News from Cape Verde, Angola & Mozambique

Archive for February, 2012|Monthly archive page

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on February 23, 2012 at 8:11 pm

POLITICS

A movement has sprung up on Facebook in reaction to Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves’s decision to rename Praia International Airport after the South African leader Nelson Mandela. The movement stresses not to hold anything against Mr Mandela, but hopes to convince the government that there are enough Cape Verdean personalities that could be similarly honoured. An Atlantico Weekly poll (still open, in Portuguese) puts those that want to keep the airport’s present name at 47% and those in favor of honouring Mr Mandela at under 9%. Other names favoured are those of former president Pedro Pires and of the late composer Orlando Pantera.

INTERNATIONAL

The Summary for Policy Makers presents the main findings and policy options identified by the report on climate change vulnerabilities in in Cape Verde. The study, funded under the One UN Fund in Cape Verde, was led by the Government of Cape Verde, with support from the United Nations Country team, The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Enda Tiers Monde (AllAfrica).

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DEFENSE & SECURITY

Cape Verde plans to set up partnerships with countries such as Portugal and Brazil to acquire fixed wing aircraft to patrol and inspect Cape Verde’s territorial waters, while negotiation with China for the acquisition of helicopters is at an advanced stage (Macauhub).

SANTIAGO

“Electra is an outlaw institution.” This was Praia mayor Ulisses Correia e Silva’s reaction after water and electricity utility Electra cut off the electrical supply to several of the Praia municipal chamber’s installations, including city hall, for lack of payment of outstanding bills. Correia e Silva promises harsh measures on the part of the Praia municipal chamber (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, updated recently.

SANTO ANTAO

The township of Monte Trigo, in the south of Santo Antão island, now benefits from a new and renewable energy production and distribution system, that functions by means of photovoltaic panels (Atlantico Weekly).

Cape Verde Business & Economy News

In Cape Verde on February 23, 2012 at 8:11 pm

ECONOMY

According to the latest IMF (International Monetary Fund) projections, GDP growth in Cape Verde is expected to rise to 7.1% by 2013. The fresh aid injection by the Millenium Challenge Account will give things an extra boost. Read more good news (Opp).

The Cape Verde government still has to reimburse hundreds of millions of escudos of VAT, payment of which has been frozen since March 2011. The Chairman of the Barlavento Chamber of Commerce, Manuel Monteiro, has warned that this puts a lot of businesses at grave risk. The root of the problem apparently lies in a shortage of staff at the Tax Dept to take care of the rising piles of reimbursemnt requests, A Semana reports (Atlantico Weekly).

Although Cape Verde’s exports have grown with 37,6%  in 2011, the deficit on the country’s trade balance is rising again, with 20,4% last year. Europe is still Cape Verde’s most important trading partner, receiving around 94% of exports and providing almost 82% of Cape Verde’s imports (Atlantico Weekly).

AGRI ETC

Over three thousand people from all over Santiago visited the three day long  agribusiness trade fair at São Lourenço dos Órgãos.  A delagate of the Ministry of Rural Development, Cândida Cardoso, told A Semana that this “mew experience” served to create the possibility of a monthly mobile trade fair for the island (AW).

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Overview of the Fortim Mindelo hotel, casino and residential project, currently under construction on Sao Vicente.

BANKING

HarborOne Credit Union could one day be able to transfer funds and make deposits in the Cape Verde Islands, according to a proposal being explored by the Brockton-based credit union. HarborOne President and CEO James Blake said the credit union recently received a request from the president of Cape Verde to open a multicultural banking center in his country west of the African continent (The Sun Chronicle).

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 Patone Lobo of the Odjo d’Agua Hotel!

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Atlantico Weekly’s Angola Business News

In Angola on February 23, 2012 at 8:06 pm

POLITICS

Jonas Savimbi, the vicious, charismatic rebel who fought Angola’s socialist government in a 27-year civil war, died 10 years ago, leaving behind a haunting legacy of violence. Savimbi was killed in a firefight with government forces on February 22, 2002, the denouement of a brutal conflict that grew out of Angola’s messy independence from Portugal in 1975 and lasted until the signing of a peace treaty six weeks after his death (AFP).

