Atlantico Weekly

Archive for 2012|Yearly archive page

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on May 24, 2012 at 5:45 pm

POLITICS

Ukraine doesn’t appear to regret the departure of former EU Ambassador José Manuel Pinto Teixeira, who has been blacklisted by the country’s Foreign Ministry for making statements falling “beyond the scope of his diplomatic functions”. Teixeira, of Portugal, publicly criticised Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich for failing to deliver on his pledge to improve the business climate and tackle corruption. Teixeira has now been appointed to head the EU delegation in Cape Verde, a former colony of Portugal (Euractiv).

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DEFENSE & SECURITY

Cape Verde needs to revise its legislation on confidentiality and the preservation of personal data, affirmed Carlos Reis, the national director of the Judiciary Police during the international conference on terrorism currently taking place on the island of Sal. In Reis’ opinion, the lack of access to information places limitations on investigations aimed at preventing organized crime (A Semana).

Judiciary Police have closed the case of the ship Santo Antão after thoroughly searching the vessel’s cargo hold without finding any trace of drugs on board. The ship had been boarded by Judiciary Police inspectors, who accompanied it between the islands of Santiago and Fogo to oversee the unloading of its contents in the latter’s Vale dos Cavaleiros sea port. The expectation that there may have been cocaine hidden among the cargo, however, was dashed (A Semana).

DIASPORA

The expression ‘football family’ is part of everyday vernacular these days. However, when Guy Ramos utters the phrase in relation to the Cape Verde Islands squad of which he is a valued member, the sincerity in his voice leaves no doubt he also means it in a literal sense. This excellent team spirit appears to be the key factor in the progress made by the island nation, which has never been in a better position to secure a berth at a major international competition (AllAfrica).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands.

SAL

The representatives of the PAICV in the Sal municipal assembly have called a press conference to protest against the increase in property taxes in the municipality. The representatives, in the voice of José António Moreno, consider the increase of more than 80% “abusive and arbitrary” (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

Drivers on Santo Antão have begun to predict that the island’s three municipalities may be cut off from one another of a wall that fell during last year’s rains in Lombo Cruz, on the mountain road leading from Porto Novo to Ribeira Grande, is not rebuilt before the beginning of this year’s rainy season. The company hired to repair the road has affirmed that work on the fallen sections will begin in two weeks (A Semana).

Cape Verde Business & Economy News

In Cape Verde on May 24, 2012 at 5:44 pm

ECONOMY

A Semana reports that taxi prices in Sao Vicente were raised by 10% for the next 12 months (AW).

SPLIT SECOND POLL

AGRI ETC.

Portuguese non-governmental organization Monte will assist farmers from the island of Santo Antão transport and put their products on the rest of the Cape Verdean market through a project financed by the European Union to the tune of 185,000 Euros (A Semana).

AVIATION

Praia International Airport will be baptized Nelson Mandela International Airport on Friday May25th (AW)

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

Atlantico Weekly is looking ahead!

Check out our Cape Verde in 2030 with a realistic glimpse of where and how Cape Verde will look like in the next decades …!

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign.  So far with Paulino Dias, Josephine Sturiale, Patone Lobo, Helen Hutchings and Steve Cooling, Emanuel Spencer, Djopan Oliveira, Alexandre Abade and Jacquie Cozens…

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REAL ESTATE

Belgium’s Talboom group should this July begin building the access road to the luxury real-estate/tourism complex it plans to build at Jon d’Ebra Bay. Once the road is finished, the group aims to begin construction, probably in December, of the first of the 30 luxury residences to be built on the bay’s coast. In the second phase the group plans to build 200 more residences and a hotel (A Semana).

SPLIT SECOND POLL

Atlantico Weekly’s Angola Business News

In Angola on May 24, 2012 at 5:42 pm

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the 4 star Spa Por do Sol Hotel for Huambo (Source).

POLITICS

Angola will hold general elections on August 31, only the third since independence in 1975. The head of the winning party will become president according to law (News24).

Angola’s Supreme Court has blocked the appointment of the election commission head, seen as a close ally of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. Opposition parties, including former rebel group Unita, had challenged Susana Ingles’s position. She is a lawyer, whereas the head of the election body should be a judge (BBC).

Angola’s electoral commission later appointed Eldetrudes Costa as interim president (Bloomberg).

In the past week, preparations for the electoral process have taken some remarkable twists and turns. They might signal either a new chapter in the democratization process or the postponement of the elections or even a more complex manouevring for electoral fraud (AllAfrica).

A group of rappers in Angola known for their anti-government lyrics have been beaten up in Luanda. About 15 masked men burst into the house where they were meeting (BBC).

INTERNATIONAL

Brazil is establishing its place as a “major political and economic actor,” in Angola, Mozambique and in other African countries, with its companies investing in the same sectors as important Chinese and Indian investors, according to researcher Loro Horta (Macauhub).

ECONOMY

Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlooks on Angola’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to Positive from Stable and affirmed both ratings at ‘BB-’. Fitch has simultaneously affirmed Angola’s Short-term IDR at ‘B’ and Country Ceiling at ‘BB-’. “The revision of Angola’s Outlook to Positive reflects the country’s prudent economic policies which have helped re-build and strengthen public and external balance sheets (Reuters).

BUSINESS

Angola remains a “key building block” in Namibia Breweries’ export strategy despite challenges like lengthy cross-border processes, import duties and price competitiveness (AllAfrica).

