Atlantico Weekly

Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Cape Verde Politics & Islands

In Airports, Cape Verde, Politics on September 17, 2010 at 8:28 am

POLITICS

The accelerating of the liberalisation process and the pace of modernisation of the infrastructure with the construction of roads, airports, ports and sanitation allowed Cape Verde to be more competitive, the Prime Minister said (Inforpress).

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Cape Verdean stand’s logotype at the 2010 Shanghai Expo earned sixth place in a contest promoted by the newspaper China Daily. The contest included the stands of 130 American, African and European countries. Cape Verde is the only African country to be classified in the top nine (A Semana).

Two Brazilian teachers, of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul are supporting the University of Cape Verde on the programme of strengthening skills in Portuguese language and Mathematics of the students selected in the recent admission tests of Uni-CV (Inforpress).

The Cape Verdean businesswoman Loide Monteiro announced that the establishment of a Federation of Entrepreneur and Business women of ECOWAS, is being prepared in Cape Verde (Inforpress).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

The fight against drugs in West Africa has been welcomed as a milestone by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Decisive action was taken last month by Cape Verde authorities, which marked the latest move in a growing response by West African countries to the threat of drug traffickers seeking to exploit the region (PoliceProfessional).

FOGO, BRAVA

Minister of Infrastructures, Transportation and Telecommunications Manuel Inocêncio Sousa signed the contract for the expansion and modernization of the sea ports on the islands of Fogo and Brava, September 13. Also, Sousa signed a contract for the asphalting of the road connecting the town of Furna, where Brava’s port is located, to the city of Nova Sintra (A Semana).

SAL

The Santa Maria Tourist Information Center has reinitiated its activities after more than a year-long hiatus. With a new service philosophy, the center will encourage compatibility between the development of tourism and cultural promotion (A Semana).

SAO NICOLAU

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Colonel Fernando Pereira made a two-day visit to the island of São Nicolau, where he met with the military contingent currently stationed there to support local authorities during the rainy season and visit installations that, in the future, could host a permanent military detachment on the island (A Semana).

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).

Cape Verde Politics & Islands

In Cape Verde, Politics on September 10, 2010 at 9:43 am

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Pope Benedict XXVI expressed his hopes to Cape Verdean Prime Minister José Maria Neves that Cape Verde would continue along the same path of peace and development in which humanity is at the center of all. The meeting between the two took place this morning and lasted some 15 minutes, longer than was initially planned (A Semana).

Most of the millennium development goals will be met by Cape Verde, the only African member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) to achieve the feat, according to the president of the Portuguese Development Support Institute (IPAD) (A Semana).

“Fo De Jiao” is Cape Verde in Mandarin Chinese, the words guides Nádia Silva and Jónatas Lopes most often use to point out the ten specks of land in the Atlantic to curious visitors to the Cape Verdean stand at the 2010 Shanghai Expo, which sees an estimated 40,000 visitors daily (A Semana).

TWITTER & LINKEDIN

You can now follow Atlantico Weekly on Twitter at atlanticoweekly.

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

BOA VISTA

Water and power distribution on the island of Boa Vista, the third largest on the Cape Verde archipelago, has been privatised in favour of water and electricity company, Água e Energia da Boa Vista (AEB) (Macauhub).

NORTH

The tropical depression that formed south of the islands of Fogo and Brava has now brought rain to Cape Verde’s northern islands (A Semana).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

A 30-year-old Guyanese woman arrested on Monday, September 6 at Praia International Airport in possession of 795.6 grams of cocaine has been ordered held in preventative detention pending trial. The woman was arrested after disembarking from a flight originating in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza (A Semana).

CLOSED POLL

Angola Business News

In Agriculture, Angola, Economy, Energy, Foreign Trade, Hotels, Politics, Travel on September 10, 2010 at 9:35 am

POLITICS

Angola’s main opposition UNITA party is using last week’s riots in Mozambique along with false accusations of government corruption to incite civil unrest in the oil-producing nation, a ruling MPLA party spokesman said (Reuters).