ECONOMY

Last year, Angola continued to be Portugal’s main trading partner amongst PALOP countries, with over 80 percent of the total exported to Portugal, made up almost exclusively of oil, and rising 109 percent year on year, which was a growth rate five times that of Angolan imports from Portugal, which rose by 22 percent. This difference in the growth rates improves Angola’s balance of trade with Portugal by 14.2 percent although the surplus remains in Portugal’s favour by 1.16 billion euros (Macauhub).

Angola’s central bank sold $350 million at foreign-currency auctions in the week to Feb. 17, Banco Nacional de Angola said. The kwanza sold at an average rate of 95.538 per dollar, little changed from 95.537 a week earlier (Bloomberg).

Angola’s foreign-currency reserves rose to $26.46 billion in January from a revised $25.9 billion in the previous month, a preliminary document from Angola’s central bank showed. Oil exports from Angola, Africa’s biggest producer after Nigeria, account for more than 90 percent of the country’s foreign-currency earnings, according to the World Bank (Bloomberg).

The State secretary for Industry, Kiala Gabriel, said the country has an installed capacity to process 120,000 tonnes of scrap metal per year (ANGOP).

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BUSINESS

Portuguese wine company Sogrape is available for setting up partnerships with similar companies in Angola to produce wine in the country, the chief executive of the Portuguese company, Salvador Guedes said (Macauhub).

AVIATION

State-owned Angola Airlines Company (TAAG) intend to continue to renew its medium course planes, aimed at improving the services provided to passengers. TAAG intends to gradually replace its classic fleet made up by three 737-200 Boeings. Currently, TAAG connects Luanda to the cities of Cabinda, Soyo, Mbanza Kongo, Malanje, Dundo, Saurimo, Luena, Huambo, Kuito, Menongue, Ondjiva, Lubango, Namibe and Catumbela (ANGOP).

OIL & GAS

US authorities have launched an investigation into Cobalt International Energy’s operations in Angola, where the Goldman Sachs-backed group is developing one of the world’s most promising oil frontiers. Houston-based Cobalt said in a regulatory filing that US regulators had issued notice of a formal probe in November following informal discussions about allegations of ties between its local partner in Angola and senior government officials (Financial Times).

TELECOMS

The country’s 18 provinces will be interlinked by optical fibre, meant to expand and improve telephone and internet services, says the minister of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, José Rocha de Carvalho (ANGOP).

SOCIAL

The water utility in Angola’s capital vowed to repair a burst water main within days, to end severe shortages that have lasted a week across much of Luanda. Residents have to trek long distances to find water, which is so scarce that prices have doubled this week due to the shortage, jumping from 7 000 to as much as 14 000 kwanzas ($70 to $140) for a cistern full (News24).

Two drinking water abstraction and treatment systems will be built from this year in Luanda, by the Public Water Company of Luanda (EPAL) (ANGOP)

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on February 16, 2012 at 8:04 pm

POLITICS

The Presidency of the Republic will temporarily move to the National Press building just meters away from the Presidential Palace in Praia’s central Plateau district in order to allow restoration work to be carried out in the latter (A Semana).

The Cape Verdean government plans soon to approve a new Tax Benefit Code in order to make the country more attractive to investment, the Minister for Tourism, Industry and Energy, Humberto Brito said (Macauhub).

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INTERNATIONAL

The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation has signed a five-year, $66.2 million aid agreement with Cape Verde to reform the West African nation’s water, sanitation and land-management sectors and foster economic growth. The $41.1 million portion of the new agreement will focus on helping to make Cape Verde’s national regulatory institutions more financially sound and transparent. It will help transform utilities into independent, high-performing commercial organizations and improve the quality and reach of water and sanitation services for Cape Verdean households and businesses (allAfrica).

China has granted Cape Verde a US$51 million loan to build social housing per an agreement signed in Beijing. With an annual interest rate of 2 percent and a maturity of 20 years, the loan follows the framework agreement signed in Praia last 4 January by the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, José Luís Rocha, and China’s ambassador in Cape Verde, Li Chunhua (Macauhub).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Businessman José Teixeira, who is suspected of money laundering in the Operation Speed Boat case, has been released by a Praia district court judge after posting 10 million escudos in bail. He will be required to report to authorities and is prohibited from leaving the country (A Semana).

