Atlantico Weekly

Archive for the ‘Real estate’ Category

Cape Verde Business & Economy

In Agriculture, Airports, Banking, Cape Verde, Economy, Ports, Real estate, Telecom, Tourism, Travel on September 17, 2010 at 8:27 am

CV Fast Ferry’s first vessel Kriola nearing completion at the Singapore facilities of Damen Shipyards of the Netherlands (Source: FORCV)

AGRI

With the latest rains registered over the past two days, farmers on the islands of Fogo and Brava are even more hopeful regarding the prospects for a good harvest. In some of the higher-altitude regions of the two islands, agricultural workers have begun harvesting the first fruits of their labor (A Semana).

AVIATION

Tropical storm Julia, which has been lashing Cape Verde with rain and winds since Sunday afternoon, has already forced TACV Cabo Verde Airlines to cancel a number of domestic and international flights (A Semana).

Praia International Airport has a new parking lot with a total of 429 parking spaces (A Semana).

The tourism industry in Cape Verde and Boa Vista has received a further boost with the news that Cape Verde Experience plan to run flights from Stansted and Bristol.  The sister company of Gambia Experience will also add flights between Cape Verde and Banjul, Gambia, opening up possibilities for multi-centre holidays (Assetz)

REAL ESTATE

Commercial bank Caixa Económica de Cabo Verde acquired 89.8% of the future bonds issued by state real-estate company IFH, for the first time achieving a position of leadership in a Stock Exchange operation in Cape Verde. With the funds from the bond issue, IFH expects to be able to complete the infra-structuring of its Palmarejo Grande real estate project in Praia by March of 2011 (A Semana).

Cape Verde is rapidly attracting visitors and investors alike looking to capitalise on what promises to be the world’s next property hot spot. Nestled 400km off the coast of West Africa, the Cape Verde islands boast a year-round temperate climate, meaning there’s no low season, leading to exceptionally high occupancy rates and rental yields for investors (Assetz).

TELECOMS

Cabo Verde Telecom has suspended salary negotiations and unilaterally decided to grant a 2.5% wage increase, retroactive to January of this year (A Semana).

Cape Verde Business & Economy

In Agriculture, Banking, Cape Verde, Economy, Ports, Real estate, Telecom on September 10, 2010 at 9:41 am

ECONOMY

The Cape Verdean government plans to reduce customs taxes on products covered by the Civil Aviation Agreement to zero, and has already handed the country’s parliament a proposal for this purpose (Macauhub).

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

A new development for Baia das Gatas on Sao Vicente island (Source: escape-verde.com).

AGRI

On the islands of Fogo and Brava, perspectives for a good harvest appear to be favorable. Although rains began to fall slightly later than expected in several zones, farmers are hopeful (A Semana).

TWITTER & LINKEDIN

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BANKING

Commercial bank BCN unveiled its newest branch Monday, September 6 in Nova Sintra, on the island of Brava. The agency is the bank’s 22nd (A Semana).

The rate of bankarization (access to banking services) in Cape Verde totalled 89.1 percent at the end of 2009, according to a report from the Bank of Cape Verde (Macauhub).

PORTS

A mobile scanner and a vehicle to be used in the inspection of baggage at Praia sea port was handed out to the National Light and Small-Caliber Weapons Control Commission (COMNAC) by Minister of Internal Administration Lívio Lopes (A Semana).

TELECOMS

Cape Verdean telecommunications company, Cabo Verde Telecom is implementing an investment plan of 30 million euros to improve the quality of telecommunications, specifically Internet access (Macauhub).

Cape Verde Business & Economy

In Agriculture, Cape Verde, Economy, Hotels, Ports, Real estate, Telecom, Tourism on September 3, 2010 at 8:35 am

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

The Vista Oceano residential complex, under development in the town of Ponta do Sol on Santo Antao (Source).

PORTS

Portuguese construction consortium Somague/MSF/Etermar is to carry out the second phase of work to expand and modernise the port of Praia, worth 72 million euros (Macauhub).

HOTELS

Hilton appears to be developing at least one hotel in Cape Verde, among other countries (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.

AGRI

Brazil’s Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) will set up a pole of its rural development studies center in Cape Verde. The initiative was announced during a visit by Brazilian Minister of Agriculture Guilherme Cassel to the University (A Semana).

TELECOMS

Labor union SITTHUR claims that more than 90% of the employees of Cabo Verde Telecom have joined the two-day strike called at the company. The walk-out began this morning throughout nearly all of Cape Verde’s territory – Brava was the exception – and is scheduled to last until midnight Friday (A Semana).

