China and Iran are on the march in Latin America.
Read the full analysis in The Economist
Archive for August, 2009|Monthly archive page
Brazil news update, August 9th
In Uncategorized on August 9, 2009 at 9:25 pmSTATE
Brazil’s government plans to boost its stake by 2010 in state-run oil company Petrobras, which is partly owned by private investors, by offering new oil fields in exchange for company shares, a source told Reuters.
Brazilian officials are slated to give President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a proposal for oil law changes expected to boost the role of state-run Petrobras in the development of offshore reserves (Reuters).
Brazilian state-controlled pension funds Petros and Funcef may place a bid for the 9.9 percent stake construction group Camargo Correa has in Jirau, a massive hydropower dam project in the Amazon, Valor Economico said (Reuters).
The head of Brazil’s Senate is facing mounting pressure to step down over an ethics scandal, threatening to weaken President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s control over Congress and derail his legislative agenda (Reuters).
INVESTMENTS
Braskem, Latin America’s largest petrochemical company, plans to delay by as much as two years of investments worth $4.5 billion in Venezuela, the Valor Economico newspaper said, citing the company’s vice president of international operations (Reuters).
Shree Renuka Sugars, an Indian sugar refining group, might bid for a stake in Brazilian ethanol and sugar producer Grupo Moema as part of a plan to expand into Latin America’s largest economy, Valor Economico newspaper reported (Reuters).
Brazilian purchases of industrial machinery and equipment likely will rise in the coming months as signaled by a surge in demand for credit at the state development bank, the daily newspaper Valor Economico said (Reuters).
Private equity funds are expected to raise about 2.5 billion reais ($1.4 billion) in the second half of 2009 to invest in Brazil’s real estate markets, betting on rising demand for commercial property and upscale housing, Valor Economico newspaper reported (Reuters).
ECONOMY
The Brazilian economy was already growing at a pace of 4 percent at the beginning of the third quarter, Finance Minister Guido Mantega told investors in Washington, according to a copy of his presentation on Thursday (Reuters).
Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, is heading toward a “V-shaped recovery” powered by domestic demand, former central bank President Gustavo Franco said (Bloomberg).
SUGAR
Brazil’s Sugarcane Technology Center and Germany’s BASF said they will jointly develop a genetically modified sugarcane with yields up to 25 percent higher than those currently available (Reuters).
PORTS
LLX Logistica, the Brazilian logistics company controlled by billionaire Eike Batista, said on Monday it received regulatory approval for the construction of the Sudeste Port, a port terminal that could handle 50 million tonnes of iron ore annually in its initial phase (Reuters).
POWER
Brazil and Peru are studying five hydroelectric projects that would cost as much as $15 billion, Brazilian Energy Minister Edison Lobao said. Peru may consume 20 percent of the electricity from the dams and ship the rest to Brazil. Brazil and Peru aim to start operating the dams, which could generate 6,000 megawatts, in 2015 (Bloomberg).
Angola news update, August 9th
In Angola on August 9, 2009 at 10:24 amOIL
Angola’s Oil Company (Sonangol) and Cabinda Gulf Oil Campany (Cabgoc) have discovered a new oil well on the Block located in the Congo shallow water basin (ANGOP).
A closely held company in Angolawith government permission to bid for oil contracts has shareholders with the same names as top state officials, suggesting an abuse of regulatory powers, a London-based anti-corruption group said (Bloomberg).
BANKING & FINANCE
Entrepreneurs of the provinces of Cabinda, Malanje, Zaire, Kwanza Norte and Kwanza Sul will benefit this year from loans of the Amigo micro-credit programme, with view to create small and medium firms to generate jobs (ANGOP).
The Savings and Credit Bank (BPC) enabled 1,800 youths of the country’s 18 provinces to start, in 2008, implementing small businesses that generate incomes and hundreds of jobs, through a USD 6.5 million fund (ANGOP).
Surinam news update, August 9th
In Uncategorized on August 9, 2009 at 10:21 amPOLITICS
The Megacombinatie, an alliance of several political parties and personalities carefully built around the National Democratic Party of Desi Bouterse, the former military strongman of Surinam, suffered a setback after a party led by wealthy businessman Dilip Sardjoe left the group, nine months ahead of the national elections.
