Atlantico Weekly

Archive for the ‘Investments’ Category

Angola Business News

In Airports, Angola, Economy, Foreign Trade, Investments, Oil, Politics, Ports, Travel on September 17, 2010 at 8:27 am

POLITICS

Angola’s powerful Economy Minister, Manuel Nunes Junior, will step down soon, two privately owned weekly newspapers cited unnamed sources as saying (Reuters).

The campaign for Angola’s 2012 elections is off to a ill-tempered start with the ruling MPLA party and the opposition UNITA party accusing each other of dirty tactics that threaten a return to violence in the oil producing nation (Reuters).

ECONOMY

Angola’s annual inflation quickened to 13.99 percent year-on-year in August from 13.7 percent the previous month, the National Statistics Institute said (Reuters).

Angola’s central bank has loosened the kwanza peg by allowing local banks to bid for U.S. dollars at its weekly auctions with fewer bidding restrictions (Reuters).

Higher exports and oil prices have helped Angola’s economy recover in 2010, while companies are spending more now that the government has started to pay off some of its debt, the deputy governor of the country’s central bank said (Reuters).

OIL

Angola’s daily crude oil exports are scheduled to drop in November, according to the preliminary loading plan which excludes shipments of the Palanca grade (Bloomberg).

AVIATION

Air France-KLM plans flights to new African destinations, among which Angola (Bloomberg).

BUSINESS

A shipyard with a 250 metre-long dock was opened in Porto Amboim, in Angola’s Kwanza Sul province, as part of an investment of US$150 million.
The investment is part of a partnership between Angolan company Cenbir and Dutch company Heerema Marine Contractors, and the shipyard has two 300-ton cranes, two transport rafts and a tug (Macauhub).

Portugal’s largest builder Mota-Engil plans to sell a 49 percent stake in its Angolan unit to local partners Sonangol and BFA in the next few weeks, Chief Financial Officer Luis Silva said (Reuters).

TRADE

The trade volume between India and Angola is estimated at over USD 5 billion (ANGOP).

Angola Business News

In Angola, Biofuels, Economy, Hotels, Infrastructure, Investments, Oil, Politics on September 3, 2010 at 8:34 am

POLITICAL RISK

Angola’s ruling MPLA party emerged victorious from a 27-year civil war in 2002 promising a better life for Angolans but this dream is fading as corruption is rife and the government is seen failing to help the poor. Read the political risk analysis at Reuters.

ECONOMY

Angola’s foreign exchange reserves dropped slightly for the second straight month to $15.29 billion in July from $15.52 billion in June, the central bank said (Reuters).

Investment in Angola’s private sector in the first half totalled US$1.255 billion, almost three times the US$450 million invested in the same period of 2009 (Macauhub).

Public works, education and transport projects have benefited most from credit concession agreement between the China Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) and Angola, which now total US$4.547 billion (Macauhub).

OIL

Angolan authorities cut gasoline and diesel subsidies as a prelude to liberalising the country’s downstream oil sector, triggering a steep rise in pump prices and the threat of protests from irate motorists (Reuters).

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CONSTRUCTION

Portugal’s largest builder Mota-Engil expects Angola to settle its debt with the company by the end of the first quarter, Chief Financial Officer Luis Silva said (Reuters).

INFRA

The Angolan government asked for financial and technological support from Japan for the construction of a bridge between the provinces of Zaire and Cabinda, the National Private Investment Agency (ANIP) said (Macauhub).

The Luanda/Malanje railroad, which has been undergoing reconstruction since 2005, in the next two months will be able to operate an experimental freight train, the Deputy Transport Minister for the railway sector said (Macauhub).

BIOFUELS

Biofuels companies from the U.K. to Brazil and China are buying up large swaths of Africa including Angola, causing deforestation and diverting land from food to fuel production, the environmental group Friends of the Earth said (Bloomberg).

HOTELS

The Boavista neighbourhood of Angola’s capital, Luanda will soon have a new hotel called “Empreendimento Pestana Luanda Hotel e Suites,” with 230 rooms, 50 of which will be suites (Macauhub).