Angola’s ruling MPLA party brushed aside reports of corruption involving senior government officials earlier this year as a smear campaign aimed at hurting the party ahead of general elections in 2012 (Reuters).

DEFENCE

Angola’s army said it will send a team to help reform the military of Guinea Bissau, a country with a long history of coups and instability (News24).

ECONOMY

Angola’s trade surplus reached $9.04 billion in the first quarter of the year, the head of the National Statistics Office said, without providing a figure for the same period last year (Reuters).

Angola’s government will launch a complete overhaul of its tax regime to improve collection and increase revenues, Minister of State Carlos Feijo said (Reuters).

The pension funds established in Angola in 1998, by 2008 had achieved turnover of some US$320 million (Macauhub).

The Angolan government has alrerady paid 60 percent of its debt to private companies within the terms it committed to pay (Macauhub).

AGRI

A project that aims to turn Huíla province into the biggest supplier of grain in Angola in four years has already made it possible to identify at least 80 large producers in the region, the vice president of the Industrial Association of Angola (AIA) said (Macauhub).

TWITTER & LINKEDIN

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POWER

Angola announced an $18 billion plan to overhaul its dams and power grids and end all power cuts by 2016 (Reuters).

TRANSPORT

Angolan taxis will raise fares in the coming weeks due to a sharp rise in fuel prices, a move that could trigger protests from impoverished Angolans who rely on thousands of 14-seater taxi vans to go to work each day (Reuters).

HOTELS

Construction of the first four-star hotel in the city of Ondjiva, the capital of Angola’s Cunene province, which began last April, is due to be concluded in August 2011 (Macauhub).

Cape Verde Politics & Islands

In Cape Verde, Elections, Politics on September 3, 2010 at 8:36 am

ELECTIONS

“Carlos Veiga 2011” is the official site for the MpD leader’s 2011 legislative elections campaign, an interactive page featuring all of the candidate’s events. The site also reveals more about Carlos Veiga as a person, his campaign platform and highlights of what the MpD did in the 1990s when it controlled Cape Verde’s government (A Semana).

The updating of the list of registered voters in the country is proceeding, in general, at a relatively slow pace. As of August 20, only some 3,000 of the 7,285 citizens who will turn 18 by December 31 had registered to vote in the country’s main urban centers – Praia, Mindelo, São Filipe, Assomada and Sal (A Semana).

Atlantico Weekly readers overwhelmingly think the incumbent PAICV government will win the Cape Verde national elections of 2011 with up to 65% of votes cast in the last two weeks. The oppostion MpD trails with 29%, with rightwing UCID receiving just 6%.

POLITICS

Law nº 77/VII/2010, which officially makes cities out of all municipal seats in Cape Verde, went into effect September 2. As a result, the country gets 18 new cities, in addition to Porto Novo, Mindelo, Praia, Ribeira Grande de Santiago, Assomada and São Filipe, which already enjoyed city status (A Semana).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

A 23-year-old Guinea Bissauan woman was arrested as she tried to embark on a flight to Cape Verde transporting some five kilograms of cocaine. Federal police agents at Pinto Martins International Airport in Fortaleza, the capital of the Brazilian state of Ceará, made the arrest on Monday, August 30 (A Semana).

In the early hours of 27 August HMS Gloucester of the British Royal Navy, with an embarked Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDet) from Cape Verde, boarded a suspect yacht believed to be carrying cocaine in the mid-Atlantic. The vessel ‘TORTUGA’, registered in Florida, was taken to Cape Verde where authorities discovered cocaine, with a UK street value of at least four million pounds sterling, hidden within the rudder (MOD).

BOA VISTA & SAL

Captivated by Cape Verde. All adrift in the tiny archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic. Thus reads the titel of a nice article in the Daily Mail.

SANTIAGO

A power outage again has affected most of the city of Praia. Executive administrator of water and electricity utility Electra, Rui Spencer Lopes dos Santos, says that scheduled energy cuts intended to facilitate maintenance and a short-circuit in Palmarejo are the reasons behind the extended blackout (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

The second edition of the Tour de Santo Antão bicycle race started in the city of Porto Novo. The race, sponsored by the Santo Antão Cycling Association (ACSA) and the Melo Driving School, will feature six legs (A Semana).

