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Brazil Weekly, February 7th
In Banking, Biofuels, Brazil, Economy, Elections, Hotels, Infrastructure, Investments, Oil, Politics on February 7, 2010 at 3:27 pmSurinam news update, January 31st
In Airports, Banking, Economy, Infrastructure, Investments, Ports, Surinam, Tourism, Travel on January 31, 2010 at 1:03 pmFINANCE
Surinam insurance company Self Reliance announced it will take over Clico-Surinam, another local insurance company that was hit hard by the global crisis. The bail-out by Self Reliance was made possible with financial support from the Surinam Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Surinam (DWT).
PORTS
A trio of local banks, DSB-bank, Hakrinbank and RBTT will loan an amount of 28 million SRD to Surinam Port authority NV Havenbeer. This sum is needed to co-finance a second phase of the expansion and improvement of Paramaribo’s Nieuwe Haven Terminal (DWT).
AIR TRAVEL
SLM, Surinam Airways, is considering hiring a second Airbus A340-300 for the expansion of its route Paramaribo-Amsterdam and the development of new routes to the US, Canada and Europe (DWT).
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Angola news update, January 31st
In Airports, Angola, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Energy, Hotels, Infrastructure, Investments, Oil, Politics, Ports, Real estate, Retail, Security, South Africa, Telecom, Travel on January 31, 2010 at 12:32 pmECONOMY
Two years ago, oil-rich Angola was reckoned to have one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. In both 2006 and 2007 real GDP had surged by around 20%, and double-digit growth rates were widely predicted for at least the next five years. Then oil prices crashed with the global recession. Last year the economy is estimated to have grown, at best, by 1.5%. But it is bouncing back. Some say Angola will be among the world’s top five performers again this year, with growth exceeding 8%. Read the full story in The Economist.
Though Angola wants to woo foreign investors, everything seems contrived to deter all but the most intrepid and patient. Getting a visa, for a start, can take many months. Finding somewhere to stay in Luanda, a capital city built for 500,000 that is now home to 5m, is not much easier. A single hotel room, if you can find one, will set you back $500-600 a night. Read about the virtues you need for doing business in Angola in The Economist.
ATLANTICO
The political and economic rivalry between SA and Angola is expected to graduate into a battle for dominance in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) , says US-based global intelligence think-tank Stratfor (BusinessDay).
BANKING
Standard Bank sees Angola as key growth market. Warming relations between Angola and SA and the ties Africa’s biggest bank by assets has with China and Russia — rivals in attempts to secure access to Angolan resources — should help the new business, a senior executive said (BusinessDay). Africa’s biggest bank by assets plans to invest millions of dollars in Angola to set up a commercial and investment bank and offer retail banking services (News24).
BUSINESS
A new production line for soft drinking production will be operating from May this year at Sefa factory, that will increase the company’s production capacity from 3,000 to 10,500 cases per day (Angop).
PORTS
Lobito Port, in the central Benguela Province, will handle over 12,000 tons of load per year, its director told ANGOP.
OIL
Angola and India have signed a memorandum of understanding in the oil sector, aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation, mainly in the entrepreneurial field (ANGOP).
AIR TRAVEL
Angolan airline Taag plans to carry 1.7 million passengers per year as of 2012 as compared to 1.1 million currently, the coordinator of the company’s management commission, Pimentel de Araújo said (Macauhub).
INVESTMENT
The Angolan government approved 39 investment projects valued at a total of US$7 billion. In a statement released after a Council of Ministers meeting, the government said that the investments were focused on the retail, real estate, telecommunications, energy and transport sectors (Macauhub).
Portuguese group Unicer plans to invest US$120 million, US$85 million of which in the first phase, in construction of a beer factory in Angola’s Bengo province, the group’s representative in Angola, José Teixeira said in Luanda (Macauhub).