Cape Verde politics & regional

In Cape Verde, Infrastructure, Investments, Real estate on August 8, 2010 at 10:01 am

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Cape Verdean workers in Angola and Angolans in Cape Verde are now protected by the two countries’ social security systems under the same conditions as if they were in their own countries (A Semana).

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

The Fortim Mindelo project for Sao Vicente (Source).

FOGO

The extension of the electricity network to Chã das Caldeiras and Cabeça Fundão using renewable energy is expected to begin before the end of this year (A Semana).

SAL

The alleged sale of lands inside Integrated Tourist Development Zones by the Sal municipal chamber has once again caused heated discussions during a Sal municipal assembly session (A Semana).

SANTIAGO

The Praia municipal chamber has decided to prohibit the display, sale, distribution, exchange or rental of illegally copied scientific, literary or artistic works – such as music and films –  in the city’s municipal markets (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

Vacationing émigrés and some local residents of the town of Ponta do Sol, on the island of Santo Antão, held a demonstration to protest the “degraded” state of the cobblestone pavement of the main streets in the town (A Semana).

The three municipalities on the island of Santo Antão – Porto Novo, Paúl and Ribeira Grande – now have a mobile Casa do Cidadão (House of the Cirtizen) office, through which individuals in the island’s most isolated areas may obtain on-line certificates and quickly register businesses (A Semana).

SAO VICENTE

Water and electricity utility Electra’s production and distribution capacity does not allow it to meet the demand for water on the island of São Vicente (A Semana).

Four more of those suspected of involvement in the alleged illegal land sale scheme on São Vicente have been summoned for questioning by the Judiciary Police, who are investigating the case (A Semana).

Angola business news

In Angola, Economy, Investments, Oil, Politics on August 1, 2010 at 8:46 am

POLITICS

Exiled leaders of the Angolan separatist group FLEC announced an end to their armed struggle for control of the African country’s oil-producing enclave of Cabinda (Reuters).

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

Render of the four towers of the SKY Centre in Luanda, currently under construction (Skyscrapercity).

LUANDA

The capital in a country where most of the population lives in poverty has overtaken Tokyo as the most expensive in the world for foreigners, according to a study by consulting firm Mercer. Foreigners plop down $15 for a cheeseburger, $150 for haircuts; $2,500 for a one-year gym membership and tens of thousands of dollars for rent (Reuters).

ECONOMY

Angola owes foreign building firms $9 billion, the Finance Ministry said, a higher figure than Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos gave the previous day and one that could hamper its plans for a $4 billion bond (Reuters).

Angola’s unexpected $9 billion debt bill to foreign building firms will not affect its B+ rating as some payment arrears were expected and the country’s overall debt burden is low, ratings agency Fitch said (Reuters).

Portugal’s biggest buildling firm, Mota Engil, does not expect its first half results to be affected by millions of dollars in late payments from Angola, which represents 20 percent of its business (Reuters).

OIL

Angolan crude exports will fall to the lowest level in three-and-a-half years to 1.52 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, preliminary loading programmes showed (Reuters).

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras discovered an oil field on the coast of Angola with at least 500 million barrels of high grade crude, the company said (Reuters).

INVESTMENT

Angola is looking for partners to contribute around $870 million to revamp three textile plants and jump start its once-prosperous textile sector, the nation’s mining and industry minister said (Reuters).

Angolan business group Gema three days ago presented an investment proposal to the Angolan National Private Investment Agency (ANIP), for construction of a steel factory in Bengo province, the group’s chairman, José Leitão said (Macauhub).

Cape Verde politics & regional

In Agriculture, Airports, Brazil, Cape Verde, Elections, Infrastructure, Investments, Politics, Tourism on June 27, 2010 at 7:31 am

ELECTIONS

Praia’s Jorge Barbosa National Auditorium proved too small for the crowd of youths and batuko singers who made their way there to express their support for a possible presidential bid on the part of David Hopffer Almada. With a relative scarcity of major political names, the event was attended, among others, by former Minister of Culture Manuel Veiga (A Semana).