SAO VICENTE

Garlic and onions are practically nowhere to be found – or bought – on the island of São Vicente, with local residents forced to trek all over the city of Mindelo to make a purchase (A Semana).

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).

TWITTER & LINKEDIN

You can now follow Atlantico Weekly on Twitter at atlanticoweekly.

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

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 & Islands

In Cape Verde, Elections, Politics, Security, Tourism on August 27, 2010 at 8:35 am

ELECTIONS

November 26, 2010 is the date agreed to by Cape Verde’s two largest political parties, the governing PAICV and opposition MpD, as the conclusion of the voter registration process in Cape Verdean communities abroad (A Semana).

ATLANTICO WEEKLY POLL

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

For the first time in history, relations between the Republic of Cape Verde and the Vatican will be regulated by a Concordat. Cape Verdean Prime Minister José Maria Neves will travel to Rome next month to sign the treaty, which will make Cape Verde the third Portuguese-speaking country, after Portugal and Brazil, to enter into this type of protocol with the Holy See (A Semana).

TWITTER & LINKEDIN

You can now follow Atlantico Weekly on Twitter at atlanticoweekly.

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

DEFENCE

Minister of Defense Cristina Fontes Lima has assured the President of Guinea Bissau that Cape Verde is willing to train military personnel on any level Guinea Bissauan authorities deem necessary (A Semana).

SANTIAGO

If the jewel in the crown of Santiago’s tourist industry is Tarrafal, its beach is even more so (A Semana).

Cape Verde Politics & Islands

In Cape Verde, Politics on August 20, 2010 at 8:05 am

ELECTIONS

Cape Verde is heading towards the election season. Voters will decide on the next governemtn early 2011. The focus will be on the two main contenders, the ruling PAICV and the opposition MpD. Atlantico Weekly will follow developments closely in the next months and after. Sowhat do you, our expert readers and Cape Verde observers think? Did the PAICV a good job or is it time for change?

Prime Minister José Maria Neves considers opposition leader Carlos Veiga’s visit to President Pedro Pires a form of “pressure,” and told A Semana Online that he rejects the proposal to extend the final date of the voter registration process in Cape Verdean émigré communities to December 31, as Veiga has suggested.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Specialists from the government of Cape Verde are visiting housing projects under construction and built in various regions of the Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul and Bahia. Over the course of 15 days, the technicians will become familiar with the Brazilian government’s “Minha Casa, Minha Vida” (“My House, My Life”) program, which in part inspired Cape Verde’s own “Casa para Todos” (“A House for All”) program (A Semana).

BOA VISTA

Discriminatory municipal management: this is how the PAICV on the island of Boa Vista classifies the municipal chamber led by mayor José Pinto Almeida. The party’s regional commission on the island met to evaluate the first two years of work in the mayor’s current term in office, giving a failing grade to the MpD’s Pinto Almeida (A Semana).

SANTIAGO

Power outages have been a constant in Cape Verde’s capital since Thursday of last week. Water and electricity utility Electra has issued a communiqué explaining the blackouts, apologizing to the population and guaranteeing that normality would be restored (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

Seventy-five exhibitors participated in the 5th edition of the Fair of Santo Antão-Made Agro-Industrial Products between August 18 and 20, an event that has drawn increasing numbers of visitors to the FIC pavilion in Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente. The main innovation in this year’s edition of the fair will be an exchange aimed at creating business intermediaries between producers on Santo Antão and merchants on neighboring São Vicente (A Semana).

Cape Verde politics & regional

In Cape Verde, Infrastructure, Politics, Security on August 1, 2010 at 8:48 am

POLITICS

The president of opposition party MpD presented the political force’s platform for next year’s legislative elections, speaking about state reform – in which the main proposal is increased regionalization – and the economy. According to Carlos Veiga, the Cape Verdean economy is in freefall, and the government is to blame (A Semana).