Brazilian group Odebrecht is analysing the possibility of investing in a petrochemical project in Angola, the group’s chief executive told Brazilian newspaper Estado de São Paulo (Macauhub).
Cape Verde news update, January 24th
In Agriculture, Banking, Cape Verde, Economy, Elections, Energy, Infrastructure, Investments, Politics, Tourism on January 24, 2010 at 12:40 pmPOLITICS
In the year in which Cape Verde will celebrate the 550th anniversary of its discovery, the 35th anniversary of its independence and the 20th anniversary of the opening of its political system, January 13, Freedom and Democracy Day, is finally beginning to shed its party connotations, with civil society taking on a greater role in commemorating the date (A Semana).
A possible change in Cape Verde’s governing party as a result of the 2011 legislative elections could end up dampening foreign investors’ “enthusiasm” for Cape Verde, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s report on the country for the 2010.2011 period (A Semana).
The ambassadors of the world’s Portuguese language countries accredited in the People’s Republic of China will meet in Macau on February 1 and 2 for the 5th meeting of the Forum for Economic and Commercial Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-Speaking World (A Semana).
ECONOMY
The national minimum wage will likely be set at between 15,000 and 21,000 escudos per month, according to a study carried out by labor union UNTC-CS that will be presented Tuesday, January 26 (A Semana).
Four articles in Cape Verde’s current Labor Code are to be altered. A proposal in this sense was approved in the most recent Social Coordination Council meeting, and the government believes it will bring “crystal-clear gains for both workers and employers.” (A Semana)
Ministry of the Economy, Growth and Competitiveness Fátima Fialho believes that the impact of the restrictions placed on the tariff benefits attributed to Cape Verde by the United States as a part of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is practically negligible, considering the relatively insignificant value of Cape Verdean exports to the US (A Semana).
Cape Verde, according to World Bank’s projections, saw a slowdown in growth to 3.3 percent in 2009 (compared to 5.9 percent the previous year) and is due to recover to 4.4 percent growth this year rising to 5.4 percent in 2011.
The inflation rate recorded in Cape Verde in 2009 was 1 percent, 5.8 percentage points below the 2008 figure, the island country’s National Statistics Institute (INE) has announced (Macauhub).
Cape Verde has risen one position on the 2010 list of the Doing Business report, though it is still close to the bottom of the table in which countries are ordered according to the ease of doing business (Macauhub).
BANKING
The Ministry of Finances will, in the name of the government, underwrite a 5% financial participation in the capital of the future Social Bank of Cape Verde with 300 million escudos in its initial phase (A Semana).
ATLANTICO
The government of Spain’s Canary Islands autonomous region and a group of construction companies have announced the hiring of four specialists in international bids to strengthen the region’s presence in projects in West and sub-Saharan Africa, including Cape Verde (A Semana).
INVESTMENT
The Cape Verdean government is studying plans to implement a forestry project on Sal, one of the country’s most arid islands, which will make use of residual water distribution potential (Visao News).
The government of Cape Verde is set to launch an international tender next week for the construction of three dams to hold rainwater, the chairman of the National Institute for Management of Water Resources said in Praia. António Pedro Borges said that the dams would be funded by Portugal as part of a financial package of 100 million euros (Macauhub).
The Cape Verdean National Communications Agency (ANAC) has granted a license to SGPM to be a new Internet and cable television operator, the PANA news agency reported (Macauhub).
The Portuguese company Martifer Solar plans to install in Cape Verde two photovoltaic solar energy complexes with a power capacity of 7.5 megawatts (MW), the Martifer group has announced (Macauhub).
TOURISM
Cape Verde’s Tourism Strategy Plan aims to achieve a flow of 500,000 tourists per year by 2013, causing a significant rise in associated employment and in tourism’s share of the gross domestic product, the local press reported (Macauhub).
Brazil news update, January 3rd
In Airports, Banking, Biofuels, Brazil, Economy, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Ports, Real estate on January 3, 2010 at 3:43 pmECONOMY
Brazil’s government will turn its focus to investment and away from stimulus measures, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, as the country’s economy makes a robust exit from recession (Reuters).
