Atlantico Weekly

Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category

Cape Verde business news

In Agriculture, Airports, Cape Verde, Economy, Real estate, Tourism, Travel on May 30, 2010 at 11:17 am

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

The Jacaranda Lodges project in the town of Paul on Santo Antao island (Imobrisa).

ECONOMY

The vice-director of the International Monetary Fund’s Africa Division, Valerie Cerra, affirms that Cape Verde’s economic performance has been “very positive” and that the “prudent” policies used resulted in a “quick reaction to the crisis” (A Semana).

AGRI

Cape Verdean producers of grogue, a brandy distilled from fermented sugarcane juice, attended the 13th edition of the Expocachaça trade fair at the Expominas pavilion in Belo Horizonte, the capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (A Semana).

AVIATION

Cape Verde is soon due to sign a “horizontal air agreement” with the European Union (EU), the first step in a process that will lead to an “open skies” policy with the 27-country block, Minister Manuel Inocêncio de Sousa said (Macauhub)

TOURISM

“Surfari Cape Verde” is a vacation package to the island of Sal being promoted by Portuguese travel agency Entremares this summer. As a part of the package, TACV Cabo Verde Airlines has offered to transport surfboards of up to 1.5 meters in length at no additional fee (A Semana).

Cape Verde received 92,000 tourists in the first quarter of the year,. a rise of 5.5 percent against the same period of 2009, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said (Macauhub).

SPLIT SECOND POLL

Angola business news

In Airports, Angola, Banking, Economy, Investments, Politics, Ports, Travel on May 30, 2010 at 11:17 am

ECONOMY

Angola’s parliament is due to vote on a new law that would end the central bank’s ability to determine monetary policy, a proposal submitted to parliament for approval showed (BusinessDay).

South African companies are discovering the business opportunities in Angola. Read the story at BusinessDay.

The fiscal and customs incentive policies adopted by Angolan Government in 2003 have been attracting investments into the country’s least developed provinces (ANGOP).

Fiscal Police effectives will need to redouble efforts in the fight against tax evasion, so as to guarantee better results in terms of revenue that can be channelled to the State’s General Budget (ANGOP).

PORTS

Around 200 hectares of the land on which the future port of Luanda will be built, in Angola’s Bengo province, have been demined, the National De-Mining Institute (Inad) said (Macauhub).

Cooperation between Japan and Angola has made it possible to refurbish the port of Namibe, an investment worth US$24 million, the director general of the port, Bento da Paixão said (Macauhub).

MARKET LIFE

In the slums of Angola’s capital Luanda lies one of Africa’s biggest outdoor markets, Roque Santeiro, where poor Luanda residents can make a living or buy cheap food for their families. Read the report at Reuters.

BANKING

The International Businesses Bank (BNI) two more counters in Lobito and Benguela cities as part of the expansion of its services throughout the country (ANGOP).

AVIATION

The air company “Emirates” has just released recently in Dubai, a service to permit its clients to buy tickets through mobile phone, named “Mobile Emirates.com” (ANGOP).

BUSINESS

Angoflex dealing in manufacturing pipes for oil firms has increased  its production from 80 to 200 pipes per day, in the first quarter of this year, its director-general, Philippe Monti, announced (ANGOP).

A new beer brand, dubbed “Tchizo”, was released in the northern Cabinda province, in a ceremony witnessed by the governor of northern Cabinda province, Mawete João Baptista (ANGOP).

Portuguese group Sociedade Lusa de Negócios (SLNI) is to build a cement factory in Angola under the terms of a contract signed in Luanda with the Angolan National Private Investment Agency (ANIP) (Macauhub).

Cape Verde business news

In Agriculture, Airports, Cape Verde, Economy, Energy, Foreign Trade, Investments, Tourism, Travel on May 24, 2010 at 7:40 pm

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

The Copacabana residential complex in Mindelo on Sao Vicente (Tecnicil).

ECONOMY

Credit rating agency Fitch this month maintained its rating on Cape Verde and the country’s outlook as “stable” despite warning of rises in public and foreign debt levels (Macauhub).

ENERGY

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a 15 million euro loan to Cape Verde to finance a wind energy project on four of the country’s islands (Santiago, Sao Vicente, Sal and Boavista), the institution announced (Macauhub).

CRUISE

Based on its dimensions and the number of people and amount of money it involves, cruise-ship tourism in Cape Verde is in need of a socio-economic impact and tourist satisfaction study (A Semana).

WINE

Recently created Vitalsum, an Italian-Cape Verdean company based on the island of São Vicente, has begun to produce three brands of red and white wine for the Cape Verdean and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) markets. Various types of juice are also in company’s plan for the next 12 months (A Semana).