OIL
The final decision on the expansion of the Staatsolie refinery will be taken by the end of 2009, when new market data will be taken into account. Surinam’s proven oil reserves are estimeated at 80 million barrels, while future finds are to be expected (DWT).
ECONOMY
Surinam with 2.5 % growth for 2009 is expected to be the fastest in the Caribbean, followed by Belize with 1 % and Trinidad and Tobago with 0.8 %. Most Caribbean countries have entered in recession, according to ECLAC (DWT).
A New Scramble for Africa
In Angola, Cape Verde on August 9, 2009 at 9:55 amA presidential visit followed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s African tour cannot conceal a stark reality: China has overtaken the United States as Africa’s top trading partner.
Read the full analysis at Reuters
US to improve ties with Angola
In Angola on August 9, 2009 at 9:38 amUS Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will seek on a visit to Angola on Sunday to boost opportunities for US business in the oil producer, widely seen as an emerging economic power house in Africa.
Read the report at the Mail & Guardian
Cape Verde news update, August 9th
In Cape Verde on August 9, 2009 at 9:17 amTELECOMS
CVMultimédia, the company in the CVTelecom group that offers Internet and cable television service, has announced the it has doubled its international access to the Internet as of August 4 (A Semana).
INVESTMENT
The Investment Climate Facility (ICF) will make some US$ 1,800,000 available to Cape Verde to improve the business climate in the country (A Semana).
FAREWELL
Hundreds of people said their final farewell to the late singer and musician Biús on Thursday afternoon. In the midst of tears, music and applause, the late singer was buried in the Mindelo cemetery, leaving friends, family and admirers with a mixture of nostalgia and joyous memories – because Biús, in addition to being an excellent musician, was also a joy to be with (A Semana).
FISHERIES
August is the middle of the high season for tuna fishing, but ship owners are facing difficulties conserving their catch on the island of São Vicente. Since the fire that destroyed cold-storage company Interbase in September of last year, no other alternative has emerged for the conservation and storage of all of the fish caught in the region (A Semana).
Brazil news update, August 2nd
In Uncategorized on August 2, 2009 at 9:05 pmBUSINESS
Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s third-largest commercial aircraft manufacturer, reported second-quarter net income of 466.9 million reais ($249 million) in the quarter ended June 30, compared with 356.5 million reais in the same period a year earlier (Reuters).
Revenue at Brazilian real estate developers Cyrela, Gafisa and Rossi Residencial probably edged higher in the second quarter, signaling that government efforts to spur the housing sector are bearing fruit, analysts told Reuters.
AMAZON
Brazilian soy crushers said on Tuesday they have extended for one more year a ban to purchases of soybeans grown in newly deforested areas of the Amazon basin (Reuters).
POLITICS
Brazilian President Lula wants the government to take control of Vale SA, Veja reported, without saying where it obtained the information. Lula asked officials to find a legal way to ensure the government controls Vale through Previ and BNDES Participacoes SA, the investment arm of Brazil’s state development bank (Bloomberg).
Brazilian President Lula raised the benefit in the country’s flagship anti- poverty program by 9.7 percent seeking to ease the impact of the economic crisis on the poorest citizens (Bloomberg).
OIL
Petrobras said it may more than double its borrowings from the U.S. Export-Import Bank to as much as $5 billion, following a $10 billion loan from China (Bloomberg).
Will Brazil have the world’s next housing boom?
In Uncategorized on August 2, 2009 at 9:01 pmThe world’s next great housing boom may be taking shape in Brazil. The missing ingredients are a full-fledged mortgage market — one that steers clear of the pitfalls the U.S. encountered — and sound government policy.
Read the full article by Alexandre Marinis at Bloomberg
Angola news update, August 2nd
In Angola on August 2, 2009 at 11:52 amINDUSTRIES
Angolan deputy Industry minister, Kiala Gabriel, affirmed Friday, in Luanda, that the sector is negotiating with several countries, above all Japan, to support the recovery of projects of some industrial units linked to textile sector (ANGOP).
PORTUGAL
The Banco de Fomento de Angola (BFA) and the Entrepreneurial Association of Portugal (AEP) on Thursday here signed a partnership agreement for the holding of four fairs in the coming two years, the CEO of the banking institution, Emídio Pinheiro, informed (ANGOP).