The executive commission of Sonangol Investimentos Industriais (SIIND) plans by the end of this year to have 26 industrial units operating in the Luanda-Bengo Special economic Zone (ZEE), the company’s business director, Gaspar Neto said (Macauhub).

The Made in Angola programme aims to distinguish national products involving producers, consumers and workers, the Minister of State and Economic Coordination said. Manuel Domingos Vicente explained that the Made in Angola logo would be affixed to packages of commercial products and used in companies’ publicity with the goal of developing a brand image for Angolan products and services, making them identifiable for national and international consumers (Macauhub).

MINING

Businessman Arkady Gaydamak has begun a court bid to reclaim millions in unpaid commissions and dividends from “king of diamonds” Lev Leviev, in a battle over Angolan assets that could lay bare the workings of the country’s often opaque gem trade. The tussle, which has drawn in Russian rabbis and one of Angola’s top military officials, is the latest in a spate of high-profile disputes brought to London by billionaires from Russia and the former Soviet Republics (Reuters).

Angolan security forces have raped women and girls from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo who came to Angola’s diamond fields in search of work, Human Rights Watch charged (News24).

OIL & GAS

About ten cargoes of July loading Angolan crude have traded, traders said. At least six cargoes were sold to Unipec, the largest corporate buyer of Angola crude, and some to CNOOC (Reuters).

POWER

Regular power cuts in Luanda and across Angola will continue until 2016, Angola’s Energy and Water Minister, João Baptista Borges said (Macauhub).

SOCIAL

The Angolan journalist, Isabel João, with the weekly “Novo Jornal”, is part of the 34 finalists of CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2012 contest, as announced this week by an independent jury panel (ANGOP).

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on May 17, 2012 at 7:17 pm

INTERNATIONAL

Net ODA disbursements for Cape Verde went up from $195.6 million in 2009 to $336.76 million in 2010, according to OECD , which a UN representative attributes partly to the country’s reputation for aid effectiveness and good governance (Gantdaily).

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POLITICS

The delegation from Cape Verde to the Rio+20 conference next month in Rio de Janeiro will be headed by the President, Mr Jorge Carlos Fonseca.

SPLIT SECOND POLL

LAW ENFORCEMENT

The Supreme Court of Justice has upheld a lower court decision to keep former Cape Verde Stock Exchange president Veríssimo Pinto, arrested by Judiciary Police as a part of Operation Speed Boat, held in preventative custody pending trial on money laundering and drug trafficking charges, among others (A Semana).

Cape Verde’s Customs Department, which was operating without its customs dispatch system due to a software problem, is once again functioning normally, according to the director general of customs, Marino Vieira (A Semana).

CULTURE

German-born saxophonist and flautist Swami Swagato, who chose the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde as his home, was found dead in his home in the Alto de Miramar neighborhood of Mindelo. Judiciary Police have already made their way to the locale, but have not announced the cause of the musician’s death (A Semana).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands.

SAO NICOLAU

A website based on Sao Nicolau reports that modernization works at Preguica Airport will start in June 2012.

SAO VICENTE

Baptista de Sousa Hospital in Mindelo will resume non-emergency surgeries. The surgeries had been suspended since April 30 due to lack of anesthesia and stitches (A Semana).

Cape Verde Business & Economy News

In Cape Verde on May 17, 2012 at 7:13 pm

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of part of the Calheta Bay development, to be built at Murdeira on Sal Island (source).

ECONOMY

The Bank of Cape Verde’s semester report on Monetary Policy reveals that the Cape Verdean economy has shown a slight “slowdown” in its growth rate, and predicts that the economy will continue to grow, but at a slower rate, over the next six months as well (A Semana).

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CAPE VERDE IN 2030

Atlantico Weekly is looking ahead!

Check out our Cape Verde in 2030 with a realistic glimpse of where and how Cape Verde will look like in the next decades …!

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. This week with Jacquie Conzes of SOS Tartarugas, a real warrior for Cape Verde’s wildlife!

SPLIT SECOND POLL

LOGISTICS

A mission of businesspeople and representatives of Brazilian institutions is due begin a visit to Cape Verde, which will include talks on launching a sea route between Fortaleza in the Brazilian state of Ceará, and Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. The possibility of this project becoming a reality is great according to the chairman of Ceará Trade Brasil and the Angola-Brazil Chamber of Commerce in Ceará, Roberto Marinho, who said that despite the logistics being complicated, the project could be a success (Macauhub).

TOURISM

According to the 2012 Doing Business Report published by the World Bank Group, Cape Verde has made an enormous contribution to the positive image of West Africa over recent years. This is largely due to strong growth in the Islands’ tourism sector. In 2011 in excess of 475,000 tourists visited Cape Verde, only about 100,000 shy of its native population, and by 2015 one million arrivals are envisaged (Easier.com).

Work on the Hotel Hilton Sal is due to begin soon, the chairman of Cabo Verde Investimentos, José Duarte, said. The luxury hotel, which will be located between Hotel Crioula and Djad’ Sal in Santa Maria, will be the first Hilton Group hotel in Cape Verde and Cabo Verde Investimentos is negotiating a second unit for the country’s capital (Macauhub).

Atlantico Weekly’s Angola Business News

In Angola on May 17, 2012 at 7:04 pm

POLITICS

More than 40 Angolan opposition supporters were killed and six injured in a road crash as they returned from a party meeting, police said. The Unita opposition said the group was returning from a meeting in the community 380km southeast of the capital Luanda (News24).

