Atlantico Weekly

Archive for the ‘Telecom’ 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

You can now follow Atlantico Weekly on Twitter at atlanticoweekly.

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

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).

Cape Verde Business & Economy

In Cape Verde, Economy, Ports, Telecom, Tourism on August 27, 2010 at 8:34 am

ECONOMY

President Pedro Pires has signed a law decree setting the basic social pension at 5,000 escudos per month. The measure is retroactive to July 1 of this year (A Semana).

BUILDING OF THE WEEK

Impression of the Tropical Resort under construction on Sal (Imobrisa)

WANTED:

Architects, please send in your projects in Angola and Cape Verde and help us continue the Building of the Week feature….

PORTS

Cape Verde’s ports are projected to grow from 150/200 to 400/500 ships and to increase the number of re-exported containers from 2,000 to 4-5,000, whilst also serving as a platform for oil company ships in the mid Atlantic (Macauhub).

TELECOMS

Cape Verdeans continue to show a preference for mobile phones over land lines, according to data from the National Communications Agency (ANAC), whose figures indicate that the number of mobile phone service subscribers grew by 5% in the first half of 2010 (A Semana).

TOURISM

Some of the world’s main cruise ship companies have begun including the island of São Vicente on their routes, namely Saga Cruises and Noble Caledonia. Cape Verde is described on Noble Caledonia’s website as an “incredibly intriguing archipelago” with beaches and “extraordinary sand dunes,” and an aridness that contrasts with “exuberant mountainous islands” (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 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).

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, 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, April 25th

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

POLITICS

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

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

DEFENCE

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

ECONOMY

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

ENERGY

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

AGRICULTURE

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

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

TELECOM

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

HEALTH

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

TRAVEL & TOURISM

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

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

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 4th

In Brazil, Cape Verde, Hotels, Telecom, Tourism, Travel on April 4, 2010 at 1:46 pm

POLITICS

The Cape Verdean government does not have enough diplomats to place in all of the countries where Cape Verdean communities exist, Minister of Foreign Affairs José Brito, admitted (A Semana).

ECONOMY

2010 began with a 10.2% drop in remittances from Cape Verdean émigrés in January, in comparison to the month before. And those remittances coming from the United States and the Euro Zone saw even more drastic drops, of 11.8% and 11.1%, respectively, in comparison to December 2009 (A Semana).

ATLANTICO

The 4th General Cape Verdean Population and Housing Census will be carried out in 2010 with the support of Brazil, which will make 150 handheld computers, known as PDAs, available for census-taking activities. The technology, which was developed by the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE), will be used to count the population and in the training of Cape Verdean census-takers (A Semana).

The Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Service is preparing three business missions in April,  to China, Brazil and Canary Islands (Inforpress).

HOTELS

Six of Cape Verde’s hotels have been nominated for the 17th edition of the World Travel Awards. The Oásis Atlântico Novorizonte, Oásis Atlântico PraiaMar, Dunal del Sol, Foya Branca, Morabeza and Migrante Guest House have been nominated in the Cape Verde’s Leading Hotel category (A Semana).

The proposed 7star Palm View Resort on Boa Vista was awarded building licenses by the Cape Verdean authorities. The luxury will be constructed on the  exclusive beach front of Chaves Beach (Visao News).

TELECOMS

Cape Verde jumped from 107th to 102nd place on the list of countries in terms of the development of information and communication technology. Cape Verde occupies fourth place in Africa (A Semana).

Angola news update, March 14th

In Angola, Economy, Hotels, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Telecom, Tourism, Travel on March 14, 2010 at 11:22 am

ECONOMY

Angola’s inflation slowed to 13.66 percent year-on-year in February from 13.83 percent in January, despite a continued rise in food prices, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said (Reuters).

OIL

Angola was China’s top supplier of oil in January, overtaking Saudi Arabia at a time when Chinese oil companies are seeking to consolidate Angolan offshore positions (Macauhub).

BUSINESS

Angola’s Unitel is in the race for a slice of up to 75 percent in Zamtel of Zambia (Reuters).

Danish engineering group FLSmidth has won a five-year contract worth 154 million euros ($209 million) to operate and maintain a cement plant in Angola (Reuters).