DIASPORA

Ed Andrade, an American activist and organizer during the turbulent Civil Rights era of the 50′s, 60′s, 70′s also worked for the benefit of Cape Verde in the ensuing years. A book about his life has now been published.

Boaventura Dias is a name that may not mean a lot to most Angolans, but is a household name for many residents of Malanje following the many years he has lived in the city. The only Cape Verdean traditions he has retained are his taste for musical styles such as funaná, morna and coladeira and the Cape Verdean language, which none of his 16 children has learned (A Semana).

Wareham, Massachusetts, public schools celebrated Cape Verdean culture (Wareham Villagesoup).

BOAVISTA

RIU Hotels & Resorts has signed a collaboration agreement with the NGO Cabo Verde Natura 2000, an organisation dedicated to the protection of the turtle on the island of Boavista. In accordance with this agreement, Natura 2000 will carry out assessments and audits on behalf of RIU in relation to environmental protection, especially regarding measures which have already been taken and others planned for the future in the Lacaçao area, where RIU opened the Riu Touareg in May 2011, their third hotel in Boavista and fifth in Cape Verde (FTN News).

SAL

Two new papers about turtles have been included in the latest publication from the Zoological Society of Cabo Verde (SOS Tartarugas).

SANTIAGO

The sidewalks in Praia’s central Plateau district are getting a makeover. The re-qualification work in Praia’s historic district began last year and has already covered most of the Plateau’s busiest streets (A Semana).

Cape Verde Business & Economy News

In Cape Verde on February 16, 2012 at 8:03 pm

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the new stadium at Vila das Pombas, Paul Municipality on Santo Antao, by architect Delio Leite.

ECONOMY

Cape Verde’s current account deficit decreased by around 59 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2011 reaching 1.509 billion Cape Verdean escudos, the Bank of Cape Verde said (Macauhub).

In order for companies to gain access to the money market, the chairman of the National Tourism Council, Gualberto do Rosário, has proposed the creation of a guarantee fund of at least 500 million Euros. Rosário spoke following a meeting with Cape Verdean President Jorge Carlos Fonseca, during which he called attention to a number of “problems” currently faced by the country’s economy and suggested several “interesting solutions,” such as privatizations in the area of transportation (A Semana).

The representative of the European Union (EU) in Cape Verde, Josep Coll, now called the attention of the Cape Verdean government and the investors themselves to the danger of concentration of investments in the tourism sector (Inforpress).

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 Emanuel Spencer of SCI, Cape Verde’s first multinational!

AVIATION

After having cancelled all of its flights in October of 2011, private carrier Halcyonair Cabo Verde Airways resumed operations on February 13 (A Semana).

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THE GRAND TOUR OF CAPE VERDE

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TOURISM

Portuguese travel agency Solférias has sold out all of its vacation packages for the Carnaval season in Cape Verde. The company will bring more than 400 Portuguese tourists for the Mardi Gras festivities on the islands of Sal, Boa Vista and São Vicente on flights operated by TAP, TACV and a charter airline (A Semana).

Many people across Britain will now be looking ahead to their summer break and trying to work out where to holiday. Whilst settings such as the Canary Islands and Spain remain very attractive for travellers wanting to indulge in traditional hotspots, Cape Verde is proving to be a rising star, coming in seventh place for the most internet search locations (Just the Flight).

TRANSPORT

A staggering 98% of all traffic accidents in the city of Praia involve either taxis or Hiaces, the Toyota mini-vans used to transport passengers , according to João Vaz Antunes, the president of the Association of Taxi Owners of Praia, in whose view the numbers represent a “bad sign” for two professional categories that have expressed the intention of expanding their market by providing services to tourists (A Semana).

 

Atlantico Weekly’s Angola Business News

In Angola on February 16, 2012 at 8:02 pm

POLITICS

Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos will seek a new term with former state oil company head Manuel Vicente as his vice president in September polls, a source in the ruling MPLA said (News24).

The Angolan government will this year launch the second phase of the privatisation programme which in the last ten years has enabled the sale to private interests of 198 state companies, Economy Minister Abraão Gourgel announced (Macauhub).

The CNN Press Office (London) has answered the concerns raised by Maka Angola on the agreements between the international news network and the Angolan regime, regarding a media campaign to promote a better image of the latter, due to grave concerns of nepotism and corruption (Bizzcommunity).