Angolan soldiers could stay in Guinea-Bissau if the international community requested it through a United Nations resolution, minister for economic affairs Manuel Vicente said (News24).

ECONOMY

A staff team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Mr. Mauro Mecagni, visited Luanda from May 2 to May 17, 2012 to conduct the 2012 Article IV Consultation and First Post-Program Monitoring Mission. During its stay, the mission met with Ministers and other senior government officials[1], and representatives of the banking, business, diplomatic, and academic communities. The mission also had the opportunity to visit the provinces of Kwanza Norte and Malange. At the end of the mission, Mr. Mecagni issued the following statement about the Angolan economy.

Angola’s Gross Domestic product (GDP) is expected to post growth this year of between 8 and 10 percent, the minister for Planning, Ana Dias Lourenço said, adding that it would exceed the 3.12 percent growth rate posted in 2011 by a wide margin (Macauhub).

Portugal and China are boosting their position as Angola’s main trading partners, as a time of growing economic activity in Angola and of public and trade surpluses, according to Portugal’s BPI bank (Macauhub).

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BUSINESS

Zon Multimedia SGPS SA, Portugal’s biggest cable-television provider, predicted that revenue from its Angolan unit will offset declining sales at home amid a weak economy. “We are already seeing this,” Chief Financial Officer Jose Pedro Pereira da Costa said in a phone interview. “Angola will predictably have better earnings and domestically we shouldn’t expect anything much different than last year.” Total revenue, which didn’t include Angola, dropped 2 percent in 2011 (Bloomberg).

The Argentinean government plans this year to open up a credit line of US$100 million to support development in Angola, particularly in the agricultural and industrial sectors, the Argentinean ambassador in Angola said (Macauhub).

The logo for the “Made in Angola” programme will be presented Friday in Luanda by the Angolan Economy Ministry, with the aim of developing an image and brand for Angolan products and services. The logo will be placed on packaging of consumer goods and on the external communications of companies that join the programme (Macauhub).

BANKING & FINANCE

A stern test and a golden opportunity, Angola’s new foreign exchange law for the oil sector will flood billions of dollars into the country’s banking system and pose tough questions about transparency and technical readiness. Riding on the coattails of an oil boom Angola’s banks have posted strong growth in the last decade, attracted foreign players and become the subject of takeover talk (Reuters).

Angola’s government has provided information on $27.2 billion of an accounting discrepancy in public funds linked to Sonangol but has yet to account for another $4.2 billion, the IMF said (Reuters).

OIL & GAS

Angolan crude oil differentials were expected to strengthen after the announcement of a smaller-than-expected loading programme for July, traders said. Angola will export around 1.56 million barrels per day (bpd)of crude oil in July in 51 cargoes, down from 1.69 million bpd in June and nearly 1.80 million bpd in April (Reuters).

Sembcorp Marine Ltd, the world’s second largest oil rig builder, said it has secured three contracts worth a total of S$130 million ($102.6 million). One of the contracts was awarded by Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção S.A. for the repair and upgrading of a vessel (Reuters).

The European Commission approved a proposal from Britain’s BP, U.S. oil major Chevron, Italy’s Eni and France’s Total and Angola’s Sonangol to take control of Angola LNG joint venture to develop liquefied natural gas projects (Reuters).

India’s largest refiner, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), has bought around 1 million barrels of Angolan Kissanje crude oil via tender from Sonangol, traders said (Reuters).

POWER

The first Angolan factory for solar power equipment – an investment of US$6 million – has been opened in Viana on the outskirts of Luanda, by Angolan business group Opala. According to the managing director of Green Power, Carlos Igrejas, the factory will have an initial workforce of 30 people and by the end of the year is expected to post turnover of US$11.5 million (Macauhub).

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on May 10, 2012 at 6:20 pm

POLITICS

“I know where I come from, my roots and my parents’ history,” says Carlos Gonçalves. When he was a toddler, his family left Cape Verde for Rotterdam. Forty years later, Gonçalves chairs the local government of Delfshaven, one of 14 districts comprising the Dutch port city (RNW).

The Guine-Bissau house where Amilcar Cabral lived from his birth, in 1924, to 1932 underwent a $15,000 renovation last year, financed by Unesco. The historical building is now being turned into a museum (Black Star News).

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DEFENSE & SECURITY

The residence of prosecutor Vital Moeda, in the Madeiralzinho neighborhood of Mindelo, was broken into in the early morning hours of Sunday. The magistrate was reportedly sprayed with a chemical agent that caused him to fall asleep while the burglars made off with his computer equipment (A Semana).

The Portuguese government has ordered the military force deployed some three weeks ago to the region of Guinea Bissau to return to Portugal, according to a source from the country’s Ministry of Defense. This component of Portugal’s Immediate Reaction Force was made up essentially of four war ships and a P-3 Orion aircraft stationed in Cape Verde (A Semana).

CULTURE

In the fifth of a series showcasing Africa’s musical talent, Cape Verdean singer Carmen Souza performs her song Ind’feso – which means ‘helpless’ in Creole (BBC).

DIASPORA

Mike Costa’s new film, “Proud to be Cape Verdean: A Look at Cape Verdeans in the Golden State is a documentary that will capture the essence of the Cape Verdean culture in California through an insightful look at individuals and organizations and their desire to maintain their cultural identity (PR).

BOA VISTA

Follow the findings of the 4th IWDG Cape Verde Humpback Whale Expedition and find more spectacular pictures of whales around Cape Verde.