Australian mining company Lonrho Mining plans between May and June of this year to order a unit for separation of aggregates by density for its diamond concession in Lulo, Angola (Macauhub).

Portuguese construction company Teixeira Duarte is to build the new National Assembly building in Angola, a project estimated to cost 185 million euros (Macauhub).

TOURISM

Portuguese group Ibersol has requested authorisation from the Angolan authorities to set up Ibersol Angola (Macauhub).

Cape Verde news update, February 14th

In Airports, Banking, Cape Verde, Media, Oil, Politics, Ports, Telecom, Tourism, Travel on February 14, 2010 at 2:44 pm

POLITICS

Cape Verdean President Pedro Verona Pires met with a Venezuelan delegation made up of three cabinet ministers and the director of the country’s Department of Petroleum. The visit is the first by high-level Venezuelan officials to Cape Verde, and comes as the two countries are seeking to expand bilateral relations (A Semana).

At the same time, the president of Cape Verde’s National Assembly signed a cooperation protocol with Cuba’s parliament. The accord comes as part of a visit by a Cape Verdean parliamentary delegation to Cuba (A Semana).

The new extraordinary ambassador and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cape Verde in Senegal, Francisco Pereira da Veiga, promised today in Praia to work with persistence to fulfil the mission that was conferred to him (Inforpress).

AIR TRAVEL

The African market is responsible for 15% of TAP Air Portugal’s revenues, and is expected to grow some 6.5% this year. The continent represented the only market in which the Portuguese airline saw growth last year, reason enough for Africa to be considered one of TAP’s most important destinations. TAP will soon start operating flights to and from Sao Vicente’s Sao Pedro airport (A Semana).

TACV Cabo Verde Airlines will begin operating a direct weekly flight between São Vicente and Portuguese capital Lisbon on April 29 in order to respond to demand in Cape Verde’s northern region (A Semana).

TACV is in negotiations aiming to take Brazilian adepts to the first World Football Cup to be hold in Africa,  next June (Inforpress).

TELECOM

The liberalization of the telecommunications sector in Cape Verde in 2006 resulted in an exponential increase in the number of mobile telephone users from some 100,000 to the current figure of nearly 300,000 (A Semana).

MEDIA

The Council of Ministers, Cape Verde’s cabinet, this week analyzed a number of proposed alterations to the law regulating media outlets and journalistic activities in the country. The main innovations include the introduction of on-line publications, the consecration of collective entities’ right to respond and the right to clarification (A Semana).

PORTS

Rough seas with waves of more than five meters caused the rupture of some 30 meters of the wall protecting Vale dos Cavaleiros port in São Filipe, on the island of Fogo. The waves are now endangering various other buildings at the sea port, including the passenger terminal (A Semana).

The first phase of refurbishment and expansion work on the port of Porto Novo is due to begin next May, the chief executive of national ports management company, Enapor, Jorge Pimenta Rodrigues said in Santo Antão (Macauhub).

BANKING

The chairman of the board of the Administration of the African Bank of Investment (BAI – Cape Verde ), David Jasse, announced that his bank intends to conquer 15 percent of the Cape Verdean market in three years (Inforpress).

WIND

The installation of four wind farms on four Cape Verdean islands is due to begin in the archipelago’s capital Praia, whose municipal council signed an agreement to grant land for the project on the outskirts of the city. Representing an investment of US$84 million, the four wind farms will produce between 22.5 and 28 megawatts of power, and the wind farm to be built near Praia will have a capacity of 10 megawatts (Macauhub).

Angola news update, January 31st

In Airports, Angola, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Energy, Hotels, Infrastructure, Investments, Oil, Politics, Ports, Real estate, Retail, Security, South Africa, Telecom, Travel on January 31, 2010 at 12:32 pm

ECONOMY

Two years ago, oil-rich Angola was reckoned to have one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. In both 2006 and 2007 real GDP had surged by around 20%, and double-digit growth rates were widely predicted for at least the next five years. Then oil prices crashed with the global recession. Last year the economy is estimated to have grown, at best, by 1.5%. But it is bouncing back. Some say Angola will be among the world’s top five performers again this year, with growth exceeding 8%. Read the full story in The Economist.