SPECIAL ZONE
The Angolan governmetn approved the creation of the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone (ZEE). The meeting also formalised the Society of Development of the Luanda-Bengo EP Special Economic Zone, tasked with ZEE’s management and exploration. Luanda-Bengo ZEE is an economic space comprising land, economic and administrative infrastructures, designed to foment production and create jobs, with a view to the modernisation of the national economy (ANGOP).
DIAMONDS
Production of diamonds in Angola may reach in 2009, 7 million carats, as compared to 8.9 million of last year, said on Friday the director of planning and finance of the National Diamond Company (Endiama), Alberto Fancony (ANGOP).
REAL ESTATE
The city of Luanda hosted from July 30 to August 02 the first international fair on the real estate market, which was expected to be attended by 100 firms national and foreign firms (ANGOP).
HOTELS
A new four star-hotel named “Grande Hotel do Uíge” was inaugurated Saturday in northern Uige province’s capital city (Uige) by the minister of Hotels and Tourism, Pedro Mutinde (ANGOP).
GAS
Angola LNG Limited’s stakeholders, Sonangol Gás Natural, Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, BP Exploration (Angola), ENI Angola Production BV and Total LNG Angola announced the creation of two companies to support the project’s development (Macauhub).
TELECOMS
Mobile phone operator Movicel, S.A. has been 80 percent privatized. State-owned companies Angola Telecom and Correios Telégrafos de Angola continue to hold, respectively, 18 and 2 percent of Movicel’s capital stock.
The remaining 80 percent will be held by Porturil-Investiments with 40 percent, Modus Comicare- Comunicações e Imagem Lda with 19 percent, I pang – indústria de Papel e Derivados with 10 percent, Lambda Investement with six percent and Novatel, S.A., with five percent (Macauhub).
SOUTH ATLANTIC
The Angolan government is to provide Brazil with an additional US$500 million credit for Brazilian exports of goods and services to Angola. Angolan exports to Brazil, almost exclusively in petroleum, suffered a fall of 93.7 percent in the first half of this year, in relation to the same period in 2008. Sales to the Brazilian market fell from US$1.2 billion (873 million euros) in the first six months of last year to US$76.3 million (55 million euros) in the first six months of this year (Macauhub).
INVESTMENT
EDP is to set up a holding company with Sonangol Holdings, Banco Privado Atlântico and Finicapital with a view to investing in the production conventional and renewable electrical energy in Angola according to a statement by the Portuguese electricity company (Macauhub).
Cape Verde news update, August 2nd
In Cape Verde on August 2, 2009 at 11:32 amCLINTON
Hillary Clinton will visit Cape Verde on August 13 and 14, with the main point on her agenda being the insertion of African women into the world market. Another issue to be discussed will be security in Sub-Saharan Africa (A Semana).
STATE OF THE NATION
The debate on the State of the Nation that took place in the National Assembly Wednesday, July 29, began with personal attacks between various different members of parliament and ended with asymmetrical readings on employment, health care, safety and Cape Verde’s macroeconomic indicators (A Semana).
STOCK EXCHANGE
The demand for Cabo Verde Fast Ferry future bonds was slightly greater than the supply, according to Cape Verde Stock Exchange president Veríssimo Pinto (A Semana).
INFLATION
The Consumer Price Index registered a monthly variation rate of -0.3% between May and June of this year, while the homologous variation rate dropped 1.8% in regards to May, standing at 0.1% (A Semana).
AIR TRAVEL
Privately-owned Cape Verdean company Halcyon Airways will begin operating flights to the island of São Nicolau this week, offering three weekly flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays (A Semana).
AGRICULTURE
The embargo that for the past twenty years has prevented agricultural products from leaving the island of Santo Antão appears close to ending (A Semana).
MEDIA
Our friends at A Semana are about to launch a completely revamped interactive website, aimed not only at the country’s resident population, but especially at Cape Verde’s large and widely scattered diaspora.
INVESTMENT
Cape Verde’s prime minister proposed Monday the creation of a network of entities to reduce the waiting time for the resolution of companies’ problems and make it easier to invest in Cape Verde, according to Inforpress ( Macauhub).
The minister for Infrastructures, Transport and Telecommunications in Cape Verde, Manuel Inocêncio, revealed that the government is to invest 50 million Euros in the Porto da Palmeira, on the island of Sal. The first phase of the modernization and expansion work, estimated at 19 million Euros, is being carried out by the Mota-Engil consortium and should be finished by July 2010 (Macauhub).