AVIATION

The strongest growth, in terms of absolute numbers, in Portugal’s charter flight market is for destinations in Cape Verde. Charter flights departing from Lisbon and Porto took transported nearly 8,000 passengers to the archipelago in July of this year, 3,800 more than in the same month last year (A Semana).

POWER

Acts of sabotage perpetrated by employees of water and electricity utility Electra or by unknown individuals may be behind a serious technical problem that took place in one of the main generators at the Palmarejo power station in Praia. The problem has since been resolved (A Semana).

Angola Business News

In Angola, Brazil, Economy, Oil, Real estate, Stock exchange, Travel on August 27, 2010 at 8:34 am

ECONOMY

Angola has suspended efforts to get more foreign loans, so that the government can assess their benefit to the country’s development (Bloomberg).

Angola said it had paid $1.28 billion of a government-estimated $6.8 billion in overdue bills to local and foreign builders in the southern African nation as it tries to restore investor credibility (Reuters).

A proposed stock market in Angola, which vies with Nigeria to be Africa’s top oil producer, will rank “at least third” in sub-Saharan African market capitalization (Bloomberg).

OIL

Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company, said it’s investigating an oil spill in Angola (Bloomberg).

Angolan state-run oil firm Sonangol will start building a long-delayed $8 billion refinery this year in a bid to cut back on imports of refined products, which have weighed on the economy, its oil minister said (Reuters).

AVIATION

Brazilian regional airline Puma Air has been authorised to provide four flights per week between Brazil and Angola, the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) said (Macauhub).

EDUCATION

The Angolan minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Maria Cândida Teixeira, appealed to managers of Higher Institutes of Education Sciences (ISCED) to create of centres of excellence in their academic regions (AllAfrica).

BUSINESS

The South African Shoprite Group is investing USD 13 million in the construction of a supermarket, in Huambo city, whose works started in the first quarter of this year (AllAfrica).

REAL ESTATE

The Angolan subsidiary of the Brazilian group Build Brasil has changed its name to Build Angola and plans to launch on Monday a housing project budgeted at US$50 million (Macauhub).

Cape Verde Business & Economy

In Airports, Banking, Cape Verde, Economy, Hotels, Real estate on August 13, 2010 at 4:21 pm

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

New project for Sal Rei, the capital of Boa Vista island (source: Escape Verde).

ECONOMY

For a small string of barren volcanic islands that have no natural resources, suffer from chronic droughts and are perched far off Africa’s west coast, Cape Verde is punching well above its weight. Read the article at Reuters.

REAL ESTATE

A nice overview of real estate opportunities in idyllic Cape Verde can be found in The Daily Telegraph.

BANKING

Portuguese bank Banco Espírito Santo announced the formation of a “strategic partnership” with Brazilian commercial banks Banco do Brasil and Bradesco aimed at the African market, by opening Banco Espírito Santo Africa’s capital up to the two Brazilian institutions. The operation includes Cape Verde (A Semana).

AVIATION

Passenger traffic in Cape Verde’s airports in the first half of 2010 was 5.6% higher than during the same period past year, with the upward trend more pronounced in international (6.1%) than domestic (5.3%) activities (A Semana).

TRANSPORT

Passenger transportation company Transcor will file a court injunction this week against the São Vicente municipal chamber’s decision to grant a temporary license allowing the company Sotral to transport passengers on five city bus lines (A Semana).

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).

Cape Verde business & economy

In Cape Verde, Economy, Real estate, Telecom, Tourism on August 8, 2010 at 10:01 am

TRADE

Cape Verde’s exports and imports increased 59.3% and 8.3%, respectively, in the first six months of 2010 in comparison to the same period last year. Portugal and Spain were the main destinations for Cape Verdean exports (A Semana).

TOURISM

Cape Verde is the second-most-popular destination for charter flights departing from Portuguese capital Lisbon. A total of 19,600 passengers flew from Lisbon International Airport to Cape Verde in the month of June, an 18.7% increase over the same period last year (A Semana).

TELECOMS

Regulations are in place for the sending of advertisements via SMS to mobile phones.  Cape Verde’s mobile providers of late have been filling their clients’ mobile phones with advertisements of all types and at all hours without the consent of the users themselves (A Semana).

The National Communications Agency (ANAC) launched a public tender for the attribution of three licenses for the use of IMT-2000, also known as third-generation (3G) mobile land frequencies, on a nationwide scale. Meanwhile, the government will begin negotiations with Cabo Verde Telecom aimed at coming up with a new model for the management of the country’s land-line network (A Semana).