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will begin a trip to the African continent on July 3. The trip, which will begin in Cape Verde, will also take him to Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa (A Semana).

Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva will visit Cape Verde from July 4th  to 7th at the invitation of his Cape Verde counterpart, Pedro Pires, in order to participate in the commemorative ceremonies of the 35th anniversary of Cape Verde’s independence.

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero reiterated his government’s willingness to “reinforce the European Union’s strategic relationship with Cape Verde” during a meeting with Cape Verdean Prime Minister José Maria Neves. Madrid will maintain the financial support it has given Cape Verde, particularly in the fight against the threats posed by organized crime and drug trafficking (A Semana).

Cape Verde will participate in the implementation of a “One Stop Shop” for the tourism sector in five provinces of Mozambique, following the signing recently of a cooperation protocol between Cape Verde’s NOSi and Mozambique’s Ministry of Tourism (A Semana).

DEFENCE

The commander of the United States African Command Africom has affirmed that “trafficking of all kinds robs Africa of its economic potential” and cited Cape Verde’s fight against drug trafficking and maritime security program as “an example to follow” (A Semana).

SAL

The mortality rate of sea turtles on the island of Sal dropped by approximately 10% in 2009 as a result of the protection and preservation campaigns carried out last year (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

Prime Minister José Maria Neves presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the Porto Novo port dock on the island of Santo Antão (A Semana).

The next major investment planned for Cape Verde’s Santo Antao Island will be the airport, whose studies have already been completed, Cape Verdean Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves said (Macauhub).

About 15 thousand pines, grevillea and acacias will be planted during July and August in the forest perimeter of Planalto Leste, in Santo Antão.

SANTIAGO

The Capeverdean government signed the contract for the construction of three dams on Santiago, as part of the programme for  infrastructure for the agricultural sector and water management. The dams are widely believed to spark of an agricultural revolution on the island.

SAO NICOLAU

The first dams to be built on São Nicolau will be in Ribeira Brava, in the Valley of Fajã, Tucudo, in the valley of Queimadas , and Ribeira de João (Inforpress).

Cape Verde business & economy

In Agriculture, Airports, Banking, Cape Verde, Economy, Infrastructure, Investments, Politics, Real estate, Tourism on June 27, 2010 at 7:30 am

ATLANTICO WEEKLY ON VACATION

Please note that the Atlantico Weekly team will be on holidays during the month of July. There will be therefore no new editions until August. And yes, we will be swimming in the Atlantic…

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

The Ponta Bicuda resort on Santiago (Ponta Bicuda).

PICTURES WANTED!

Please help us develop this Building of the Week feature and send us your pictures of interesting buildings or developments…

ECONOMY

A new study revealed that Cape Verdean emigrants’ remittances sent to their families are used largely for consumption, especially in food and the education of their children (Inforpress).

AVIATION

Cape Verdean state airline, TACV is to buy two aircraft to increase its fleet and has launched a new class, between economy and executive, for improved passenger comfort (Macauhub).

TOURISM

The doors to the second edition of tourism trade fair Expotur opened last Friday. Some 50 stands and 31 exhibitors – 10 of them foreign – are inside São Filipe Fort in Cidade Velha. Some 15 international journalists have also come to Cape Verde to give “greater projection” to the event, the theme of which this year is “Back to the Origins.” Expotur will run until June 27 (A Semana).

All of Cape Verde’s islands show potential for the development of rural tourism, according to a study carried out at the request of the National Union of Tourism Operators (Unotur). The study investigated the available tourist products and their diversity in rural areas of all of the country’s municipalities (A Semana).

The municipality of Porto Novo on the island of Santo Antão is the site of Cape Verde’s first youth hostel, which was officially unveiled by Prime Minister José Maria Neves (A Semana).

BANKING & FINANCE

The net results of Banco Interatlântico (BI) of Cape Verde (part of the Portuguese Grupo Caixa Geral de Depósitos) decreased around 2 percent in 2009 compared to 2008 (Inforpress).