SANTO ANTAO

Just recently, the Cape Verde village of Monte Trigo experienced its first 24 hours of electricity. The 60-family community is only reachable by boat and is completely dependent on fishing and its trade with nearby villages. The need for ice to preserve fish is vital, and villagers must travel five-hour by boat to purchase it (SolarNovus).

SAO VICENTE

The molecular biology laboratory at the Mindelo campus of the University of Cape Verde can now carry out DNA extraction and gene cloning. The laboratory, the first of its kind in the country, is the result of investments of some 66 million escudos (A Semana).

Cape Verde Business & Economy News

In Cape Verde on May 10, 2012 at 6:20 pm

SPLIT SECOND POLL

AVIATION

The new Boeing 737 purchased by the government to reinforce TACV Cabo Verde Airlines’ fleet of aircrafts is expected to be delivered to Cape Verde in a matter of days. The aircraft is currently in North Carolina, in the United States of America, where it has undergone a major technical and aesthetic makeover prior to heading to Praia (A Semana).

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INTERNET

Almost 90.000 people in Cape Verde are now using Facebook, up 9.000 or over 11% from last year. Facebook penetration in Cape Verde is now at 17,42% (SocalBakers).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

Atlantico Weekly is looking ahead!

Check out our Cape Verde in 2030 with a realistic glimpse of where and how Cape Verde will look like in the next decades …!

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. This time with Jacquie Cozens of SOS Tartarugas, a warrior for Cape Verde’s environment…!

SPLIT SECOND POLLS

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands.

Atlantico Weekly’s Angola Business News

In Angola on May 10, 2012 at 6:10 pm

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the four residential Zenith Towers, currently under construction in Luanda (Skyscrapercity).

POLITICS

Angola’s ruling party is gripped by a struggle over who should succeed President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, amid public rallies calling for the leader of Africa’s second-largest crude producer to quit after 32 years in power. As the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola gears up for an election due by Sept. 5, dos Santos wants Manuel Domingos Vicente, the former head of state oil company Sonangol EP, to be his deputy. Other party leaders favor the political experience of Vice President Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos (Bloomberg).

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BUSINESS

Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the country’s president, bought a further 5 percent of Portugal’s leading pay-TV and Internet provider Zon Multimedia from Spain’s Telefonica, making her its largest shareholder, Zon said (Reuters).

Zon Multimedia SGPS SA also predicted that revenue from its Angolan unit will offset declining sales at home amid a weak economy (Bloomberg).

AVIATION

The Angola Airlines (TAAG) will enlarge its fleet of planes in 2016 with the purchase of three more equipment of the type BOEING 777-300-ER, as part of its development strategy (Angop).

BANKING

The colonial ties that bound Portuguese banks such as Banco Espirito Santo SA to Africa are being loosened by the European debt crisis. Lenders from Lisbon are retreating from funding projects in Africa as they ride out debt woes at home and prepare for more stringent global capital rules. Citigroup Inc., Standard Chartered Plc and Barclays Plc are filling the gap, while Johannesburg-based Standard Bank Group Ltd. and Nedbank Group Ltd. are boosting mining and oil loans to benefit from an investment surge in the world’s poorest continent (Bloomberg).

Prestação de Serviços, a stakeholding company owned by Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, said it had acquired 9.436 percent of Portuguese bank Banco BPI, increasing its total stake to 19.43 percent (Macauhub).

INTERNET

Almost 400.000 people in Angola are now using Facebook, up by over 50.000 or 15% from last year. Facebook penetration in Angola now stands at 3% (SocialBakers).

But Luanda just made it into the Top 5 African Cities on Facebook with 158 000 users (News24).

OIL & GAS

Aker Solutions has been awarded a contract by Total E&P Angola, to deliver seven new subsea tree systems to the Dalia field located offshore Angola. Contract value is approximately NOK 470 million (Reuters).

Angola’s Lobito oil refinery, which is yet to be completed, will produce as much as 120,000 barrels a day during its first stage of operation, Agencia Angola Press reported, citing Oil Minister Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos (Bloomberg).

Angola was the second-largest supplier of oil to China in the first quarter of 2012, after Saudi Arabia. Between January and March of this year China imported 9.5 million tons of crude oil from Angola, which was 4.7 million tons less than it imported from Saudi Arabia, and 2.4 million tons more than it imported from Russia, its third-biggest suppler (Macauhub).

Angola has urged Zambia to take advantage of the short distance and buy oil from that country instead of getting the commodity from the Middle East (UKZambians).

POWER

Brazilian company Eletrobras is studying the possibility of building a hydroelectric plant in Angola over the next few years, said the chairman of the Brazilian state power company, José Carvalho Neto (Macauhub).

TELECOMS

Angolan mobile phone operator Movicel plans soon to launch a fourth generation (4G) mobile network in partnership with Chinese telecommunications equipment company ZTE, the Angolan company’s chief operating office, António Francisco said (Macauhub).

Telecom Namibia has over the past seven years lost more than N$100 million through their investment in Mundo Startel (MST) in Angola, of which it holds 44 per cent shares (The Namibian).

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on May 3, 2012 at 7:35 pm

POLITICS

Prime Minister José Maria Neves will represent Cape Verde at the summit of the Contact Group for Guinea Bissau, which takes place today, May 3, in Senegalese capital Dakar. Guinea Bissau’s interim president and prime minister, who were overthrown in a coup d’état on April 12, will also attend the meeting, which will be used to outline the next steps to be taken to restore peace and stability to Cape Verde’s sister country, now that ECOWAS has received the green light from the United Nations, by way of the African Union, to send a “pacification” force to the country (A Semana).