Brazil’s state development bank BNDES will focus its 2010 lending on energy projects and infrastructure to support continued economic growth, bank president Luciano Coutinho said (Reuters).
Brazil’s tax collection may rise 11 percent next year, allowing the government to boost spending while still meeting its fiscal targets (Bloomberg)
RIO
‘The Olympic Effect’ may already be well underway in Rio’s real estate market with prices expected to double in many of the city’s neighborhoods by 2016, but values in one of the most fashionable parts of the city will receive another significant boost later on this month (Rio Times).
BUSINESS
American agribusiness company Bunge is more than doubling its sugar cane milling capacity in Brazil, by acquiring sugar and ethanol producer Moema for US$452 million in stock (Rio Times).
Brazilian lender Itau Unibanco is considering buying stakes in one of the United Kingdom banks rescued by the government during the height of the global credit crisis of 2008, the U.K. Sunday Times reported (Reuters).
Brazilian mining company Vale expects iron ore production in 2010 to reach about 300 million tonnes, Chief Executive Roger Agnelli said (Reuters).
Brazil’s state-controlled energy firm Petrobras bought a 40.4 percent stake in a mill that produces ethanol biofuel from sugar cane, the company said in a filing with the local securities market regulator (Reuters).
Goldman Sachs plans to start a private pension fund in Brazil in the first quarter of 2010. New York-based Goldman is negotiating a partnership with an insurance company to distribute the fund (Bloomberg).
PORTS & AIRPORTS
LLX Logistica, the Brazilian logistics firm controlled by billionaire Eike Batista, said it obtained a loan of 408 million reais ($234 million) for its Sudeste Port from state development bank BNDES (Reuters).
Brazil’s government will raise investments in airports to prepare for the 2014 World Cup, Budget Minister Paulo Bernardo said. Brazil may have 10 percent more passengers during this period, Bernardo said in an interview to government radio Radiobras (Bloomberg).
OIL
Brazilian oil and gas start-up company OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes said it had found signs of more hydrocarbons in well 1-OGX-3-RJS, off Rio de Janeiro’s coast in the southern part of the Campos basin (Reuters).
ENERGY
Demand for electricity in Brazil will probably soar next year as factories ramp up output and household income continues to rise, a government agency said (Reuters).
The South Atlantic in 2010
In Agriculture, Angola, Banking, Brazil, Cape Verde, Economy, Elections, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, Real estate, Security, South Africa, Surinam, Tourism on December 20, 2009 at 7:30 pmSeason’s greetings to all readers of Atlantico Weekly!
Atlantico Weekly is proud to present a short forecast for Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, South Africa and Surinam in 2010.
Brazil news update, December 14th
In Agriculture, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, Telecom, Travel on December 14, 2009 at 7:05 pmECONOMY
At present, Brazil is the fifth-largest country in the world and has the fifth-largest population as well. But in 17 years’ time, it will also be the fifth-largest economy in the world, says its finance minister, Guido Mantega. Read the full article at the BBC.
Brazil’s government said it will lend an additional $80 billion reais ($45.3 billion) to the national development bank over the next two years to boost investment and keep the economy’s strong recovery on track (Reuters).
Brazil’s economy created a record number of jobs in November, in the latest sign the country’s labor market has fully recovered from this year’s recession, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said (Reuters).
BUSINESS
Brazil’s JBS SA, the world’s largest beef processor, said it plans to raise the equivalent of $2 billion in a bond offering, part of a plan to fund its U.S. unit after the takeover of Pilgrim’s Pride Corp (Reuters).
China’s Lenovo, the world’s fourth-largest seller of personal computers, is “open” to buy rivals in Brazil, where it wants to triple market share by 2014, if it strikes the right acquisition price, the company’s top two officials said (Reuters).
Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s third largest aircraft maker, has signed an agreement with CDB Leasing Co worth $2.2 billion over three years to help finance the sale of regional jets in Asia (Reuters).
Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s third-largest aircraft maker, will likely sell a record $500 million worth of planes in Brazil this year, helping offset a tumble in global demand amid the worst civil aviation market in years (Reuters).
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer will be invited to join a tender to supply narrow-bodied planes to United Airlines, the head of United’s parent company UAL Corp said (Reuters).
France’s Renault SA plans to invest about 1 billion reais ($571 million) in Brazil over the next three years, the company’s chief for the Mercosur trade bloc said (Reuters).
MINING
Iron ore prices will likely rise in 2010, underpinned by growing demand from China, the chief executive of Brazilian mining giant Vale said, without offering estimates of how much prices could rise (Reuters).
AMAZON
The $7.7 billion Santo Antonio dam on the Madeira river is part of Brazil’s largest concerted development plan for the Amazon since the country’s military government cut highways through the rain forest to settle the vast region during its two-decade reign starting in 1964. Read the full report at Reuters.
Brazil took a step forward in protecting the Amazon rainforest, starting satellite surveillance of the cattle ranches that are among the chief culprits in the forest’s destruction (Reuters).
AGRICULTURE
Brazilian authorities have approved the use of a new genetically-modified soy seed which was developed jointly by BASF and state agricultural researchers in the world’s No. 2 soy exporter (Reuters).
Sugar output in Brazil, the world’s largest producer, will rise to a record after declining supplies from India boosted demand for sweetener from the South American country, the government said (Bloomberg).
FINANCE
BTG Pactual, the securities firm led by Andre Esteves, is set to launch a private equity-backed Brazilian infrastructure fund, to take advantage of massive road, port and dam projects (Reuters).
OIL
Brazil’s lower house of Congress has approved the second of four bills designed to overhaul the country’s oil legislation and give the government greater control over vast new offshore reserves (Reuters).
Brazil’s Petrobras expects to raise more than $10 billion in a sale of shares it is planning as part of an ambitious expansion effort, the company’s Chief Executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli said (Reuters).
Brazil’s oil giant Petrobras said tests confirmed that Iara oil field, off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, contains a potential of 3 billion to 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Reuters).
TELECOM
Spain’s Telefonica plans to spend more than 2 billion reais ($1.14 billion) in Brazil next year, compared with expected capital expenditures of 2.4 billion reais earmarked for 2009, the chief executive of its Brazilian unit Antonio Carlos Valente said (Reuters).
Panama unlocking its Canal and future
In Economy, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure, Investments, Panama, Ports on December 6, 2009 at 3:28 pmTen years ago Panama took possession of the canal that bears its name. Under Panamanian control the canal was run much better than under the Americans. Panama now has high hopes for a $5.25 billion expansion of the waterway to boost the economy ot the tiny country. Read the full report in The Economist
Cape Verde news update, November 29th
In Airports, Banking, Cape Verde, Economy, Energy, Infrastructure, Telecom, Tourism, Travel on November 29, 2009 at 9:45 pmECONOMY
The government has proposed the elaboration of partnerships with the private sector to create management corporations for water and electricity utility Electra on an island-by-island basis (A Semana).
The Bank of Cape Verde (BCV) is expecting a “slight recovery” of the economy in 2010, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth of between 4 and 5 percent, after “continues slowdown” due to an “unfavourable international climate” (Macauhub).
The government of Cape Verde wants to turn the Archipelago into a “cybernetic island” and to do this will be supported by India, specifically in creating a technological hub, Cape Verde’s Foreign Affairs Minister said in Praia (Macauhub).
BANKING
Banco Interatlântico has opened its first branch on the island of Santiago outside of the city of Praia. The new branch, in the city of Assomada, is its eighth in the country. The central region of the island of Santiago has grown economically over the past several years, and is now third in the growth ranking in Cape Verde, following the city of Praia and the island of São Vicente (A Semana).