EDUCATION

The government made a “ decisive “ step toward the next phase in the school computerization program, which could receive some 25,000 computers by the end of the year (A Semana).

SPLIT SECOND POLL

Angola business news

In Angola, Banking, Economy, Hotels, Infrastructure, Mining, Oil, Real estate on August 8, 2010 at 10:01 am

ECONOMY

Angola’s economic outlook remained generally favorable but more steps were needed to create a sustainable fiscal position and reduce inflation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said (Reuters).

Angola’s foreign exchange reserves dropped slightly for the first time in four months to $15.52 billion in June from $15.64 billion in May, the central bank said (Reuters).

Angola cut its growth estimate for 2010 to 6.7 percent from 9.7 percent in a revised budget (Bloomberg).

BANKING

Angola said it would offer loans to cash-strapped banks, admitting for the first time that some lenders in the African nation are struggling with liquidity problems (Reuters).

INFRASTRUCTURE

Angola plans to reserve earnings from oil production of 100,000 barrels per day to form a fund to pay for infrastructure including power supply and water provision projects (Bloomberg).

HOUSING

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos renewed a $50bn pledge to build one million new homes for the poor, despite growing signs of weakness in the major African oil-producer’s public finances (News24).

OIL & GAS

Angola is self-sufficient in production of butane gas and has a total quota of some 600,000 tons per day (Macauhub).

Ten years after the start of operations, block 17 in Angola’s offshore has produced 1 billion barrels of oil from the Girassol, Dália, Rosa and Jasmin rigs (Macauhub).

AVIATION

Angola’s flagship airline TAAG is set to acquire more new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in the middle of next year (Macauhub).

MINING

The provincial director for Industry, Geology and Mining for Angola’s Huíla province said that mining studies were underway to establish the minerals that exist in the province in order to allow them to be explored (Macauhub).

HOTELS

The Angolan government plans to convert the former railway stations of Caminhos-de-Ferro de Luanda (CFL), located along the Luanda/Ndalatando/Malanje route into hotels as of 2011 (Macauhub).

REAL ESTATE

The growth of Angola’s middle class, with the ability to buy their own house, is opening up prospects for investment in the highest real estate segment in Angola, according to a study by the Deloitte (Macauhub).

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).

Cape Verde business & economy

In Agriculture, Airports, Banking, Real estate on June 20, 2010 at 9:26 am

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

The Alto Morabeza residential complex in Mindelo, Sao Vicente.

BANKING

Commercial banks Banco Comercial do Atlântico (BCA) and Banco Interatlântico could merge to form a single institution, while Portuguese bank Banco Espírito Santo has confirmed its plans to go ahead with the opening of a branch in Cape Verde (A Semana).

COFFEE

Did you know you can buy your organic coffee from Fogo or Santo Antao online at Cafes FAMA?

AGRICULTURE

Minister of the Environment, Rural Development and Marine Resources José Maria Veiga participated in an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meeting in Senegalese capital Dakar aimed at mobilizing financial resources for the implementation of its National Agricultural Investment Plan, evaluated at UUS$ 100 million (A Semana).

AVIATION

Cape Verde and the European Union (EU) signed an agreement on a bilateral horizontal air instrument that reinforces the traditional connection between the parties in this strategic sector (Inforpress).

Angola business news

In Airports, Angola, Economy, Oil, Real estate, Retail, Telecom on June 20, 2010 at 9:24 am

ECONOMY

Angola’s annual inflation rate climbed to 13.85 percent in May as food and non-alcoholic- beverage prices increased, the National Statistics Institute said. Inflation accelerated from 13.73 percent in April (Bloomberg).

TELECOMS

The Angolan mobile-phone operator Unitel approved a USD 800 million investment plan for the 2010/2011 period (ANGOP).

INVESTMENTS

Angola is providing 10-year visas to foreign investors and plans to launch a website where it will be possible to exchange information in real time (Macauhub).

AVIATION

Angolan state airport manager Enana plans to continue executing its modernisation and equipment programme for the country’s airports.
Since 2008, Enana has been carrying out a programme of refurbishment, modernisation and equipment of around 30 large, medium-sized and small airports across the country, as part of a project estimated to cost around US$400 million, under the terms of the Public Investment Programme (Macauhub).

REAL ESTATE

The Companhia Angolana de Comercio (CAC) is investing US$20 million to build a new shopping centre in Luanda Sul (Macauhub).