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LAW ENFORCEMENT

Some of the cocaine that passes through Cape Verde on its way to Europe is being used to finance terrorist activities, according to a report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the United States of America. The document, which was released last week, places greater emphasis, however, on Guinea Bissau, considered the first narco-state in West Africa (A Semana).

A Dutch citizen was arrested in the early morning hours of Friday, April 27, at Praia International Airport in possession of 200 grams of cocaine, which was hidden in her luggage. The 46-year-old woman was arrested as she disembarked from a flight arriving from the Brazilian city of Fortaleza. She was scheduled to continue her journey to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands (A Semana).

DIASPORA

The Making of the Cape Verdean book will be presented to the Cape Verdean National Library in Praia on May 8, 2012 by Jeanne M. Costa. “The Making of the Cape Verdean” is a book written by the late Manuel E. “Manny” Costa Sr. and was written during the late 60’s to the early 1970’s. The manuscript captures a time and place when Cape Verdeans lived in the New Bedford MA area from the early 1900’s to the early 1970’s. The book was edited and published by his daughter, Jeanne M. Costa in 2011. The Making of the Cape Verdean is an impassioned examination of Cape Verdean life in early to mid 20th century New Bedford by a highly respected gentleman/scholar of the community who lived it. This book provides an intimate glimpse into the unvarnished social fabric of Cape Verdean culture. It reads like an evocative memoir and will undoubtedly conjure up a host of memories from the period. Manuel E. Costa Sr. also at times has the reader confront some very complex psychosocial/ethical issues and this incisive treatment will provide grist for anthropological/sociological research for generations to come. The book is a historical document that will provide Cape Verdeans in Cape Verde with an insight to the journey and the life experience of their Cape Verdean ancestors who migrated and lived in Massachusetts and the Diaspora in the 1900’s.

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands.

FOGO

Over the course of more than a week the municipality of São Filipe celebrated its municipal day and patron saint day, Nhô São Filipe, one of Cape Verde’s main cultural manifestations. The festivities ended yesterday to the sounds of Sal-based singer Mirri Lobo. Organizers called this year’s festivities the best ever (A Semana).

SAL

The Pedra de Lume salt marshes on the island of Sal are now officially a natural, historic and cultural heritage site. The decree classifying the site as such as published in the April 24 edition of the Official State Bulletin (A Semana).

Cape Verde Business & Economy News

In Cape Verde on May 3, 2012 at 7:34 pm

ECONOMY

Sal is due from 17 to 19 June to host the Meeting of Businesspeople for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries, as part of Forum Macau, Cape Verdean newspaper A Semana reported. According to the paper, the economic event, which is expected to be attended by 500 delegates, will take place in a hotel in Sal, and is intended to promote trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries that are part of Forum Macau (Macauhub).

Sal will, from 16 to 20 June,  also host the fourth edition of Cape Verde’s Expotur Fair, which will be entitled, “One Destination, A Variety of Cultures,” Cape Verdean news agency Inforpress reported. According to the agency the reason given for choosing Sal island by Cape Verde’s Tourism Minister, Humberto Brito, was that the islands is the “epicentre of tourism development,” in Cape Verde and that it will also be able to promote other tourist destinations on the archipelago (Macauhub).

SPLIT SECOND POLLS

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BANKING

Defunct Portuguese bank Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) attempted to create a version of its Cape Verdean offshore bank Banco Insular in São Tomé and Príncipe in order to keep its operations off its official balance sheet. The project was aborted, but even so some 5 million Euros were spent by Cape Verde-registered Banco Insular to obtain the necessary licensing (A Semana).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

Atlantico Weekly is looking ahead!

Check out our Cape Verde in 2030 with a realistic glimpse of where and how Cape Verde will look like in the next decades …!

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. For instance with Helen Hutchings and Steve Cooling of Blu bar, Santa Maria…!

Atlantico Weekly´s Angola Business News

In Angola on May 3, 2012 at 7:32 pm

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the twin Loanda Towers, currently under construction in Luanda (Skyscrapercity).

INTERNATIONAL

A new credit line worth US$2 billion from the Brazilian government for Angola was officially set up Friday in Brasilia following the official signing of the document, the Brazilian press reported (Macauhub).

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ECONOMY

Angola’s central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 10.25 percent for the third straight month as it strives to meet its year-end inflation target of 10 percent (Reuters).

Construction projects in Angola are increasing to the benefit of large companies such as China’s SinoHydro, due to a rise in the country’s oil revenues, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) (Macauhub).

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MINING

OAO Alrosa’s Catoca diamond mine in Angola produced about 550,000 carats a month in the first quarter, the Angop news service reported, citing the director of the company’s joint venture in the country (Bloomberg).

An iron ore deposit with estimated reserves of 400 million tons has been found in an area that is part of the Cassinga Norte project, the deputy director of Angolan mining company Sociedade Angolana de Exploração de Recursos Minerais (Aemr) said (Macauhub).

Vale Fértil, Lda, the Angolan subsidiary of Israeli group LR, may invest US$1 billion in a project to mine and process phosphates in the Lucunga basin, in Angola’s Zaire province (Macauhub).