TRAVEL
Cape Verde is currently under the influence of a zone-specific anti-cyclone flow that is favoring the transportation of dust from the coast of Mauritania to the archipelago. The phenomenon, known in Cape Verde as “dry haze,” has led TACV Cabo Verde Airlines to cancel flights from the island of Sal to other islands (A Semana).
Cape Verde’s airline has become a fully-fledged member of the International air Transport Association (IATA), the company’s commercial director said (Macauhub).
Brazil news update, November 8th
In Banking, Brazil, Economy, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, Ports, Real estate, Telecom on November 8, 2009 at 2:07 pmECONOMY
Brazil will publish on Monday a preliminary list of U.S. goods it intends to hit with trade sanctions in retaliation for Washington’s cotton subsidies, a senior government official told Reuters.
Emboldened by emergency measures that helped pull Brazil out of a brief recession, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is intervening more aggressively in the economy and betting on big government (Reuters).
Brazilian congressional committees passed two of four bills designed to overhaul the country’s oil legislation and give the government greater control over vast new offshore reserves (Reuters).
BUSINESS
Mexico’s state oil company Pemex said it signed a letter of intent with a consortium led by Brazil’s Braskem SA to supply raw materials for a proposed petrochemicals plant the consortium may build in Mexico (Reuters).
Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer will produce its 120-seat E-190 jet in China to respond faster when the country’s aviation market recovers, O Estado de S. Paulo said (Reuters).
Brazilian iron ore mining company Vale signed an agreement worth 900 million reais ($520 million) over three years granting access to its railway and port operations to local steel maker Usiminas (Reuters).
ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, will partner with mining giant Vale to build a steel mill in southeastern Brazil as part of a plan to spend $5 billion in the South American country, Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal told daily Valor Economico (Reuters).
OIL & GAS
Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras said it signed an agreement to buy Chevron Chile, a producer and seller of industrial lubricants under the brand name Texaco in Chile, for around $12 million (Reuters).
Brazil’s Petrobras has found natural gas in Peru’s Amazon jungle and the discovery of about 1 trillion cubic feet could turn out to be much larger, Peruvian President Alan Garcia said (Reuters).
INVESTMENT
Gerdau, Brazil’s largest steelmaker, plans capital expenditures of 9.5 billion reais ($5.5 billion) for the 2010-2014 period, with around 80 percent of the investments within Brazil, Chief Executive Andre Gerdau Johannpeter said (Reuters).
REAL ESTATE
Brazil, a future host of the World Cup and the Olympics, is drawing global investor interest to its real estate sector. As investors and analysts predict a wave of investment in Brazil in coming months, read a sampling of recent deals at Reuters.
TELECOM
America Movil Chief Financial Officer Varlos Garcia Moreno said Brazil’s economic resilience will help its wireless industry outpace other Latin American countries through 2010 (Bloomberg).
BANKING
Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, will become a major financial center, “just like the City of London, Frankfurt and New York,” said Emilio Botin, chairman of Banco Santander SA (Bloomberg).
Brazil news update, September 13th
In Banking, Brazil, Economy, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, Telecom on September 13, 2009 at 9:03 pmPOLITICS
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called on the country’s iron ore miner Vale, the world’s largest, to favor local industry in the purchase of large items such as ships to create more jobs in the South American country (Reuters).
Brazil’s Environment Minister Carlos Minc said that U.S. targets for greenhouse gas emissions are unacceptably weak and that Brazil will place new restrictions on its huge farm sector to cut deforestation (Reuters).
OIL
Brazil’s state-run Petrobras this month will launch a bid round on 28 oil rigs to be built in Brazil and used for massive offshore subsalt fields, the company said (Reuters).
BANKING
Brazil’s stringent banking sector rules, once seen as burdensome, are suddenly being viewed as admirable as the Group of 20 nations look to fortify financial institutions against future crises (Reuters).
Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-largest bank, would like to expand in Brazil and Colombia to increase its Latin American banking platform (Bloomberg).
TELECOMS
French media giant Vivendi’s unexpected foray into Brazil’s telecommunications market could spark a bidding war for its takeover target, GVT, as rivals jostle for control of its broadband assets and license to operate nationwide (Reuters).
INVESTMENT
The richest man in the world by 1927, Henry Ford wanted to do more than make cars. He bought two and a half million acres in the Brazilian Amazon to create a utopian American community. A new book tells the story of the rise and fall of Fordlandia (Bloomberg).
ECONOMY
Brazil’s gross domestic product grew more than analysts forecast in the second quarter, pulling the economy out of its first recession since 2003 thanks to rising domestic demand (Bloomberg).
Angola news update, September 13th
In Angola, Banking, Economy, Infrastructure, Oil, Ports, South Africa on September 13, 2009 at 8:47 pmBANKING
CEO-designate Sizwe Nxasana, soon to lead one of South Africa’s big banks, FirstRand, has said the group plans to set up a commercial bank in Angola (Reuters).
CONSTRUCTION
Mota-Engil SGPS SA, a Portuguese construction company, aims to have contracts for projects in Angola’s energy industry next year, Jornal de Negocios reported, citing Chairman Antonio Mota (Bloomberg).
INFRASTRUCTURE
A new road bridge over the Catumbela river in central Benguela province has been inaugurated. On the coast, the port of Lobito handled over 1.5 million tonnes in the first half of 2009. Announced was the construction project of a dry port in Bairro Luz and the construction of a quay for loading and unloading mineral material (ANGOP).
OIL
An oil exploration project dubbed Tômbua-Lândana, with 46 wells, started producing on Tuesday at Block 14, with view to reach 100,000 barrels of oil/day by the year 2010 (ANGOP).
ECONOMY
The chairman of Angola’s National Private Investment Agency (ANIP), Aguinaldo Jaime, said that despite the international financial crisis the Angolan government’s projection for this year was to reach growth of around 6 percent (Macauhub).
Cape Verde news update, September 6th
In Airports, Banking, Cape Verde, Infrastructure, Tourism, Travel on September 6, 2009 at 2:46 pmBANKING
Cape Verdean commercial bank Banco Cabo-verdiano de Negócios (BCN) is planning to open a branch in the United States. The announcement was made by the vice-president of the bank’s administrative council, António Rocha Moreira, in a press conference in Fall River, Massachusetts (A Semana).
AIR TRAVEL
The State of Cape Verde’s operational air safety system will be audited, beginning on September 14, by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The audit will continue until the end of the month and will be conducted by a group of specialists from the organization (A Semana).
INFRASTRUCTURE
With the summer heat being felt all over the island, the new road linking the villages of Norte Baía and Calhau is the newest tourist attraction on São Vicente. The modern, asphalted road has seen a pilgrimage of locals and foreigners, especially on weekends (A Semana).
China is to support infrastructure development projects in Cape Verde, particularly for social housing, energy, cement production and the restoration of Cabnave shipyards, to the tune of over US$240 million (Macauhub).
TOURISM
Promoting the island of Santo Antão and its tourist sector is the main objective of a project intended to capture aerial views of Cape Verde’s most mountainous island (A Semana).
Angola news update, August 29th
In Angola, Energy, Infrastructure, Investments, Oil, Ports, Telecom on August 30, 2009 at 1:06 pmINVESTMENT
The private investment project called “SLN – Fábrica de Cimento e Clinker de Benguela”, approved by the Cabinet Council, is estimated at Usd 240 million. The promoters of the project are SLN-International, SGPS S.A (Portuguese company), Tecnoimóvel Limitada (Angolan company) and the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) Social Security Provident Fund (ANGOP).