Opposition leader Carlos Veiga believes the time has come to “institute a supra-municipal authority on the islands” to give regions greater autonomy and free the government of some of its administrative tasks. This regionalization concept is part of the administrative reform proposed by the MpD as a part of its governing platform for the 2011 legislative elections (A Semana).

DEFENCE

Minister of National Defense Cristina Fontes Lima officially received an Arcanjo coastal patrol vessel, a donation from the United States government in Mindelo. The vessel will be used to patrol Cape Verde’s seas in the fight against drug trafficking and other illicit activities (A Semana).

SANTIAGO

The government has signed a contract with the company that will carry out restoration and rehabilitation work on the road connecting Variante (São Domingos), Pedra Badejo (Santa Cruz) and Calheta (São Miguel) on the island of Santiago (A Semana).

The 450 million-escudo public subscription offer of Praia municipal chamber future bonds on the Cape Verde Stock Exchange “has been successful, with 100% of the offer having been underwritten.” The Praia municipal chamber has thus assured financing for the city’s new municipal market and will “immediately” get started with the call for bids for the project, which is expected to be concluded within a year (A Semana).

The City hall of Praia and the Public Municipal Parking Company of Lisbon (EMEL) signed a memorandum of cooperation for development of economic viability study of the parking area for relieving of Plateau (INforpress).

BOA VISTA

Robberies and muggings targeting tourists on the island of Boa Vista saw a slight increase in the first six months of 2010, in comparison with the same period last year. The local National Police command has received an average of one complaint per week (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

The Nova Experiência Marítima Community Association in Cruzinha, on the island of Santo Antão, is one of the winners of the 2010 Equator Prize in Africa for the work it has developed to protect seas turtles in Cape Verde (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).

Cape Verde politics & regional

In Airports, Cape Verde, Politics on June 20, 2010 at 9:26 am

EUROPEAN UNION

Last week’s poll on Atlantico Weekly could hardly have been clearer. No less than 90 % of those of you that participated in the poll on the question of Cape Verde’s accession to the European Union voted in favour!

BRAVA

The main headline on the front page of today’s printed edition of A Semana reveals that Brava will finally get a new airport. Following a government decision, Airport and Air Security Company ASA has hired external consultants who will begin a preliminary study between now and September to determine where the airport will be located on Cape Verde’s smallest inhabited island.

SANTIAGO

Praia residents have adhered en masse to a project aimed at safeguarding the city’s architectural heritage. The project, which is being promoted through Facebook, is an initiative of the group Maltas di Praia di Tudo Tempo, and, according to one its promoters, Paula Barbosa, already has some 1,200 “friends” on the social networking site (A Semana).

The Praia Municipal Council plans to issues bonds worth 450 million Cape Verdean escudos (4.08 million euros) via the cape Verde Stock Exchange, the Mayor of Praia, Ulisses Correia e Silva, announced (Macauhub).

Cape Verde: politics & regional

In Agriculture, Cape Verde, Politics on June 13, 2010 at 10:51 am

SHOULD CAPE VERDE JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION?

Why not? The advantages for Cape Verde are obvious: joining the EU would mean being part of a safe and stable political environment (though that is of course debatable these days) as well as joining a huge market. The Escudo is already pegged to the Euro and Cape Verde’s sound monetary policies make full integration feasible. Pre-accesion funds and post-accession regional and structural funds will boost the country’s budget for investment in infrastructure and make up for dwindling emigrant’s transfers. To the EU, Cape Verde is small enough to not make a difference when it comes to the availability of EU funds. Culturally speaking, Cape Verde is half European anyway.

An open EU-membership application by Cape Verde will boost its image and create a favourable investment climate. On the other hand, the country must be ready to undergo scrutiby from EU-bureacrats, the press and the European citizenry.

What do you think?

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Cape Verde already has what could be called a “friendship group” in the European Parliament, created in order to expand relations between Cape Verde and the European Union and take better advantage of the special partnership that exists. The group is made up mostly of Portuguese members of the European Parliament (A Semana).