OIL & GAS

Angola, Africa’s second-largest oil producer, plans to increase exports of Pazflor crude for June by one cargo from May to seven shipments, the most since the field started production in October, according to a final loading program obtained by Bloomberg.

TELECOMS

A big upgrade in the mobile phone network available to Angolans is taking place. They’re in the process of getting high-speed 4G services – ahead of most of Europe and many parts of the US – thanks to a $100m project underway there. It means customers in Luanda will enjoy faster mobile download speeds than their counterparts in London (BBC).

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on April 26, 2012 at 7:05 pm

POLITICS

The prime minister of Cape Verde urged the international community to keep up the pressure on the junta in Guinea Bissau to cede power it had seized in an April 12 coup (Wall Street Journal).

The Cape Verdean parliament approved by a majority vote the proposed law for the new Investment Code, which sets out the basis for attracting and facilitating investments in the country (Macauhub).

The government denied that Cape Verde’s financial system is exposed to money laundering, affirming that the cases detected do not involve commercial banks and are being dealt with by the courts (A Semana).

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DEFENSE & SECURITY

US military personnel have been in Cape Verde since March 28 as a part of the AMLEP operation, led by Cape Verde, in which ships passing through Cape Verde’s Exclusive Economic Zone are approached in order to promote maritime security and to combat drug trafficking and illegal fishing (A Semana).

AMLEP is the operational phase of Africa Partnership Station (APS), a program that aims to strengthen maritime partnerships to improve safety and security in Africa (Jacksonville).

Ten ships from 12 host nations kicked-off Saharan Express 2012, a multinational exercise in support of Africa Partnership Station (APS), at the pre-sail conference in Dakar April 23.  The countries met to coordinate maritime operations prior to the exercise, which focuses on combating illicit activities -such as illegal fishing, trafficking and piracy – that are endangering the maritime security in many of the participant nations (Defpro).

INTERNATIONAL

Cape Verde is preparing an action plan for a possible evacuation of its citizens residing in Guinea Bissau. The plan is being elaborated by a crisis group, which estimates the number of Cape Verdeans living in Guinea Bissau at approximately two thousand (A Semana).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands.

SAO VICENTE

The Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Territorial Management, the São Vicente municipal chamber and the United Nations Program in Cape Verde discussed the “Urban Profile of Mindelo”. The purpose was to carry out a quick assessment of the city’s needs and gaps in order to develop policies aimed at reducing urban poverty (A Semana).

Cape Verde Business & Economy News

In Cape Verde on April 26, 2012 at 7:04 pm

AGRI ETC.

The company Fogo Coffee Spirit has so far purchased between 22 and 23 metric tons of coffee produced in Mosteiros, on the island of Fogo – the equivalent of 40% of the year’s entire production. The target, according to Licínio Andrade, president of the Mosteiros Association of Coffee Producers (Procafé), is 25 metric tons (A Semana).

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CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. This week with Alexandre Abade of Oasis Atlantico Hotels….

REAL ESTATE

Canadian company Bitumen Capital plans to buy 100 percent of two tourist resorts in Cape Verde – Fortim Mindelo and Monte Gordo – from Cape Verde Development, owned by Irishman Tom Sheehy (Macauhub).

TELECOMS

The Prime Minister of Cape Verde wants to make the new concession contract between the state and CV Telecom “more competitive”, in order to “further expand the services that exist” in the country. The subject was discussed between PM Jose Maria Neves and Zeinal Bava, the CEO of Portugal Telecom, which owns 40 percent of CV Telecom. CV Telecom and the state of Cape Verde are in the process of renegotiating the concession contract (Telecompaper).

Atlantico Weekly’s Angola Business News

In Angola on April 26, 2012 at 7:02 pm

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the triple tower Yesus complex for Luanda (Source).

POLITICS

After being a U.S.-backed rebellion for decades in Angola, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA, is now struggling as a political entity.  Its leader, Isaias Samakuva, is threatening massive street protests if there are no guarantees for free and fair elections expected later this year (VOA).

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INTERNATIONAL

The European Union and Angola are due to sign, in Brussels, a new agreement called the EU-Angola Joint Way Forward which is intended to, “launch a permanent process of dialogue and cooperation between the two regions,” the President of the European Commission said (Macauhub).

Chinese State Councilor Meng Jianzhu has urged the Angolan Interior Department to protect the safety and lawful rights of China’s citizens in Angola, as crimes by armed gangs against Chinese working in the African country have been on the rise (Capital News).

ECONOMY

Angola’s rapid rebuilding after a devastating civil war will attract foreign companies to invest in its ample natural resources and help diversify the economy away from oil, the new head of the country’s investment agency said. Maria de Luisa Abrantes, President of the Angolan Agency for Private Investment (ANIP), also told Reuters that a new investment law passed in 2011 is helping the government approve foreign investment projects more rapidly and monitor their effectiveness more closely.

BANKING & FINANCE

Angolan bank Banco Angolano de Investimentos (BAI) now owns 72 percent of insurance company Nossa, Nova Sociedade de Seguros de Angola, after making a deal with Portuguese insurance company Real Seguros, which owned a 55.33 percent stake in Nossa, BAI said (Macauhub).

MINING

The Angolan mining sector grew 11.8 per cent from 2008 to 2011 (Angop).

OIL & GAS

Angola LNG is to start regular exports of liquefied natural gas in late June after shipping tests next month and will target non-U.S. buyers in Europe and Asia where prices are higher, oil minister Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos said (Reuters).