AVIATION

The May/June issue of trade magazine Airports of the World has dedicated four pages to the island of Boa Vista and its international airport in a report entitled “Boa Vista: African beach paradise” (A Semana).

TOURISM

The second edition of the Cape Verdean tourism trade fair Expotur will take place in São Filipe Fort in Cidade Velha between June 25 and 27. With a “much larger” budget than last year, Expotur already has a 26% occupation rate for its stands, and this year’s theme will be “Back to the Origins” (A Semana).

MICRO CREDIT

US organization Africare has committed itself to help Cape Verde in the microcredit, small business, education and agricultural sectors, according to one of its founders, Curtir Winsor. The fact that the Cape Verdean community in the United States is made up largely of “good, hard-working and honest people” was a major contributing factor in the decision (A Semana).

Angola business news

In Angola, Banking, Biofuels, Economy, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Real estate on May 24, 2010 at 7:40 pm

INFRA

Angola has asked the African Development Bank for loans to help rebuild its economy following a 27-year civil war, adding to funds from the International Monetary Fund and a possible international bond sale (Bloomberg).

RATINGS

Angola received credit ratings from Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service that put it on par with Nigeria, Lebanon and Belarus, and paved the way for a planned sale of international bonds this year (Bloomberg).

REAL ESTATE

The provision of relatively affordable housing in Angola is becoming a promising investment opportunity, says the international property consultant group Colliers (News24).

A new shopping centre called Centro Comercial de Viana is under construction in the south of Luanda costing an initial US$15 million (Macauhub).

AUTOMOTIVE

Fiat Group’s Iveco truck unit plans to invest $60 million in Angola in the next three years, in a bid to become the African nation’s top truck importer (BusinessDay).

FISHING

The Angolan government banned the fishing of mackerel  and sardine unitil the end of the year following the need to protect some species in danger of  extinction (ANGOP).

BANKING

In the period between 2006 and 2008, Angolan banking assets have risen at an average rate of 46%, from nearly USD 17.000 million to USD 35.000 million (ANGOP).

STATE ENTREPRISES

The Angolan government approved the appointment of the new board of directors of the railway companies of Luanda, Benguela and Mocamedes, of the National Civil Aviation Company (ENANA-EP), of the Angolan Airline (TAAG-EP) and of the Sea ports of Namibe, Lobito and Luanda (ANGOP).

MINING

Sociedade Mineira do Lucapa (SML) is due over the next few days to re-launch diamond mining after a 10-month halt due to a drop in demand as a result of the international financial crisis (Macauhub).

BIOFUELS

Biofuel production may contribute to agri-industrial development in Angola, establishing populations in rural areas where the projects will be carried out, the ninth consultation council of the Oil Ministry concluded (Macauhub).

Cape Verde Business & Economy

In Agriculture, Cape Verde, Economy, Ports, Real estate, Security, Stock exchange, Tourism, Travel on May 16, 2010 at 10:14 am

ECONOMY

Bank of Cape Verde governor Carlos Burgo has confirmed forecasts predicting a slight recovery for the nation’s economy, which is expected to grow between 4% and 5% this year, with a “significant” reduction of the risks predicted in initial forecasts. Burgo also forecasts growth in Cape Verde’s GDP and slight improvement in public revenues, but alerted to “existing risks and uncertainties” (A Semana).

A mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Cape Verde Thursday as part of the evaluation of the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) (Macauhub).

TOURISM

Portuguese travel agency Entremares is promoting its “Cape Verdean Triangle” program, which offers tourists three nights on the island of Sal, two nights on São Vicente and two nights on Santiago, with prices starting at 949 euros per person in double rooms (A Semana).

FINANCE

Sal will be the first municipality in Cape Verde to issue future bonds on the Stock Exchange to obtain financing. The Sal municipal assembly has approved the technical details of the public offer totaling 200 million escudos. Praia is likely to follow close on Sal’s heels, with a 450 million-escudo bond issue (A Semana).

PORTS

The scanners purchased by port management company Enapor from Chinese firm Nuctech to heighten shipping container traffic security at Praia, Mindelo and Palmeira sea ports are expected to be operational starting next month (A Semana).

Angola Businesss News

In Angola, Economy, Investments, Mining, Oil, South Africa, Telecom on May 16, 2010 at 10:12 am

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

Artist’s impression of the Intercontinental Hotel & Casino, currently under construction in Angola’s capital Luanda (Skyscrapercity).

DIAMONDS

South Africa’s Trans Hex Group has partnered with Angolan state-owned diamond company Endiama and three other local companies to explore for diamonds at a new mine in Angola, Endiama said (BusinessDay).

ECONOMY

The International Monetary Fund approved its first performance review of Angola’s 27-month IMF economic program and agreed to disburse a $171.1 million loan tranche (Reuters).