The Angolan government is to invest 2.0 billion US dollars by 2012 in Soyo district in northern Zaire Province, in order to relaunch local industries based on liquefied natural gas and other petrochemicals (ANGOP).
TELECOM
The mobile-phone operator Unitel will later this year link the provinces of Luanda, Huambo, Huíla and Benguela through fibre optic cable . The company’s manager, who was speaking at the end of a meeting with Huambo governor, Albino Malungo, said that it is a nation-wide project, estimated at USD 100 million (ANGOP).
POWER
The manager for international products of Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, Sérgio Kraenzer, said that the country may be able to supply 5,319 megawatts of electrical power by 2016. The country counts currently on distribution of 967 megawatts, a low capacity to cover all national territory (ANGOP).
PORTS
At least two new commercial ports will be constructed in Angola from 2009 to 2013, with the purpose of improving harbour services, particularly in the process of unloading, customs and clearance of containers and goods (ANGOP).
CONSTRUCTION
Depa Ltd., the interiors contractor for the world’s tallest tower in Dubai, won a 9.2 million-dirham ($2.5 million) contract to fit out the Talatona Convention Centre Hotel in Luanda, Angola (Bloomberg).
OIL
State owned oil company Sonangol is among those selected by the Iraqi government as potential bidders for exploitation of Iraqi oilfields (Bloomberg).
Angolan opportunities for SA aviation business
In Airports, Angola, Economy, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure, Politics, Security, South Africa, Travel on August 30, 2009 at 12:32 pmPresident Jacob Zuma’s recent visit to Angola has gone a long way to smoothing the way for the businesses that formed part of his delegation, particularly in the aviation sector. For the aviation industry Angola is seen as a vital market but has until now been difficult to reach.
Read the report at BusinessDay
The story behind Brazil’s new airline Azul
In Airports, Brazil, Infrastructure, Investments, Tourism, Travel on August 29, 2009 at 9:17 amAzul’s founder and CEO David Neeleman thinks Brazil is just as good a place to do business as America.
Read the full story at The Economist
Angola news update, August 22nd
In Angola, Banking, Energy, Infrastructure, Investments, Oil, Ports, South Africa on August 22, 2009 at 11:11 amPORTS
The waiting period for ships to unload, at the port of Luanda, has fallen from 80 to 10 days after the introduction of new operating rules, Angola’s Transport Minister, Augusto Tomás said in Luanda (Macauhub).
The investment plan for the modernisation of the general cargo terminal at the port of Luanda for the next five years, valued at US$52 million, aims to provide the port with greater operating capacity, the general director of Multiterminais said (Macauhub).
ENERGY
The deputy Angolan Energy Minsiter, João Baptista Borges said in Cuito, in Angola’s Bié province, that the government planned to quickly replace the energy potential the country had before its civil war, by 2013 (Macauhub).
CONSTRUCTION
Russia’s Alrosa, one of the world’s biggest mining companies will invest $500 million to build homes, schools and dams in Angola in the next few years, a company official said (Reuters).
ATLANTICO
South Africa is the African country that invested most in the Angolan economy. South African investment amounts for a total of 3.3 percent, or US$60 million of African investments. The sectors in which most South African investments have been made are manufacturing industry with 37.5 percent of the total, retail with 12.8 percent and construction with 11.4 percent (Macauhub).
Angolan and South African businesses urged an end to visa restrictions they say are damaging economic ties between South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, and one of Africa’s biggest oil producers (Reuters).
INVESTMENTS
Geo-Rumo, a special foundations company of Portugal’s FDO group, said Monday in Braga, northern Portugal, that it had invested 25 million euros in the creation of a subsidiary on Luanda Island in Angola (Macauhub).
Japanese group Sharp Corp plans to set up a factory in Angola, the group’s director for Malaysia, Yukio Sakamoto said at the group’s first seminar in Angola and in Africa, cited by Angolan newspaper Jornal de Angola (Macauhub).