The City Hall of Sal has earned 200 million Cape Verdean escudos (US$2.2 million) from its bond issue, carried out from 7 to 18 June by the Cape Verdean Stock Exchange (Macauhub).

MEDICAL SECTOR

The Italian Ettore Sansavini Foundation for the promotion of health in the world, that runs the management of the Hospital São Francisco de Assis in São Filipe since  Ferbuary, aims to make this hospital a reference for the Islands and for the West coast of Africa (Inforpress).

Angola Business News

In Angola, Banking, Economy, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure, Investments, Oil, Politics, Ports on June 27, 2010 at 7:29 am

ECONOMY

Angola reduced the amount of assets commercial banks must keep at the central bank to boost liquidity and lending, Economy Minister Manuel Nunes Junior said (Bloomberg).

The Angolan economy might become Africa’s fifth by 2014, economist Alves da Rocha said (Angop).

The new park to hold international fairs in Angola, which is still in the design stage, will be built in the capital Luanda in an area of 340 hectares (Macauhub).

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The presidents of Brazil and Angola signed bilateral agreements and a protocol of understanding for the concession of new credits to Angola to the value of US$1 billion (Macauhub).

ATLANTICO WEEKLY ON VACATION

Please note that the Atlantico Weekly team will be on holidays during the month of July. There will be therefore no new editions until August. And yes, we will be swimming in the Atlantic…

POLITICS

Four Angolan human rights activists went on trial for “crimes against state security” in the oil-rich province of Cabinda, over the deadly shooting attack on Togo’s football team in January (News24).

OIL

Angola’s state oil company Sonangol wants to work in Ghana’s emerging oil industry, which is expected to start producing crude later this year from a massive new field (News24).

The governor of the National Bank of Angola (BNA), Abraão Gourgel, said that the oil sector currently accounted for 55 percent of Angola’s gross domestic product (GDP) (Macauhub).

BANKING

A U.S. unit of HSBC has cut ties with some Angolan banks, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, months after a U.S. Senate investigation criticised it for lax oversight of accounts held by Angolans, including a former central bank governor (Reuters).

MINING

Russian diamond mining giant Alrosa is selling out of Angola, according to notes in the audited financial reports (BusinessDay).

A diamond exploration contract for the “Luxinge Project” was signed among the Angolan National Diamond Company (Endiama), Compesa Angola, Sheffield,  Syntechron Tríade and the International Sweden Gold Exploration (IGE) (Angop).

INFRA

The Luanda/Ndalatando/Malange railway link will start operating again in the second half of July once reconstruction of the 400 kilometres of line is concluded, said the chairman of railway company, Caminhos-de-Ferro de Luanda (CFL) (Macauhub).

The project to modernize and extend the port of Lobito is budgeted at US$1.2 billion (Macauhub).

Angola business news

In Airports, Angola, Investments, Oil, Ports on June 13, 2010 at 10:49 am

OIL

Maersk Oil said its Chissonga-2 appraisal well in Block 16 offshore Angola yielded encouraging results and it expected to decide in early 2011 whether to start production (Reuters).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Foreigners working in Angola’s booming construction sector are sexually abusing underage girls in the southern city of Huila, an anti-Aids organisation said (News24).

A human rights campaigner has been sentenced to three years in jail by an Angolan court that convicted him of committing crimes against the state, in what his lawyer says is part of a crackdown on activists (News24).

PORTS

The acquisition of three tug boats will make it possible to speed up the process of mooring and departure of ships at the port of Luanda, the managing director of the Angolan Maritime and Port Institute said (Macauhub).

ENERGY

The start of operation of the Ngove hydroelectric dam in 2011 in Angola, will make it possible for the government of Huambo province to save 843 million kwanza (US$9 million) (Macauhub).

AIRPORTS

Angola’s Minister for Urbanism and Construction, José Ferreira, announced the construction, as of next year, of a new airport for the city of Mbanza Kongo, the capital of Zaire province (Macauhub).