Prime Minister José Maria Neves participated in the first summit between Cape Verde and Portugal, a “very clear” sign of the level of cooperation between the two countries (A Semana). Five protocols were signed.

DEFENCE

The Council of Ministers has approved a measure reintegrating military personnel demobilized or sent into the reserves between June 1, 1980 and December 31, 2000 (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

On June 15th the building of the Centre for inspection and packaging of agricultural products of Santo Antão will be inaugurated in Porto Novo, coming into operation within one to two months (Inforpress).

Cape Verde: politics & regional

In Cape Verde, Economy, Infrastructure, Politics, Security on June 6, 2010 at 7:48 am

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Last week’s Atlantico Weekly poll on Cape Verde’s best strategic international partners turned out some surprising results. You, Cape Verde policymakers, experts and friends like to spread out the interests of the country with as many partners as possible, but Cape Verde’s most favoured partner is still the former colonial power Portugal (receiving 18 % of all votes cast). Both the EU and Brazil compete for second place with around 15% each. The US, China and Angola come next, with Cuba and France further back and with the Arab world and Venezuela at the bottom of the list. Some 6% of you feel that Cape Verde does not need any international partners as all.

The first edition of the ECOWAS/Brazil Summit will take place on the island of Sal in the month of July, and will feature the presence of Brazilian President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, in addition to heads of state and government from the 15 member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (A Semana).

DEFENCE

The Village Porto Inglês and the beach of Ponta Preta in Maio welcomed operations of the military exercise “ALGA 010″, whose objective is to prepare the Cape Verdean Armed Forces for landing missions, patrolling and humanitarian operations (InforPress).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

The Praia State Prosecutor’s Office has frozen all of TACV Cabo Verde Airlines’ accounts due to its failure to abide by a ruling handed down in February of 2010 obliging the company to reintegrate pilot Domingos Fontes, who the court had found to have been unjustly suspended from his functions (A Semana).

A total of 155 firearms, of which 50 percent craft weapons, was apprehended during the period from 1st April to 30th May in Cape Verde,  the Minister of the Internal Administration, Lívio Lopes announced (InforPress).

BOA VISTA

Boa Vista should receive the kick off of the Project Safe Tourism, which aims in particular to prevent violence and crime against the tourists (Inforpress).

CIDADE VELHA

Cape Verdean Prime Minister José Maria Neves received the UNESCO certificate confirming Cidade Velha’s inclusion on its list of World Heritage Sites from the hands of Brazil’s Minister of Culture, Juca Ferreira. The moment was “important and significant” and included mutual praise from both Neves and Ferreira, who share the common objective of seeing their respective countries develop further through a more intensive cultural and social partnership (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

The regional prison of Santo Antão will be built in the municipality of Porto Novo (Inforpress).

Cape Verde politics & regional news

In Cape Verde, Politics on May 30, 2010 at 11:18 am

POLITICS

The Council of Ministers has approved alterations to “some aspects” of the Labor Code, such as, for example, in term contracts, for which exceptions have been allowed in the case of contracts of more than five years. The State will also take on expenses related to the publication of collective contracts and labor union statutes in the Official State Bulletin (A Semana).

ATLANTICO WEEKLY POLL

ORIGINS OF SPECIES

“The Cape Verdean population is one of the most mixed in the world,” in which “57% of genes are of African origin and 43% of European origin.” This is the conclusion of the study “Genetic diversity in Cape Verde,” carried out by Jorge Rocha of the University of Porto’s Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology in Portugal (A Semana).

CULTURE

Cape Verdean President Pedro Pires was given the keys to the future Cape Verdean Cultural Center being installed in the prestigious Belém district of Portuguese capital Lisbon from the hands of Lisbon mayor António Costa (A Semana)

SANTO ANTAO

The University of Cape Verde (Uni-CV) launched its first university-level professional course on the island of Santo Antão. Uni-CV offers a Social and Community Development major on Cape Verde’s northernmost island (A Semana).