Angola will reduce daily crude exports for June to a 10-month low, according to a final loading program obtained by Bloomberg.

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on April 18, 2012 at 9:05 pm

POLITICS

The number of new voters who have registered to participate in this year’s July 1st municipal elections has already surpassed 13,000, according to Arlinda Chantre, of the Directorate General of Support for the Election Process (DGAPE). Only those who have registered to vote by April 27 will be able to participate in the election (A Semana).

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INTERNATIONAL

Brazil’s new ambassador to Cape Verde announced that his country’s president will visit the archipelago before the end of the year. The announcement was made during the ceremony in which the new Brazilian and French diplomats in Praia presented their letters of credential to President Jorge Carlos Fonseca, who called on the two ambassadors to continue cooperation with Cape Verde, particularly in the realm of the fight against piracy, organized crime and drug and human trafficking (A Semana).

Cape Verdean immigrants in the United States will now pay a lower United States visa processing fee. According to the readjustments made by the US Department of State the cost of an immigrant visa is now 19,500 escudos – considerably below the previous 28,050-escudo fee. Non-immigrant visa processing fees, on the other hand, went from 11,900 to 13,060 escudos (A Semana).

Cape Verde is contributing toward the reinforcement of West Africa’s positive image with regards to the increase in tourist traffic, with the dynamics of the sector showing strong growth in recent times. In 2011, for example, more than 400,000 tourists visited the islands (A Semana).

Cape Verde and China have agreed to carry out research projects in the areas of renewable energy, information technology, health, and the sea, opening up a “new door” in two-way cooperation, Cape Verde’s Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister said in Beijing (Macauhub).

NATURE

Researchers with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) have arrived in Cape Verde to continue their studies on the North Atlantic humpback whale (Afloat).

An international group of scientists have researched an age-old problem of genetic diversity on islands: E. Gomez-Dıaz, J. Morris-Pocock, J. Gonzalez-Solıs and K. D. McCoy write in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. The brown booby, Sula leucogaster, and the Cape Verde shearwater, Calonectris edwardsii, along with two other birds, were used to detect how island genetic divergence is affected by animals that have ready access to “travel” (Earth Times).

DEFENSE & SECURITY

The Portuguese Immediate Reaction Force that departed from Lisbon last weekend for Guinea Bissau will remain stationed on Sal Island. The objective of the mission is to remain on standby relatively close to Guinea Bissau in order to be able to evacuate Portuguese citizens, as well as citizens of other nationalities, from the country in case of an emergency (A Semana).

U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray E. Mabus visited Praia recently. Mabus was to conduct office calls with the local government to reinforce the United States’ commitment to supporting and training the host nation to defend the freedom of trade within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that encompasses the waters around Cape Verde (Jacksonville.com).

THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands, updated recently.

SANTIAGO

The unregulated use of vehicles equipped with loudspeakers that circulate through the streets of Praia blaring both commercial and institutional advertisements has led the Praia municipal chamber to pass deliberation prohibiting the practice in the capital city (A Semana).

Cape Verde Business & Economy News

In Cape Verde on April 18, 2012 at 9:04 pm

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the five star Oasis Atlantico Salinas Sea hotel, currently under construction in Santa Maria, on Sal Island.

ECONOMY

Creating the first American school in Cape Verde is among the proposals being brought by a group of US entrepreneurs. The businesspeople also intend to invest in the finance and construction sectors (A Semana).

Almost all of the U.S. development money spent by Cape Verde has gone to contracts with European companies, not American ones. The Metro South Chamber of Commerce, at the prompting of the Cape Verdean consulate in Boston, wants to change that. The delegation includes James Blake, president of Harbor One Credit Union; Brockton Councilor-at-Large Jass Stewart; Sheila Sullivan-Jardim, executive director of the Brockton Area Workforce Investment Board; and Peter Vlaco of Brophy & Phillips, and Ken DeDominici of Churchill Linens (Entreprise News).

The price of electricity supplied by water and electricity utility Electra and by Águas e Energia de Boa Vista will go up. The new prices, which are an average of 1.5 escudos higher per KWh, have been set by the Economic Regulation Agency (ARE) (A Semana).

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign.

This week with a strong believer in Cape Verde’s tourism sector: Alexandre Abade of Oasis Atlantico Hotels.

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AGRI ETC.

More than 40% of work on the Faveta dam on Santiago Island has been concluded. The Faveta dam will have a total storage capacity of 670,000 cubic meters of water. The underground water it will help accumulate, however, will total some 1,200,000 cubic meters, and will be used to irrigate more than 908 hectares of farmland (A Semana).

The government is investing 75,716,569 escudos to dig 12 wells for the extraction of underground water on the island of Brava. The ultimate objective is to mobilize more water to modernize and expand agriculture on Cape Verde’s smallest inhabited island (A Semana).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

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TOURISM

Hiacemar is the latest sea-going vessel intended to transport tourists between the islands of São Vicente, Santo Antão and São Nicolau. The vessel was blessed by Mindelo Bishop Ildo Fortes in Mindelo sea port in a ceremony attended by Minister of Tourism, Industry and Energy Humberto Brito (A Semana).

 

Atlantico Weekly’s Angola Business News

In Angola on April 18, 2012 at 9:03 pm

INTERNATIONAL

Confusion persists over who masterminded the Guinea-Bissau coup. A shadowy self-styled “Military Command” said it acted to head off what it alleged was a secret pact between Gomes Junior and Angola to “annihilate Guinea-Bissau’s armed forces”. Angola had been providing military trainers and advisers to the smaller state in a military cooperation mission. But it announced earlier this month that it was ending the mission (Reuters).