OIL

The first stage of the Lobito oil refinery will start operating in 2014 with a capacity to refine 115,000 barrels/day and offering 1,000 direct jobs, Angolan oil minister Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos revealed (Angop).

BANKING

The northern Malange Province counts as from last Thursday on the first branch of Millennium Bank in the region (Angop).

TELECOMS

A study of the Angolan telecommunication sector, carried out from 2007 to 2008, recommends mobile network operators to make an annual investment  average of USD 750 million in order to improve the services provided to consumers (Angop).

Cape Verde news update, May 9th

In Agriculture, Cape Verde, Economy, Energy, Infrastructure, Politics, Ports, Security on May 11, 2010 at 7:51 am

POLITICS

Orlanda Ferreira, a member of opposition party MpD’s National Directorship, has been chosen by the party leadership to take the position of the political force’s secretary general (A Semana).

ECONOMY

The Budget Support Group (BSG) considers that Cape Verde’s budget performance in 2009 was “positive overall”, especially regarding good governance, the group’s coordinator stated in Praia (Macauhub).

The Cape Verdean government has laid the first stone of the single power transmission plant on Santiago Island, where the capital of the archipelago, Praia, is located, a project that is expected to cost 44 million euros (Macauhub).

FOREIGN AFAIRS

The President of Guinea Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanhá, was in Praia Sunday morning, where he was welcomed by Cape Verdean President Pedro Pires. The two heads of state analyzed the political situation in Guinea Bissau, with Sanhá calling on solidarity from Cape Verdeans. Pires, for his part, called for the people of Guinea Bissau to remain united (A Semana).

The creation of a Cape Verdean embassy in Libya to help intensify relations between the two countries, particularly on the business level, was approved in this week’s meeting of the Council of Ministers. With its presence in Libya, Cape Verde hopes to defend the nation’s interests and further affirm its identity in the world (A Semana).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Boa Vista witnessed the largest popular manifestation in its history Saturday morning, when a march with the theme “Peace, safety and integration” brought together more than 3,500 people. All of the island’s communities, both Cape Verdean and foreign, joined together to give a demonstration of hope and peace following the murder of a Guinea Bissauan citizen during the week (A Semana).

“Cape Verde needs to institute a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) as soon as possible in order to combat money laundering in the country,” affirms the director general of the Inter Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) (A Semana).

Carlos Veiga, the leader of opposition party MpD, told journalists that what he called “taking hostage” of the São Vicente municipal chamber “was not legitimate,” although he affirmed that police authorities should carry out searches in public institutions when evidence of irregularities exists. The opposition leader also said he was convinced the police operation was “politically motivated” and has called on justice to function equally for all (A Semana).

REGIONAL

The “Santo Antão Tourism & Business Guide” is a platform for the promotion of the island’s business, commercial, industrial and agricultural fabric produced by the company GlobalMédia (A Semana).

Coculi and Chã de Igreja, on the island of Santo Antão, will see their status raised to that of town in July, according to guarantees given by the secretary general of the governing PAICV, Armindo Maurício, who also represents the municipality of Ribeira Grande de Santo Antão in parliament (A Semana).

The works of restoration and expansion of the port of Porto Novo will start on the date initially planned for this month, May, according to guarantees given to the owner of the works by the Portuguese – Cape Verdean consortium, which will implement the project (Inforpress).

The Ministry of Environment, Rural Development and Marine Resources wants to conduct studies and preparation up to 2012 for at least five hydrographical basins in Santo Antão (Inforpress).

BUSINESS

CVMultimédia has announced yet another reduction in broadband Internet service rates. The new rates went into effect on May 1, 2010 (A Semana).

Angola news update, May 9th

In Airports, Angola, Economy, Real estate, Telecom on May 11, 2010 at 7:51 am

ECONOMY

Angola, which is expecting a sovereign credit rating next week, is likely to postpone an international bond sale of as much as $2 billion and will instead opt to sell $1 billion of domestic debt (Bloomberg).

TELECOMS

The number of mobile-phone users in Angola has increased to eight million, due to the market liberalization in the 1990s, said the national director of Telecommunications, Pedro Mendes de Carvalho (Angop).

AVIATION

Servisair, a new Angolan airline, is due to start operating Wednesday with a flight between the cities of Luanda and Lubango in Huíla province (Macauhub).

REAL ESTATE

The first edition of the Angola Real Estate Fair (Sima) opened in Luanda, attended by over 50 companies (Macauhub).

Angola news update, May 2nd

In Angola, Banking, Economy, Energy, Foreign Trade, Oil on May 2, 2010 at 10:51 am

ECONOMY

Portugal will donate 800 million euros ($1.07 billion) to Angola and lend it a further 800 million euros. Most of the money will probably be used to pay off Angola’s debt to Portuguese building companies (Bloomberg).