Cape Verde: business & economy

In Cape Verde, Economy, Energy, Hotels, Infrastructure, Investments, Tourism, Travel on June 6, 2010 at 7:47 am

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

The new hotel at Fortim Mindelo, Sao Vicente

ECONOMY

The “great economic synchronisation” of Cape Verde with Europe, in particular the Euro Zone, “where there are serious problems”, will constrain the Cape Verdean economy in case of a deepening of the crisis, the Governor of the Bank of Cape Verde (BCV) warned (Inforpress).

TOURISM

Portuguese and Cape Verdean businesspeople are interested in carrying out the cruise liner terminal project in Sao Vicente, the chairman of port management company Enapor said in Praia (Macauhub).

UTILITIES

The Council of Ministers has authorized water and electricity utility Electra to transfer rights and obligations to a private Cape Verdean corporation for the transportation and distribution of electricity and water on the island of Boa Vista (A Semana).

PICTURES WANTED!

Please send us your pictures of new developments and buildings on Cape Verde so we can continue our feature Building of the week…

SPLIT SECOND POLL

Angola business news

In Airports, Angola, Brazil, Economy, Infrastructure, Investments, Oil, Tourism, Travel on June 6, 2010 at 7:47 am

ECONOMY

Grinding poverty, human rights abuses and police detentions are fuelling tension in Angola’s oil-rich province of Cabinda, but for now, international oil companies have little to fear (News24).

AVIATION

Beginning this week, Atlas Air is operating three weekly nonstop flights between George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and Luanda, Angola. The newly customized Boeing 747-400 aircraft, provided by the Angolan SonAir company, feature 10 First Class, 143 Business Class and 36 Economy Class seats with the latest in-flight entertainment and comfort (Reuters).

OIL

Sonangol SA, Angola’s state oil company, will seek partners to help fund the development of Brazilian offshore blocks after buying exploration company Starfish (Bloomberg).

TRANSPORT

Angola’s Moçâmedes Railroad is to receive more locomotives and carriages for first, second and third class travel this year, which are due to start operating from the city of Lubango, Huila province (Macauhub).

ENTERTAINMENT

Angolan casino company Casinos de Angola plans to invest US$55 million over the next three years in opening three new casinos and refurbishing another (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).

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).

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).

Cape Verde news update, April 11th

In Agriculture, Airports, Cape Verde, Energy, Infrastructure, Investments, Oil, Real estate, Security on April 11, 2010 at 7:53 pm

POLITICS

National Assembly speaker Aristides Lima received a petition this week from a group of approximately 160 citizens of European Union and other European countries expressing their concern with a series of phenomena and problems affecting their lives and their investments on the island of Boa Vista (A Semana).

ECONOMY

A lack of workers is making this year’s sugar cane harvest difficult on Santo Antão island and jeopardizing the deadlines of some of the public works under way in the northern portion of the island (A Semana).

In 2008 the Cape Verdean market had 3,689 Portuguese companies exporting goods and services, or 7.5 percent more than in 2003, the delegate of the Portuguese trade and investment promotion agency, AICEP said (Macauhub).

ENERGY

The Alentejo Regional Development Agency (ADRAL), a Portuguese-Cape Verdean consortium, is preparing a small-scale solar and wind energy generating project for the island of Fogo in partnership with the Portuguese town of Ferreira and the company Open Renewables (A Semana).

The blackout that left Praia without electricity also paralyzed the capital city’s international airport. The situation was chaotic, with those in the terminal in utter darkness, while passengers arriving on TACV flight 6070 from Portugal were retained inside the aircraft for more than 40 minutes (A Semana).

BUSINESS

Anglo-Dutch corporation Shell has announced that it is in the process of selling its 21 affiliates in Africa, including that in Cape Verde. According to website Visão News, the decision is aimed at eliminating less profitable business dealings and concentrating capital in large-scale projects liable to increase the company’s stock and distribution of petroleum and gas (A Semana).

DEFENCE

The Armed Forces (AF) will in May recruit for the first time 10 to 12 women to attend the first course of female corporals (Inforpress).

REAL ESTATE

The Tecnicil company, owner of the Vila Verde resort on Sal, will start a  sales campaign aimed at Cape Verdean families to buy flats in the resort (Inforpress).

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).

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).

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