OIL

The extraction of a billion barrels of oil from offshore Bloc 17 in the ten years since operations began was commemorated on the Girassol production, storage and export vessel and attended by officials representing the sector, Sonangol and Total, the operating company and Bloc 17 associates (Statoil, Esso and BP) (Macauhub).

Cape Verde: business & economy

In Cape Verde, Real estate on June 13, 2010 at 10:50 am

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

The brandnew Pedra Branca villas at Calhau on Sao Vicente (Imobrisa).

AVIATION

All of TACV Cabo Verde Airlines’ accounts, which had been frozen for more than a week on orders from the Public Ministry, have been freed for transactions (A Semana).

MEAT

Cape Verde’s National Directorate for Agriculture, Silviculture and Livestock (DGASP) plans to import 452 bovine cattle from Brazil, as part of its programme to improve breeds and promote the livestock sector in the country (Macauhub).

SPLIT SECOND POLL

CLOSED POLL


Cape Verde business news

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

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

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

ECONOMY

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

AGRI

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

AVIATION

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

TOURISM

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

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

SPLIT SECOND POLL

Angola business news

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

INFRA

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

RATINGS

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

REAL ESTATE

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

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

AUTOMOTIVE

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

FISHING

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

BANKING

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

STATE ENTREPRISES

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

MINING

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

BIOFUELS

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

Cape Verde Business & Economy

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

ECONOMY

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

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

TOURISM

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

FINANCE

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

PORTS

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

Angola news update, May 9th

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

ECONOMY

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

TELECOMS

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

AVIATION

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

REAL ESTATE

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

Cape Verde news update, May 2nd

In Airports, Banking, Cape Verde, Energy, Politics, Real estate, Tourism, Travel on May 2, 2010 at 10:51 am

POLITICS

Praia mayor Ulisses Correia e Silva said that the search carried out by the Judiciary Police in the São Vicente municipal chamber building was an excessive show of force. According to Correia e Silva, if similar measures had been taken regarding acts committed by the previous administration of the Praia municipal chamber, war tanks and bazookas would have been needed (A Semana).

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Cape Verde is in the race to host the headquarters of the Institute of West Africa (IWA) (Inforpress).

REAL ESTATE

Construction and real-estate company Sogei has unveiled its headquarters in one of the two buildings it has completed in Praia’s Chã d’Areia district, where two more business towers – one to serve commercial bank BAI and the other the future headquarters of the bank Caixa Económica de Cabo Verde – are under construction, making up what is already being called Praia’s financial district (A Semana).

The workers of the company Construções de Cabo Verde (CVC) that went  on strike for a period of 24 hours, demanded a salary readjustment around 20 percent, retroactive salary accumulated and better balance between the various sectors within the company (Inforpress).

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

The BAI offices in downtown Praia (Sogei).

AIRPORTS

The Cape Verdean airline company TACV started weekly flights connecting São Vicente and Lisbon (Inforpress).

During the first quarter of 2010, passenger traffic in Cape Verde’s airports grew 9.1% in relation to the same period last year. Amílcar Cabral International Airport on the island of Sal, with a total of 161,007 passengers and growth of 6% in comparison to the first quarter of 2009, accompanied the upward trend that appears to be spurring the world economy and the Cape Verdean tourism sector (A Semana).

Minister of Internal Administration Lívio Lopes presided over the unveiling of the Secure Automatic Exit and Entry Process system (known by the Portuguese-language acronym PASSE) at Boa Vista International Airport (A Semana).

The projects planned for the Sal, Boa Vista and Praia airports could come to be financed by the African Development Bank, according to an announcement by Airport and Air Security company ASA administrative council president Mário Paixão at the end of a brief visit by African Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka (A Semana).

The volume of air cargo moved in Cape Verde registered an overall reduction of two percent in the first trimester of 2010 (Inforpress).

INTERNET

Users of Internet services provided by Cabo Verde Multimédia, a subsidiary of Cabo Verde Telecom, have been experiencing frequent problems, with no explanations provided by the company (A Semana).

PRAIA

Praia mayor Ulisses Correia e Silva said that the municipal chamber is going to build a new central market in the city. The new market is to be located on the current site of the Coco soccer field in order to improve sanitary and organizational conditions. Correia e Silva presented the project for the market to Praia’s saleswomen (A Semana).

ENERGY

Germany is to invest 40 million euros in four wind farms on four islands in the Cape Verdean archipelago, Cape Verde’s Tourism Minister said (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).

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 weekly news update, March 28th

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

ECONOMY

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

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

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

LAW ENFORCEMENT

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

OIL

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

CONSTRUCTION

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

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

SHIPPING

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

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