The National Private Investment Agency (ANIP) approved in 2009 a total of 618 private investment proposals in non-oil sectors, the coordinator of the institution, Aguinaldo Jaime, informed (ANGOP).

BANKING

The BAI (Banco Africano de Investimentos) 2009 net incomes of reached 231 million USdollars against 166 millions recorded last year (ANGOP).

Angolan bank, Banco Totta Monday changed its name to Banco Caixa Geral Totta de Angola following a change in its shareholder structure (Macauhub).

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Angola’s pavilion at the Expo Shangai 2010 may attract, during the six months of exhibition, a total of six million visitors, thereby surpassing the four million that visited the Angolan pavilion at the Expo Saragoza 2008 of Spain, ANGOP has learnt.

Angola’s Energy Minister Emmanuela Vieira Lopes said that it was necessary to interconnect the electricity systems of the member state of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) (Macauhub).

Trade between Angola and saw a sharp fall in 2009 when compared to the two previous years (Macauhub).

OIL

Angolan investors including oil company Sonangol SA may buy a stake of between 3 pecent and 5 percent in Galp Energia SGPS SA if Eni SpA sells its 33 percent holding (Bloomberg).

ENERGY

At least 18.0 billion US dollars will be necessary until 2018 for investment in production, transportation and distribution of power (ANGOP).

BUSINESS

Angolan company Refriango plans to increase its production of soft drinks this year and start exporting its products to the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) (Macauhub).

Cape Verde news update, April 25th

In Agriculture, Cape Verde, Economy, Energy, Media, Politics, Telecom, Tourism, Travel on April 25, 2010 at 1:18 pm

POLITICS

The National Assembly has approved the new journalists’ statute, which consecrates the mandatory need to have a degree of higher learning in journalism in order to practice the profession in Cape Verde (A Semana).

Former Portuguese president Ramalho Eanes admits that the decolonization process carried out by Portugal in 1975 “was not the best,” but even so considers the idea that Cape Verde should not have become independent, voiced several days ago by his successor, former Portuguese president Mário Soares, “not very reasonable” (A Semana).

DEFENCE

Cape Verde may be chosen to host the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Naval Logistics Base (A Semana).

ECONOMY

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected 5% growth in the Cape Verdean economy for this year, a figure expected to improve to 5.5% in 2011, according to the institution’s World Economic Outlook (A Semana).

ENERGY

The island of São Vicente experienced several power outages Wednesday, April 21, particularly on the outskirts of the city of Mindelo and other villages, where the blackout lasted for more than 16 consecutive hours. According to water and electricity utility Electra, the power cuts were caused by a technical problem in the main generator at the Lazareto power station (A Semana).

AGRICULTURE

“The lifting of the embargo on agricultural products from the island of Santo Antão is scheduled to take place in July,” according to Minister of the Environment, Rural Development and Marine Resources José Maria Veiga (A Semana).

The City hall of Ribeira Grande de Santiago joins today to the Earth Day with a programme of distribution and planting fruit trees, in the Cidade Velha (Inforpress).

TELECOM

The project for the extension of Cabo Verde Telecom’s fiber optics network in Chã das Caldeiras on the island of Fogo will move forward with the placement of aerial rather than underground cables, despite recent protests by local residents, who feared the aerial cables would jeopardize the area’s natural beauty (A Semana).

HEALTH

Cape Verde is among the 10 countries oin Africa that have managed to decrease malaria prevalence in its territory by approximately 50 percent between 2000 and 2008, as WHO data show (Inforpress).

TRAVEL & TOURISM

The certification process is delaying the arrival of new plane ATR of the private air carrier Halcyonair (Inforpress).

The confidence indicator for the Tourism sector in Cape Verde in the first quarter posted its lowest level since 2002, the year in which the archipelago’s National Statistics Institute (INE) first launched the series of Company Economic Climate Surveys (Macauhub).

Angola news update, April 25th

In Agriculture, Angola, Economy, Hotels, Investments, Oil, Stock exchange on April 24, 2010 at 11:08 am

ECONOMY

Angola’s stock exchange, expected to start operating later this year, may be Africa’s third-biggest in market-capitalization terms (Bloomberg).

The Angolan economy is expected to see a string recovery this year with growth of 7.1 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its World Economic Outlook (Macauhub).

OIL & GAS

Angola’s oil minister, said the price of oil is currently too high (Bloomberg).

Angola is considering joining the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF),Angola’s Oil Minister said during a meeting of the organisation in Algeria (Macauhub).

BUSINESS

South Africa’s second-largest food retailer, plans to open two stores in Mauritius next year and is exploring opportunities in Angola (Bloomberg).