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BUSINESS

Sociedade de Construções Soares da Costa has won the contract to design and build housing for Angola LNG personnel (1stphase) in Soyo. The group adds that its affiliate will carry out the project in consortium with the company MSF (Moniz da Maia Serra e Fortunato) and that each company will have a 50% stake (Macauhub).

BANKING & FINANCE

Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa’s largest lender, won’t rule out acquisitions in Angola as it seeks to become one of the top five banks in the oil-producing country, the head of the bank’s Angolan unit said (Bloomberg).

The Angolan insurance market has maintained sustained and accelerated growth since it was liberalised in 2000, indicates a study by the KPMG consultancy and auditing firm released in Luanda (Macauhub).

HOTELS

At least 84 new hotels were built in Angola between 2008 and 2012 in Angola, totallin 4,780 modern rooms. Until 2008 the country had only 61 hotels, with 2,822 rooms. Angola currently has 145 hotels with 7,602 rooms (ABN).

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LOGISTICS

The Angolan government is studying the establishment of a national shipping company, given the lack of a single national fleet operator dedicated to seagoing traffic, the head of the Merchant Marine Department said (Macauhub).

OIL & GAS

French oil major Total will cut oil supplies at a giant deep oil platform off the coast of Angola for planned works in June, trade sources said. Girassol, which means sunflower in Portuguese, is one of OPEC member Angola’s largest fields and can pump up to 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) (Reuters).

Cobalt International Energy Inc said it “strongly refuted” allegations of wrongdoing after a newspaper reported that three Angolan officials held concealed shares in an oil venture linked to the company (Reuters).

The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) and an international corporation of Angola signed a US$2.5 billion memorandum of understanding (MoU) which will see the construction of a petroleum pipeline to run from Lobito in Angola to Lusaka (AllAfrica).

Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) said first production at Block 31 offshore Angola is expected in the second half of this year (Fox Business).

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on April 12, 2012 at 7:44 pm

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Santa Barbara II residential project for Ribeira Grande on Santo Antao Island.

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CULTURE

After launching the first edition in 2009 and the success of 2010 and 2011 editions, Kriol Jazz Festival – Praia will make the streets of the Cape Verdean capital resonate again from April 12th to the 14th 2012. Meet a panel of creole artists for a human and musical exchange around this 4th edition’s schedule. After giving tribute to Horace Silver and Code di Dona, it is Cesaria Evora who will be honoured this time (Kriol Jazz Festival Praia).

Morna is the national music of the Cape Verde islands, off west Africa. The Guardian finds it in the bars and cafes of Mindelo, capital of São Vicente.

Lusafrica announced the release of No Amá, the fourth album from Cape-Verdean artist Nancy Vieira. No Amá opens with Maylen, a very charming song written by Mario Lucio – poet, musician, historian of African Creole culture and current minister of culture in the government led by José Maria Pereira Neves (World Music Central).

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THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

Read The Grand Tour of Cape Verde, Atlantico Weekly’s travel guide to the country’s main islands, updated recently.

Cape Verde Business & Economy News

In Cape Verde on April 12, 2012 at 7:40 pm

ECONOMY

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Cape Verde’s Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B+’ and Long-term local currency IDR at ‘BB-’. The Outlook on the Long-term IDRs is Stable. Fitch has simultaneously affirmed Cape Verde’s Country Ceiling at ‘BB-’ and Short-term foreign currency rating at ‘B’ (Reuters).

Fuel prices were readjusted, with the price of all petroleum products up. Gasoline broke all previous price increase records, leaping from 175.10 to 192.80 escudos per liter. Diesel, for its part, went from 128.20 to 134.30 escudos per liter (A Semana).

BANKING

Bank of Cape Verde governor Carlos Burgo spoke in parliament, guaranteeing that the country’s financial system is solid and credible and that the recent arrest of former Cape Verde Stock Exchange president Veríssimo Pinto as a result of the Operation Speed Boat drug trafficking investigation did not affect the institution’s credibility (A Semana).

Banco Caboverdiano de Negócios (BCN) has a solvency ratio of 11,5% and is therefore in good health, acoording to a BCN spokesperson in reaction to the news that Bolsa de Valores de Cabo Verde (BVC, the Capeverdean Stock Exchange) has suspended the BCN’s trading registration (AW).

CAPE VERDE IN 2030

Atlantico Weekly is looking ahead!

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OPINION

All investors who are interested in the Cape Verde market, should be take good note of recent developments when the Cabo Verde Fast Ferry, which operated with stable prices for one year, announced a minor price adjustment in the face of a 20% increase in the price of fuel. The media screamed bloody murder and appeared to have fabricated the extent of the price change. The residents of Brava followed suit and accused the company, which had provided high-quality, modern service, of gouging (InvestinCV).

ENTREPRENEURS OF CAPE VERDE

Check out Atlantico Weekly’s Entrepreneurs of Cape Verde, a series of short interviews with entrepreneurs in Cape Verde, both homegrown and foreign. For instance with Djopan Oliveira of Pedracin Village…!

REAL ESTATE

Two managers of the real estate company Arck LLP were detained by British police for international fraud for selling appartments of Paradise Beach Resort on Sal Island (FT Advisor).

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