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ECONOMY

The Angolan Industrial Association (AIA) wants the industrial tax rate to drop to 25 percent, as its president insists that the reduction from 35 percent to 30 percent is not enough (Macauhub).

The number of companies operating in the Luanda/Bengo Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is still far from the desired and announced number and will depend on an increased influx of foreign companies, Economy Minister Abraão Gourgel stated (Macauhub).

AVIATION

TAAG Angola Airlines will this March begin offering a second weekly flight between Luanda and Beijing. TAAG has been using a 254-seat Boeing 777-200 ER on the route since November 2007 and until last January was the only company with a direct flight from Africa to Beijing, serving as a link between the African continent and China (Macauhub).

Angola will this year have a further nine airports operating that have been refurbished and modernised, the chairman of Angola’s national airport management company Enana said (Macauhub).

OIL & GAS

Angolan crude exports are scheduled to increase in April, a loading programme showed, leaving them significantly above the 2011 average. Angola will export 1.79 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in April, the schedule showed, up from 1.61 million bpd planned in March. Average export volumes for 2011 stood at 1.63 million bpd, according to Reuters calculations.

Cobalt International Energy Inc said results from tests at a deep sea oil well off the coast of Angola had exceeded expectations and had increased the company’s confidence in its West African pre-salt exploration prospects. Cobalt, whose main stakeholder is Goldman Sachs, said tests at its Cameia-1 well in Block 21 confirmed the presence of a 1,180 foot “gross continuous oil column” (Reuters).

Angola will send an envoy to South Sudan next week to negotiate an oil deal for state-owned oil company Sonangol EP, Novo Jornal reported, citing an unidentified company official (Bloomberg).

After lower-than-expected production levels in 2011, Angola’s oil sector will bounce back in 2012. Companies had failed to meet the forecast of 1.7m barrels per day (bpd), instead producing a more modest 1.5m bpd (The Africa Report).

SPLIT SECOND POLL

SOCIAL

Information will be gathered for Angola’s General Census of Population and Housing in July and August 2013 and should record about 21 million people, the director-general of the National Statistics Institute (INE) stated in Luanda (Macauhub).

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on February 9, 2012 at 8:30 pm

POLITICS

Two thirds of the US$66.2 million of the second aid package of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), funded by the United States is to be used in the water and sanitation sector, Cape Verde’s prime minister said (Macauhub).

The Cape Verdean government has taken on a loan of US$53 million from the World Bank to fund projects that will put an end to energy constraints on the archipelago (Macauhub).

Minister of Infrastructures and Marine Resources José Maria Veiga is going to lodge a criminal complaint against those who have “defamed” him in recent days, including Antero da Veiga Rocha, Maria Manuela Monteiro, legislator Fernando Elísio Freire and on-line newspaper Liberal (A Semana).

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LAW ENFORCEMENT

José Teixeira, businessman and chief executive officer of real-estate company Editur, has just been arrested by Judiciary Police in connection with Operation Speed Boat, which is investigating a large-scale drug trafficking network operating from Cape Verde (A Semana).

DIASPORA

A rare lizard survived a 3,000-mile flight and a machine wash cycle after being unknowingly thrown in with the laundry by a British holidaymaker. Sue Banwell-Moore had returned from the Cape Verde Islands when she found the creature among her clean washing (BBC).

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 construction of the Figueira Gorda dam in Santa Cruz, on the island of Santiago, will begin Saturday, February 11. The groundbreaking ceremony will be presided over by Prime Minister José Maria Neves (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

A suspect in the burglary that took place over the weekend at the regional headquarters of construction and real-estate company Spencer Construções & Imobiliária (SCI) in Ribeira Grande, Santo Antão was caught by the National Police Criminal Investigation Brigade in the municipality (A Semana).

The solar power plant set up in Monte Trigo is ready to open and start operating and will be capable of supplying residents with electricity 24 hours a day. The power plant, which is part of the Sesam-ER project and was 75 percent funded by the European Commission, consists of a solar power plant in Monte Trigo with a 25 kw capacity and a min hydroelectric facility in Tarrafal de Monte Trigo, which makes use of a waterfall along a river to generate 45 kw of electricity (Macauhub).