Halliburton, the world’s second-largest oilfield contractorannounced a $1.3 billion contract for a project off the coast of Angola (Bloomberg).

HOTELS

Portuguese company Amorim Turismo plans to start its internationalisation process in Angola, where it will invest 90 million euros over the next four years (Macauhub).

AGRICULTURE

Spanish company África Sementes and Angola’s Mundo Verde are investing in the construction of a cotton processing factory in the municipality of Sumbe, in Angola’s Kwanza Sul province (Macauhub).

Cape Verde news update, April 18th

In Agriculture, Cape Verde, Economy, Energy, Infrastructure, Investments, Politics, Real estate, Telecom, Tourism on April 18, 2010 at 2:30 pm

POLITICS

Former Portuguese President Mário Soares expressed his opinion that Cape Verde “should not have been independent” and that the archipelago “would have a lot to gain” in having avoided breaking away from Portugal. “I always thought that Cape Verde should not have been independent, and that’s why I didn’t watch Cape Verde’s independence,” he said (A Semana).

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, called the development of special partnership between the EU and Cape Verde a “remarkable success”, highlighting the ongoing negotiation for the visa facilitation agreement (Inforpress).

TRANSPORT

The second Cabo Verde Fast Ferry vessel is to be called “Liberdadi”. The name of the first vessel is Kriola. Construction of the first of the two ferries is expected to be concluded by October of this year. The second ferry, according to Cabo Verde Fast Ferry, is slated to be finished in January of 2011 (A Semana).

TELECOMS

Minister of Infrastructures, Transportation and Telecommunications Manuel Inocêncio Sousa presided on April 17 over the launch of the company Cabo TLC at the headquarters of the Windward Islands Commercial Association in Mindelo. Cabo TLC is a telecommunications company that will use VoIP technology to provide clients with communication at a relatively low cost (A Semana).

Seven out of every 10 cape Verdean inhabitants have a mobile phone according to figures presented Wednesday by the National Communication Agency (ANAC), according to which mobile telephone service subscribers now total 350,000, out of a total population of 500,000 (Macauhub).

LAND

Minister of Decentralization and Territorial Management Sara Lopes said that the government wants all of the municipal land management instruments elaborated by 2011 and that the country’s municipalities should conclude their Municipal Directive Plans by that time (A Semana).

TOURISM

Portuguese tourism company Soltrópico, which specializes in vacations to Cape Verde, has launched a travel package for the islands of Santiago and Fogo between May 1 and October 24 (A Semana).

AGRICULTURE

A small technical team led by the hydrogeology technician Mota Gomes is on Santo Antão, conducting studies to build at least three small dams on that island (Inforpress).

The cultivation of grapes in Chã de Caldeiras and in the uplands of the municipality of Mosteiros, Fogo Island, doubled in the last 30 years. In the year 2009  over 50 thousand new vine plants haven been planted (Inforpress).

EDUCATION

The Prime-minister, José Maria Neves, said that the Government created the Business and Governance School at the University of Cape Verde (Uni-CV) with the objective to train new enterprise leaders (Inforpress).

ENERGY

Construction work on the solar power plants in Praia and on Sal have begun, the Cape Verdean authorities have said. The two facilities will reduce CO2 emissions by 13,000 tons per year and provide around 4 percent of Cape Verde’s entire electricity production capacity (Macauhub).

Angola news update, April 18th

In Angola, Brazil, Economy, Hotels, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Travel on April 18, 2010 at 2:25 pm

ECONOMY

Angola scaled back plans to raise as much as $4 billion in a sale of bonds without credit ratings, seeking instead to issue $1 billion to $2 billion, according to Finance Minister Carlos Lopes (Bloomberg).

Angolan inflation accelerated to 13.8 percent in March from 13.66 percent in February because of food and beverage costs, the National Statistics Institute said (Bloomberg).

The National Private Investment Agency (ANIP) approved until 30 November 2009 projects amounted to about USD 1.4 billion, more than the USD 105.8 million of  2008 (Angop).

BUSINESS

M-I SWACO, a drilling fluids venture partly owned by Schlumberger Ltd, has won a contract from Chevron Corp for work off Angola that could lead to $800 million in revenues over six years (Reuters).

TRAVEL

Angolan group Silisa has invested some US$2.5 million in the construction of a hotel complex in the Benfica neighbourhood of Luanda, the “Sunsil Hotel” (Macauhub).

INFRASTRUCTURE

The Angolan Council of Ministers has approved the acquisition of 15 locomotives, 150 carriages and 231 wagons for the country’s rail network (Macauhub).