SAO VICENTE

São Vicente mayor Isaura Gomes has once again asked for a substitution for a five-day period. The municipal chamber president has justified the request with the need to continue her medical treatment (A Semana).

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 political and regional news

In Cape Verde, Elections, Politics, Tourism on May 24, 2010 at 7:41 pm

POLITICS

The opposition MpD asked the president of the National Statistics Institute (INE), António Duarte, to provide an explanation to the parliament’s Specialized Finance and Budget Commission regarding the figures presented by the institute on unemployment last week. INE data point to a 3.1 percentage point increase in Cape Verde’s unemployment rate (A Semana).

The leader of the  ruling PAICV’s parliamentary benches, Rui Semedo, admitted that unemployment rose in Cape Verde in 2009, but he justified the worsening because of the international crisis situation affecting the country in recent years (Inforpress).

ELECTIONS

Presidential candidate Jorge Carlos Fonseca met with a group of supporters in Lisbon in Portugal to speak of his run in next year’s presidential elections in Cape Verde. During the meeting, he affirmed that he expected the support of opposition party MpD (A Semana).

PRAIA

The Prime Minister has challenged the Praia local authorities to create a “monumental complex” paying tribute the city near Gamboa beach and serving to remind locals and tourists of the passage of Vasco da Gama (A Semana).

The municipalities of Praia and Ribeira Grande de Santiago have signed a sister-city protocol aimed at the joint development of the two districts in areas such as territorial management, culture and the economy. The foundation was also laid for the future creation of a metropolitan region that would also encompass the municipality of São Domingos (A Semana).

The 18th edition of Praia’s Gamboa Festival has begun, marked by a number of innovations. In categories ranging from the stage to the assistance area, the organization stands out for its creativity, diversity, comfort and safety during the two-day music festival (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

Low-intensity tremors have been felt in the northern part of the island of Santo Antão, in the municipalities of Paúl and RIbeira Grande (A Semana).

SAO VICENTE

Tambla Almeida presents on Friday May 28th, at the Academy music Jotamont in São Vicente, his second short film, entitled “Ulime” (Here I am) (Inforpress).

FOGO

Five breeders from Chã de Caldeiras and Cabeça Fundão in Fogo, were offered a set of equipment for installation of family cheese production (Inforpress).

Cape Verde: Politics & Regional

In Agriculture, Cape Verde, Elections, Infrastructure, Politics, Security on May 16, 2010 at 10:14 am

ELECTIONS

The Pró Zona Civic Movement will hold an event aimed at supporting Jorge Carlos Fonseca’s run in the 2011 presidential elections in Cape Verde. The event, organized by Cape Verdean immigrants in Portugal, will take place in the Portuguese city of Moita (A Semana).

José Moreira has been chosen as the new general secretary of the MpD. His election took place during a meeting of the party’s National Directorship in Assomada (A Semana).

SANTIAGO

A project aimed at developing the shorelines of the Poilão reservoir on the island of Santiago will begin next week. The first phase, which will include the construction of infrastructures, was financed by USAID the tune of 20 million escudos (A Semana).

SAO VICENTE

National Police on the island of São Vicente affirm that a significant reduction in crimes against people and property was registered in April of this year, in comparison with the same period last year (A Semana).

SANTO ANTAO

The creation of a shipping company to operate on the line between São Antão and São Vicente is being studied by the Association of Municipalities of Santo Antão (AMSA) and a private group (Inforpress).

The City hall of Ribeira Grande of Santo Antão will need 1.8 million Euros for the urban restoration of the historical centre of the village Ponta do Sol (Inforpress).

The insertion of Santo Antão’s grogue in the list of alcoholic beverages marketed in key international markets is part of the improvement programme for grogue of Santo Antao (Inforpress).

SAL

Traders in Sal are discontented with the proliferation of Chinese shops on the island, which as they said turned into grocery stores and shops selling wholesale and retail (Inforpress).

SAO NICOLAU

The studies for the location of the first dams in São Nicolau were presented in Vila da Ribeira Brava, by the technical team in charge of this work and whose leader is the engineer Mota Gomes (Inforpress).

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