SAO VICENTE

Leila Miranda, the São Vicente representative of drug distribution company Emprofac, has confirmed that the island has seen a rupture in the stock of a number of drugs used to treat respiratory infections over the past several days. The blame, according to Miranda, lies with the limitations at Mindelo sea port and with the dry haze that has covered Cape Verde for much of the week, and which has prevented many flights from landing at Cesária Évora International Airport on the island (A Semana).

Cape Verde Business & Economy News

In Cape Verde on February 9, 2012 at 8:29 pm

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Render of the Hotel Calheta Bay resort for Sal Island (More).

ECONOMY

A World Bank study on the structure and organization of higher education in Cape Verde reveals that unemployment among individuals with university degrees could jeopardize the legitimacy of the government’s efforts to make higher education available to large portions of the population in the country (A Semana).

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the National Forum on Cape Verdean Higher Education in Praia, Prime Minister José Maria Neves affirmed that Cape Verde has the highest rate of access to university education in Africa. He also highlighted the importance of creating a fund to finance higher learning (A Semana).

Diesel, gasoline, kerosene and butane became more expensive as of February 8. Diesel, which was being sold for 125.60 escudos per liter, now costs 128.20 escudos. Gasoline rose from 169.30 to 175.10 per liter, and all sizes of butane gas canisters saw a price increase as well (A Semana).

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AVIATION

Agricultural engineer and former cabinet minister João Pereira Silva is the new Chief Executive Officer of TACV Cabo Verde Airlines. The decision was made last week in a Council of Ministers meeting and has been communicated to the company’s outgoing administration. João Pereira Silva, who is currently the administrator of fuel distribution company Enacol, will replace António Neves, whose contract came to an end nearly a year ago (A Semana).

MINING

Mining engineer José Mejias has discovered a rare mineral composed of potassium and aluminum, leucite, during excavations for the Faveta dam in São Lourenço dos Órgãos, on the island of Santiago. Leucite was previously thought not to exist in the archipelago (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. Last on the line was Djopan, co-owner of Hotel Pedracin Village.

And yes, Atlantico Weekly is looking for more entrepreneurs of Cape Verde to interview. Those interested may contact Atlantico Weekly (atlanticoweekly at gmail.com).

TOURISM

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is introducing a new programme of exotic fly-cruises to the Canary Islands, West Africa and the Cape Verde Islands aboard Braemar (PR).

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Atlantico Weekly’s Angola Business News

In Angola on February 9, 2012 at 8:28 pm

POLITICS

“32 anos e muito!”: An Angolan Spring? The impetus of the Arab Spring has moved south with some Angolans demanding a change of leader (Think Africa Press).

According to the 2011 Global Corruption Perceptions Index released in December by Transparency International, an anti-graft watchdog, Angola is at number 168 out of 182 countries (Mail & Guardian).

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CULTURE

Jandira Sassingui “Perola”, born in central Huambo province, was honored as “Diva of Music” in 2009 “Diva of the Moment” and “Diva of the Year” in 2010, at Angola Divas contest, organized by Angolan producer Semba Communication in partnership with the “Glamour e Festa (ANGOP).

ECONOMY

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in Washington it had a proved a five-week extension of its stand-by arrangement with Angola (Macauhub).

Angola’s economic growth will probably accelerate to about 7 percent this year because of higher oil production, according to the head of Angola’s Catholic University macroeconomic-studies department (Bloomberg).

BUSINESS

Portuguese group Sonae has everything prepared to start operating the Continente hypermarket business in Angola and now only requires formalisation of the authorisation received from the Angolan government on 20 December 2011, said the group’s chief executive, Paulo Azevedo (Macauhub).

AGRI ETC

Angola plans to build a third biofuels plant in the country’s southern region. The plant will produce sugar and ethanol from sugar cane, the Luanda-based broadcaster cited Joaquim David, the Minister of Geology, Mines and Industry. as saying (Bloomberg).

BANKING

The first branch of South Africa’s Standard Bank in Angola opened in Talatona, Luanda, with a ceremony attended by a number of officials from banks operating in Angola (Macauhub).

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MINING

Angola, one of Africa’s potential mining giants, is expected within a month to award contracts for a long-awaited comprehensive geological survey of the country, which will map its resources in a move to boost mining investment (Reuters).