MINING

Angola is once again moving ahead with the mega mining projects for extraction and processing of iron and copper, which involves a search for international investors to support the projected high level of investment. Amongst the companies that have already been in contact with Empresa Nacional de Ferros de Angola (Ferrangol) are Brazil’s Vale, one of the world’s biggest mining companies, and Korea’s Samsung (Macauhub).

Angola news update, April 11th

In Angola, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, South Africa on April 11, 2010 at 7:46 pm

ECONOMY

As Africa’s largest exporter of oil — surpassing Nigeria last year — Angola is one of the largest investment destinations on the continent. Despite the enormous opportunities South African business presence is still relatively insignificant. Instead, China, Brazil and even Russia are playing an important role in Angola in sectors such as construction, civil engineering and resource extraction — traditional sweet spots for South African companies (BusinessDay).

The Ministry for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fishing plans to increase inspection of Angolan territorial waters with the introduction of new patrol vessels, the Minister said in Lobito (Macauhub).

OIL

Petrobras, Brazil’s state-run oil company, plans to expand its exploration activities in Angola, Petrobras Chairman Gabrielli said in Luanda. Gabrielli held talks with Angolan President dos Santos while on a visit to Angola (Bloomberg).

The heads of Sonangol and Petrobrás analysed co-operation ties and issues related to international oil market (Angop).

Angola, which vies with Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer, expects new discoveries to boost crude output by 16 percent next year. Oil production will reach 2.2 million barrels a day by 2011, compared with 1.9 million barrels at present, Deputy Petroleum Minister Anibal Octavio da Silva said (Bloomberg).

TOURISM

There is one thing you should know about Luanda: hardly any tourists come here. Getting a visa can take many months and finding a hotel room, if you can afford it, is equally challenging. Read the travel postcard from Luanda at Reuters.

AIR TRAVEL

Taag, Angola’s flagship airline plans to acquire two aircraft in order to cover European routes, following its recent authorisation to re-launch flights to the European Union airspace. A quick and cheap way for the Angolan government to solve the problem would be to hand over the modern Boeing 777s owned by Sonair, the air carrier of Angolan national oil company, Sonangol (Macauhub).

BANKING

Portugal’s main banks will be able to maintain their levels of profitability in 2009 due to a rise in spreads and of foreign operation, particularly in Angola, the Fitch agency said (Macauhub).

Angola news update, April 4th

In Airports, Angola, Brazil, Economy, Oil, Travel on April 4, 2010 at 1:46 pm

ECONOMY

The Angolan economy is expected to return to growth of close to 10 percent this year, with the recovery of the oil sector and expected investments, according to estimates from Espírito Santo Research published Monday in Lisbon (Macauhub).

AIR TRAVEL

Angola’s TAAG airline received partial exemption from the European Union (EU) blacklist of foreign airlines banned from flying to Europe (BusinessDay).

OIL

Total SA discovered hydrocarbons for the second time in the north-eastern area of Block 17 deep offshore Angola (Bloomberg).

Sinopec (China Petroleum & Chemical Corp) announced it had agreed to acquire deepwater oil assets in Angola, paying US$2.46 billion for a 55 percent stake in Sonangol Sinopec Internacional (Macauhub).

ATLANTICO

MAN Latin America, a subsidiary of German group MAN, has opened a showroom in Angola to sell Volkswagen trucks produced in Brazil (Macauhub).

Cape Verde news update, March 28th

In Cape Verde, Economy, Elections, Politics on March 28, 2010 at 9:56 am

POLITICS

David Hopffer Almada believes that “there is a wave, both within the PAICV and outside of it, for me to run” for President of the Republic of Cape Verde. Hopffer Almada was recently in Portuguese capital Lisbon, where he met with various association leaders and received encouragement to move forward with his candidacy (A Semana).

Minister of Infrastructures, Transportation and Telecommunications and possible presidential hopeful Manuel Inocêncio Sousa was measured in his words during a dinner aimed at encouraging him to run for president, hosted by Cape Verdeans residing in Portuguese capital Lisbon. Sousa said he was moved by this unique move on the part of the Cape Verdean community, and heard youths say that they want a head of state with a “usefully influential” term in office (A Semana).

Santa Maria residents discussed a proposal for creation of new municipality. The Action group for the Creation of the Municipality of Santa Maria (ACMSM) met with residents of the town of Santa Maria to present the reasons they believe the southern portion of the island of Sal should be turned into a separate municipality, and the explain the conditions necessary for this to happen. Businessman Gualberto do Rosário, president of tourist sector association UNOTUR and a resident of Santa Maria, believes that the move would give the local population a stronger and more personalized administration, as well as improve their quality of life and help save one of Cape Verde’s main tourist destinations (A Semana).