BANKING
Angolan-owned bank, Banco Privado Atlântico – Europa (BPAE), owned by Banco Privado Atlântico (BPA), began operating in Portugal on Monday, in the investment banking sector (Macauhub).
OIL
Angola’s daily crude oil exports are scheduled to rise to the highest this year, signaling that Africa’s second-biggest producer continues to pump more than its OPEC quota (Bloomberg).
South Africa signs oil deal with Angola
In Angola, Brazil, Economy, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, South Africa on August 21, 2009 at 10:42 amSouth African President Jacob Zuma signed on Thursday an oil agreement with his Angolan counterpart during a visit aimed at strengthening economic ties with the oil-rich country.
Read the whole story at the Mail & Guardian
Earlier Angolan president Dos Santos said Angola needed more qualified labour from SA to help rebuild infrastructure destroyed by Angola’s 27-year civil war, which ended in 2002, and to tap into its oil and mining industry.
“We want to create a strategic partnership between our two countries,” Dos Santos said in a speech to his cabinet and 11 South African ministers as he sat next to Zuma. Zuma is accompanied by a delegation of more than 150 South African businessmen. Pretoria billed the trip as the biggest business delegation to take part in a state visit abroad since 1994.
For more on this story see BusinessDay
Zuma’s Angola visit to focus on trade
In Angola, Economy, Elections, Energy, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, South Africa on August 18, 2009 at 9:37 pmSouth African President Jacob Zuma travels to Angola on Wednesday in a bid to strengthen ties between the continent’s biggest economy and one of its top oil producers.
Read the report at the Mail & Guardian
Angola news update, August 15th
In Agriculture, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Economy, Energy, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure, Investments, Retail, South Africa on August 15, 2009 at 8:45 amBUSINESS
South African furniture manufacturer and retailer Coricraft is broadening its horizons with a move into Angola later this year. MD David Jacobson says “Africa holds great appeal” and the company has signed a distribution agreement for Angola which will start towards the year-end. Under the deal, Coricraft will supply product to an Angolan retail agent with a view to developing this market (BusinessDay).
CORRUPTION
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Angolan Foreign Minister Assuncao dos Anjos address a press conference in Luanda, August 9, 2009 -Clinton pressed Angola on Sunday to do more to fight corruption during a two-day visit to the oil-producing country aimed at bolstering ties between the two nations (BusinessDay).
ATLANTIC
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, bringing her democracy and development tour of Africa to oil-rich Angola on Sunday, encouraged the war-ravaged country to continue reforms and pledged to boost trade ties with a major energy producer (News24).
ATLANTICO
Trade between the eight members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) remains at low levels, says the head of the Council of Portuguese Chambers of Commerce in Brazil, Romulo Alexandre Soares. Soares told the Lusa news agency: “Today these states have trade with the rest of the world valued at around US$ 550 billion, but between them level is around US$ 13 billion or about 2.3% of their total international exchanges.” The official was citing figures from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (Macauhub).
INVESTMENT
At least sixteen factories will be built in the coming four years, in the northern Zaire Province, under the government programme to re-launch the manufacturing industry, on Thursday announced the local industry, geology and mining department director, Adão Alberto Sofia (ANGOP).
COFFEE
Angola’s coffee production this year is expected to reach 17,000 tons, according to deputy minister of Agriculture, Zacarias Sambeny. Mr Sambeny said the figure represents the Government’s investment in the sector, in an effort to relaunch coffee production in the country. According to the deputy minister, production in 2008 reached six tons, which is far below the 200,000 tons of 1973, when Angola was the third world producer (ANGOP).
ECONOMY
The World Bank has upwardly revised its prediction for a 3% contraction in Angola this year to 0% (Macauhub).
INFRASTRUCTURE
India is to provide US$ 40 million for the building of a railway between the cities of Lubango and Matala in the province of Huila, India’s ambassador to Angola, Ghanashyam Ajjampor Rangaiam has said (Macauhub).