Diamond prospecting activities carried out in Angola by South African group De Beers are being “crowned with success,” Angola’s Geology, Mining and Industry Minister said in Cape Town (Macauhub).

OIL & GAS

PT Pertamina has withdrawn its bid for a 25 percent stake at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Angola oil block after the African country offered the stake to the state oil company Sonangol SA, Mochamad Harun, a spokesman at Pertamina said (Bloomberg).

Nigeria and Angola, Africa’s biggest oil producers, have granted stakes in oil fields to companies that may be acting as fronts for government officials, stifling development in both countries, according to anti-corruption group Global Witness (Bloomberg).

 

Cape Verde Politics & Regional News

In Cape Verde on February 2, 2012 at 8:43 pm

POLITICS

The governor of the Bank of Cape Verde, Carlos Burgo, will be summoned to parliament to testify on the health of the country’s economy and the credibility of its financial institutions. The initiative comes from opposition party MpD and is aimed at clarifying the evidence pointing to dangerous connections between some commercial banks, drug trafficking and money laundering (A Semana).

Fernando Moeda, a member of the PAICV National Council and the current executive administrator of commercial bank BCA, will be the party’s mayoral candidate in this year’s municipal elections in Praia (A Semana).

The female trio of PAICV mayoral candidates on the island of Santo Antão is complete. Leonesa Fortes, the current board of directors chair at the National Social Security Institute (INPS), has been chosen as the party’s candidate in the 2012 municipal elections in Ribeira Grande de Santo Antão (A Semana).

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INTERNATIONAL

Cape Verde and the United States will sign the accord for the second Millennium Challenge Account financial compact on February 10. The signing will take place in Praia and will be attended by a delegation headed by the executive director of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Daniel W. Yohannes (A Semana).

Cape Verdean Prime Minister José Maria Neves met with U.S. Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) to discuss relations between Cape Verde and the United States, as well as the rich cultural contributions made by Cape Verdeans living in Rhode Island’s First Congressional District (Go Local).

DEFENSE & SECURITY

Cape Verdean Armed Forces Chief of Staff Colonel Alberto Fernandes said at the end of the Falcão 12 military exercise that the country’s Armed Forces are prepared to combat any illicit acts that may come to occur in Cape Verde. São Nicolau is expected to be the stage for next year’s edition of the military exercise, which took place under the command of French troops (A Semana).

FOGO

São Filipe district court ordered Henrique Teixeira Nogueira (better known as Dickie), the main suspect in last week’s murder of businessman João da Rosa (better known as Djon Boca Pato), held in preventative custody pending trial (A Semana).

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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, recently updated.

SAL

A guard at the Sal municipal chamber auto repair garage was brutally murdered Sunday afternoon while on duty. Pedro da Cruz, better known as Ti Piras, was found dead with a belt around his neck and various cuts and bruises all over his body (A Semana).

 

Cape Verde Business & Economy

In Cape Verde on February 2, 2012 at 8:43 pm

ECONOMY

The Cape Verdean government should maintain a posture of austerity in order to preserve the fixed exchange rate between the escudo and the Euro and protect the economy against external shocks. These are the recommendations made by the deputy managing director and acting chair of the International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board, which has just concluded its second and final assessment of Cape Verde’s performance within the context of its Policy Support Instrument (A Semana).

Cape Verde,  the country with no recession and huge tourism growth! Check the charts.

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AGRI ETC.

Minister of Rural Development Eva Ortet is hoping to obtain support from Germany in order to expand the cultivation of jatropha in Cape Verde. Cooperation between the two countries in this domain is expected to begin in the coming days, with the planting of more than 37,000 jatropha plants on the island of Fogo (A Semana).

AVIATION

Passenger traffic at Cape Verde’s airports and aerodromes rose 11.2 percent year on year in 2011, from 1.6 million to 1.78 million, the country’s airport management company, Empresa Nacional de Aeroportos e Segurança (Asa) said in Praia (Macauhub).

Cape Verde is currently under a dense cloud cover, which has made flights to several of the country’s islands, particularly those whose airports feature limitations, such as São Nicolau, difficult. The high levels of dust in the air have further aggravated the situation. On Wednesday, February 1, for example, domestic flights to Boa Vista, Sal and São Vicente were cancelled (A Semana).