ECONOMY

More than 8 million euros in credit from the Kingdom of Spain will be conceded to Cape Verde to improve control and surveillance of the country’s coastal zone and to expand the Palmarejo desalinization plant in Praia by the end of the year. The islands of Boa Vista, Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava will receive a maritime traffic management system in order to provide greater security in the coastal zones (A Semana).

The government and the Operational Information Society Nucleus (NOSi) publicly presented the project for the construction of a technological center in Cape Verde. The center, which will function near Praia’s old airport, will feature the latest technological components and security, as well as video conferencing, a data center, voip and datacom. The center will cover the sectors of health, education and e-government and will be “a fundamental pillar in the development of the information society” (A Semana).

REAL ESTATE

The tourism real estate company Paradise Beach in Sal resumed its works, after a pause of one year, and predicts to deliver 260 houses until the end of this year, of the 830 units planned (Inforpress).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

The 24 inmates at Assomada jail were transferred to São Martinho central prison in Praia on Tuesday, March 23, because, according to the general director of penitentiary services, the establishment is no longer fit to house prisoners (A Semana).

Angola weekly news update, March 28th

In Angola, Biofuels, Economy, Oil, Ports, Real estate on March 28, 2010 at 9:55 am

ECONOMY

Angola’s parliament has approved a law meant to support biofuel production, as the government tries to diversify the economy which currently depends on oil. Agriculture Minister Afonso Pedro Kanga noted concerns that developing biofuels could harm Angola’s efforts to revive food crops and assured that only “marginal” lands would be allowed to produce biofuels leaving the most fertile lands for food production (News24).

Angola continues to be one of the United States’ main trading partners in sub-Saharan Africa according to a study from the US Congress Research Center. The study said that in 2008 (last year analysed in the document) the overwhelming majority of US imports from the region was focused on three countries: Nigeria (44 percent), Angola (22 percent) and South Africa (12 percent) (Macauhub).

Angola will start paying off arrears to building companies in April, Urban Planning and Construction Minister Jose da Silva Ferreira said. Failure to settle the arrears, which the government said in July 2009 had reached around $2 billion, could have a negative impact on Angola’s first credit rating and the sale of up to $4 billion in bonds due to take place in coming months (Reuters).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Seven Angolan policemen were sentenced to 24 years each in jail for the murder of eight men in a poor neighbourhood, in what analysts said was a key step forward in a drive to end widespread police brutality (Reuters).

OIL

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola will negotiate the management of a common zone of interest to end a dispute over offshore oil deposits, Joseph Pili Pili, the Congolese oil ministry liasion with Angola, said (Bloomberg).

CONSTRUCTION

Israeli construction company LR Group plans to build 100,000 social houses in Angola as part of the government programme to build 1 million homes by 2012 (Macauhub).

OPWAY Angola will build the first phase of the Muxima Plaza project in Luanda, representing an investment of US$34 million. OPWAY Angola is a partnership involving the Escom group and OPWAY Engenharia (Macauhub).

SHIPPING

Sea freight to import goods to Angola is quite expensive, due to the weak negotiating capacity of national importers, the director-general of the National Shipper’s Council (CNC) said. He also said that currently shipping to Angola has seen a slight drop of around 13 percent, although it remained at around US$8,000 per 20 TEU container (Macauhub).

Cape Verde news update, March 21st

In Cape Verde, Economy, Elections, Investments, Politics, Ports on March 21, 2010 at 10:58 am

POLITICS

While on the island of Santo Antão, David Hopffer Almada announced that he soon plans to publicly present his candidacy to the office of President of Cape Verde, although he has yet to receive a clear signal from the political party to which he belongs, the PAICV (A Semana).

The Brazilian Senate’s Economic Affairs Commission approved two proposals Tuesday concerning the partial pardoning of Cape Verde’s debt to Brazil (A Semana).

ECONOMY

The lifting of prohibitions on gambling in Cape Verde could help attract foreign investment, especially Chinese investment from Macau, through the construction of tourism and leisure complexes (A Semana).

The Cape Verdean government has approved two law proposals with new income tax codes, as part of the fiscal reforms implemented by the local Public Finances (Macauhub).

PORTS

Portuguese construction Somague/MSF – Moniz da Maia, Serra e Fortunato is to carry out the expansion and modernisation of the port of Sal-Rei on the island of Boavista in Cape Verde (Macauhub).

EDUCATION

The University of Cape Verde (Uni-CV) prospects “strong partnerships” with the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst), especially to the level of the interchange of pupils in this initial phase of the cooperation (Inforpress).

Angola news update, March 21st

In Angola, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Investments, Oil, Ports, Travel on March 21, 2010 at 10:57 am

ECONOMY

Angola must take further steps to create a “sustainable” fiscal position, limit inflation and build its foreign-exchange reserves, the International Monetary Fund said (Bloomberg).

