-income families, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s latest bid to create jobs and prevent Latin America’s largest economy from falling into recession (Reuters).
BUILDING
Police in Brazil arrested several executives at major construction firm Camargo Correa on Wednesday to investigate their participation in an alleged money laundering scheme within the company (Reuters).
Brazilian group Odebrecht plans to invest between US$800 million and US$1 billion in various economic sectors in Angola, the Angola press reported Thursday (Macauhub).
SECURITY
The government of Rio de Janeiro is building concrete walls to prevent sprawling slums from spreading farther into the picturesque hills of this world-famous tourist destination, an official said on Saturday (Reuters).
MINING
Brazilian mining giant Vale on Friday launched the construction of a $1.3 billion coal project in northern Mozambique, with a capacity to produce 11 million tonnes of coal per year (Reuters).
BANKING & FINANCE
Brazil’s government agreed on Thursday to increase its support for small- and medium-sized banks in a bid to boost lending in local financial markets (Reuters).
Citigroup raised 2.21 billion reais ($984.8 million) from the sale of a stake in Redecard, the Brazilian credit card processing company said in a securities filing on Tuesday (Reuters).
Brazil’s Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore miner, wants sovereign wealth funds to invest much more in its business after thus far hesitant steps into the mining industry, a senior executive said on Tuesday (Reuters).
The Standard Bank is looking for acquisition opportunities to expand its operations in Angola and Brazil, amongst other markets, the chiefexecutive of the South African bank said in Accra Thursday (Macauhub).
Banco Sofisa S.A., controlled by Brazil’s Burmaian family, expects to increase loans by 5 percent this year after reporting no growth in 2008 because of the credit crisis (Bloomberg).
OIL
Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras is not interested in buying Valero Energy Corp’s 275,000 barrel per day Aruba refinery and will instead focus on expanding domestic production, a Petrobras executive said Wednesday (Reuters).
Brazil’s Maranhao state in the northeastern part of the country may have offshore oil deposits similar in size to the Campos Basin, which produces 85 percent of the country’s oil, Maranhao Governor Jackson Lago said (Bloomberg).
GALP, Portugal’s biggest oil company, and Petrobras, Brazil’s state- controlled crude producer, found evidence of oil in an onshore block in Brazil’s Potiguar Basin, the country’s petroleum regulator said (Bloomberg).
Petrobras expects cash flow to almost double in 2009-2013 from the previous five-year period (Bloomberg).
TRAVEL
El Al Israel Airlines expects 60,000 passengers a year to fly on its new direct flight to Sao Paulo, the company’s chief executive officer, Haim Romano, said on Monday (Reuters).
TELECOM
Telemig Celular would be incorporated in Telemig Celular Participações which in turn would be incorporated in Vivo Participações in order to simplify the organizational structure of Vivo and reduce the number of companies listed on the stock exchange, said Portugal Telecom in Lisbon Monday (Macauhub).
Oi, Brazil’s largest telecommunications company, has secured a US$300-million loan from the China Development Bank, the company said Thursday in a statement (Macauhub).
INVESTMENT
MAN AG, Europe’s third-largest truckmaker, plans to invest 330 million euros ($448 million) in the next five years to expand production at a Brazil-based plant, a spokesman said today (Bloomberg).
Rio ready for 2016 Olympics
In Brazil on March 29, 2009 at 1:21 pmRio de Janeiro organizers trying to lure the 2016 Olympics are trumpeting the Brazilian city as the sensible and sentimental choice. Rio is trying to bring the Summer Games to South America for the first time, competing against Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo, whose countries have hosted a combined 14 Olympics, including seven in the summer.
Read the full story in the International Herald Tribune
Brazil’s central banker eyes politics
In Banking, Brazil, Elections, Politics on March 29, 2009 at 12:50 pmHenrique Meirelles, the longest serving central bank president in Brazilian history, is considering stepping down after more than six years on the job to pursue a career in politics.
Read the full story at Reuters
Zuma dismisses fear of lurch to left
In Economy, Elections, Politics, South Africa on March 29, 2009 at 12:34 pmRuling party leader Jacob Zuma on Friday dismissed fears that South Africa’s economic policy would lurch to the left after elections next month and said a new dissident group would have no impact.
Read the full article at Reuters
South African brewer now global giant
In South Africa on March 29, 2009 at 12:04 pmA decade ago, the company that would become SABMiller was set to return to the London Stock Exchange, but critics had little faith in the dusty little South African company.
Read the full article in Business Day
Brazilian governors under fire
In Brazil, Politics on March 29, 2009 at 11:52 amA rash of impeachment cases against state governors is probably a good sign.
Read the full article in The Economist
Angola exempts gas exploration from tax
In Angola, Namibia, Oil on March 25, 2009 at 1:47 pmAngola’s parliament exempted companies exploring for natural gas from paying taxes, in order to stimulate investment in the industry, Angop reported, citing the Oil Ministry.
Read the news feature at Bloomberg
Brazil invited to join OPEC
In Brazil, Oil on March 25, 2009 at 1:39 pmBrazil’s Mines and Energy minister says Latin America’s largest country has been invited to join the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC.
Read the news feature in the International Herald Tribune
South American regional bank expected in May
In Argentina, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Investments on March 25, 2009 at 1:37 pmThe Bank of the South, a regional bank that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez envisions as South America’s answer to U.S.-influenced international lenders, will be launched with $10 billion in startup capital, Venezuela’s finance chief says.
Read the news feature in the International Herald Tribune
Who funds the ANC’s campaigns?
In Angola, Elections, Mining, Politics, South Africa on March 25, 2009 at 1:28 pmThe ANC is keeping mum on its funding sources for the election campaign, but party insiders involved in fundraising say its election effort is heavily subsidised by the ruling parties in Libya, Angola, China and India.
Read the full article in the Mail & Guardian