Despite the conflicting information being broadcast in the Cape Verdean media, the government has apparently maintained its decision to name Praia International Airport after Nelson Mandela, according to cabinet spokesman and Defense Minister Jorge Tolentino, who reacted to the apparently inaccurate news that the decision had been annulled (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 Jose Pedro Oliveira, aka Djopan, of Hotel Pedracin Village.

And yes, Atlantico Weekly is looking for more entrepreneurs of Cape Verde to interview. Those interested may contact Atlantico Weekly (atlanticoweekly at gmail.com).

REAL ESTATE

Cape Verde’s popularity with UK overseas property investors rocketed at the start of the year according to an internet portal. The multi-island nation jumped 18 places in the portal’s latest Top of the Props report, becoming the seventh most popular destination on the chart (OPP).

TWITTER, FACEBOOK & LINKEDIN

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You can now follow Atlantico Weekly on Twitter at atlanticoweekly.

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UTILITIES

The government of Cape Verde is planning to add a further eight desalination plants to boost drinking water capacity and meet booming demand from increased tourism (Water World).

Atlantico Weekly’s Angola Business News

In Angola on February 2, 2012 at 8:41 pm

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Portuguese construction company Soares da Costa is due to hand over the Sana Luanda Royal Hotel, which will be inaugurated on 4 February (Macauhub).

POLITICS

Angola’s president has moved the head of state oil firm Sonangol into the government to coordinate economic policy, state news agency Angop reported, a move likely to fuel speculation that Manuel Vicente has been selected to succeed Eduardo dos Santos (Reuters).

A fierce political row is brewing in Angola where opposition parties accuse the ruling MPLA of exerting too much influence over the organisation of the country’s upcoming general election (News24).

TWITTER, FACEBOOK & LINKEDIN

Atlantico Weekly is now on Facebook. Be welcome to join our group!

You can now follow Atlantico Weekly on Twitter at atlanticoweekly.

Also be welcome to join our Atlantico Weekly networking and discussion group on Linkedin.

DEFENSE & SECURITY

Damen Shipyards Galati is building the Ngola Kiluange, a Fishery Inspection Surveillance Vessel (FISV) 6210, for the Angolan Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries. With another two ships under construction, the Angolan government is set to strengthen its knowledge of and control over its rich fishing grounds (Forbes).

ECONOMY

When you think of the world’s most expensive cities, the dusty Angolan capital of Luanda seems an unlikely contender. Potholed, chaotic and still scarred by decades of civil war, the city has little of the glitz and glamour of Tokyo, New York or Moscow, and an estimated half of Angolans live on less than $2 a day. But despite the obvious poverty and sprawling slums, Luanda still manages to boast some eye-wateringly high prices (BBC).

The Angolan government paid debts in the amount of US$2.653 billion to Angolan and foreign creditors between 2003 and 2010, the Finance Minister, Carlos Lopes said (Macauhub).

BUSINESS

Shareholders in Portuguese-pay TV provider Zon Multimedia have abandoned limits on voting rights, opening the way for investors to increase their stakes and raising the chances of a merger deal. Analysts said the move could open the way for Angolan investor Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of Angola’s president, to boost her 10 percent holding in Zon (Reuters).

Two American music promoters were detained for fraud in Angola after US rap star Nas failed to pitch up for a New Year’s concert, their business partner’s lawyer said. Patrick Allocco and his son are being held responsible after Nas didn’t perform though he was paid up front, said Joao Barros, who represents their long-time Angolan business partner Henrique Miguel (News24).

BANKING

Portugal’s Competition Authority has approved the acquisition by Angolan bank Banco Internacional de Crédito (BIC) of 100 percent of Portuguese bank Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) (Macauhub).

Angola’s state-controlled oil company Sonangol — the largest single shareholder in Portugal’s Millennium bcp — wants the bank to gain global scale in a restructuring that involves a management shakeup (Reuters).

OIL & GAS

Sonangol Starfish has made its first discovery of traces of oil in the sea, in Brazil’s Campos Basin, in a block that had already been unsuccessfully drilled, the company said in a statement sent to the National Oil Agency (ANP) (Macauhub).