Angola’s economic indicators remained stable in 2009 with the economy growing 2.7 percent in real terms due to the expansion of the non-oil sector, according to a report approved by the Angolan government (Macauhub).

PORTS

The country has saved between 500 million to one billion US dollars, through the reduction in the time of goods clearance at the Luanda Port to about 10 to 15 days (ANGOP).

Soyo Port, in the northern Zaire Province, is increasing its investments framework in technical and administrative infrastructures to meet the economic growth demand in this region of the country (ANGOP).

OIL

Angola may request a review of its oil-production quota, the country’s Oil Minister said (Bloomberg).

BUSINESS

The internationalisation of the Portuguese  Modelo Continente supermarket chain to Angola is due to happen this year, the chairman of the Sonae group, Model’s mother company, said (Macauhub).

Edifer Angola increased its turnover in 2009 by 35 percent to US$202 million and posted a net profit of US$22 million, the chairwoman of the Edifer group, Vera Pires Coelho said (Macauhub).

Net profit at Banco Espírito (BES) Angola rose to 152 million euros in 2009, a year on year rise of 86 percent (Macauhub).

ATLANTICO

Brazilian airline Puma Air is due to begin flights to Angola next June or July.
A Boeing 767 will be used on the Recife-Luanda, Angola route,” CEO Gambogi said adding, “we will be the only Brazilian airline with flights to Africa.” As well as Brazilian investors, one of Puma’s shareholders, with 20 percent, is air carrier Angola Air Service.  Puma Air said that there 45,000 Brazilians living in Luanda, a market that is boosted by projects of Brazilian companies such as Petrobras (Macauhub).

Cape Verde news update, March 14th

In Cape Verde, Economy, Hotels, Investments, Politics, Security, Tourism on March 14, 2010 at 11:22 am

POLITICS

Nearly half of the residents of Praia (48%) believe current municipal chamber president Ulisses Correia e Silva to be a better mayor than his predecessor, Felisberto Vieira, according to an Afrosondagem survey carried out in December. The survey also found that 75% of Praia resident gave a positive evaluation of Correia e Silva’s work. Among individuals with a college education, the mayor’s approval rating stood at 39% (A Semana).

Minister of Infrastructures, Transportation and Telecommunications Manuel Inocêncio Sousa will participate will travel to Portuguese capital Lisbon for a dinner scheduled to take place on March 20 in support of his possible presidential bid (A Semana).

The United States State Department report on human rights for the year 2008 says that, in general, the Cape Verdean government “respected the human rights of its citizens.” However, problems were reported in areas such as “police abuse of detainees, police impunity, poor prison conditions, lengthy pretrial detention, excessive trial delays, violence and discrimination against women, child abuse, and some instances of child labor” (A Semana).

ECONOMY

Representatives from two Indian communication technology companies, NIIT and Angelic International Limited, are visiting Cape Verde as part of the implementation of a project financed by the Indian government to produce software and business incubators in the archipelago (A Semana).

Spanish company Ramon Vizcaíno has been selected to build a cold-storage infrastructure on the island of São Vicente (A Semana).

Prime Minister José Maria Veiga announced in Mindelo, at a meeting with ship-owners and fishermen’s associations, that there are eight million dollars from the World Bank,  1 million Euros of the Spanish cooperation and a million and 146 thousand dollars of FAO to boost the fishing sector (Inforpress).

Portuguese construction group Mota-Engil plans to increase its turnover six-fold in Cape Verde over the next three years from 20 million euros at the moment to 120 million, the group’s chief executive said in Praia (Macauhub).

The placement of a bond issue by Cape Verde’s Tecnicil tourism property company has surpassed expectations, the president of the island country’s stock exchange stated (Macauhub).

TOURISM

Stays in Cape Verde’s hotel establishments rose 10.6% in 2009. Data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) reveals that most of the tourists came from the United Kingdom. English tourists were also those that spent the most time in the country. Sal continues the most visited island by foreign tourists (A Semana).

Cape Verde will make its presence felt between March 16 and 18 at Seatrade Miami, in the United States. Seatrade Miami is the world’s largest cruise-related trade fair (A Semana).

INFRASTRUCTURE

A tender has been launched to select the company that will carry out asphalting work on the São Domingos (Variante)-São Miguel road, according to Minister of Infrastructures, Transportation and Telecommunications Manuel Inocêncio Sousa (A Semana).

The government has unveiled the new and improved Cruz Grande-Calhetona road, an infrastructure that will facilitate travel between the municipalities of Santa Catarina and São Miguel, on the island of Santiago. The official ceremony was presided over by Prime Minister José Maria Neves (A Semana).

EDUCATION

The University of Santiago (US), headquartered in Assomada, made the public presentation of the first five postgraduate courses that will start in May (Inforpress).

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