Though Angola wants to woo foreign investors, everything seems contrived to deter all but the most intrepid and patient. Getting a visa, for a start, can take many months. Finding somewhere to stay in Luanda, a capital city built for 500,000 that is now home to 5m, is not much easier. A single hotel room, if you can find one, will set you back $500-600 a night. Read about the virtues you need for doing business in Angola in The Economist.

ATLANTICO

The political and economic rivalry between SA and Angola is expected to graduate into a battle for dominance in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) , says US-based global intelligence think-tank Stratfor (BusinessDay).

BANKING

Standard Bank sees Angola as key growth market. Warming relations between Angola and SA and the ties Africa’s biggest bank by assets has with China and Russia — rivals in attempts to secure access to Angolan resources — should help the new business, a senior executive said (BusinessDay). Africa’s biggest bank by assets plans to invest millions of dollars in Angola to set up a commercial and investment bank and offer retail banking services (News24).

BUSINESS

A new production line for soft drinking production will be operating from May this year at Sefa factory, that will increase the company’s production capacity from 3,000 to 10,500 cases per day (Angop).

PORTS

Lobito Port, in the central Benguela Province, will handle over  12,000 tons of load per year, its director told ANGOP.

OIL

Angola and India have signed a memorandum of  understanding in the oil sector, aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation, mainly in the entrepreneurial field (ANGOP).

AIR TRAVEL

Angolan airline Taag plans to carry 1.7 million passengers per year as of 2012 as compared to 1.1 million currently, the coordinator of the company’s management commission, Pimentel de Araújo said (Macauhub).

INVESTMENT

The Angolan government approved 39 investment projects valued at a total of US$7 billion. In a statement released after a Council of Ministers meeting, the government said that the investments were focused on the retail, real estate, telecommunications, energy and transport sectors (Macauhub).

Portuguese group Unicer plans to invest US$120 million, US$85 million of which in the first phase, in construction of a beer factory in Angola’s Bengo province, the group’s representative in Angola, José Teixeira said in Luanda (Macauhub).

Brazilian group Odebrecht is analysing the possibility of investing in a petrochemical project in Angola, the group’s chief executive told Brazilian newspaper Estado de São Paulo (Macauhub).

Cape Verde news update, December 20th

In Airports, Cape Verde, Economy, Energy, Politics, Ports, Security, Telecom, Travel on December 20, 2009 at 4:59 pm

SECURITY

The border service at Sal’s Amílcar Cabral International Airport has started carrying out consultations using the new PASSE border control system, the same day the system was officially unveiled by Minister of Internal Administration Lívio Lopes and by Portugal’s State Secretary of Internal Administration, Dalila Araújo (A Semana).

ECONOMY

Between 2005 and 2007, Cape Verde grew at an annual average of 8.4%, according to data to be presented tomorrow, December 16, by the National Statistics Institute INE) (A Semana).

United States congressman Barney Frank congratulated the directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for its historic decision to make Cape Verde the first country eligible for a second Millennium Challenge Account compact in Washington, D.C. The MCC’s chief executive officer responded with praise for Cape Verde (A Semana).

The National Assembly approved a bill reducing customs tariffs for construction and pavements materials, aircraft parts, telecommunications, electricity, sound and photographic equipment and accessories, and a number of other articles. The bill was approved 51 favorable votes – 39 from the PAICV, 11 from the MpD and one from the UCID – and two abstentions (A Semana).

AIR TRAVEL

São Pedro Airport on the island of São Vicente has been authorized to receive international flights by the Civil Aeronautics Agency. The airport  received its first international cargo flight, a Boeing 737 sent by Portuguese airline TAP that will bring equipment for the airline’s international operations on the island (A Semana).

PORTS

The first phase in the expansion and modernization of Vale dos Cavaleiros sea port in São Filipe, Fogo, will be unveiled this week. The 140 million-escudo project was executed by construction company Armando Cunha (A Semana).

ENERGY

The government of Cape Verde and two foreign companies, Vestel and Infraco signed a contract for construction of four wind farms, aimed at providing 25 percent of the electricity consumed on the archipelago (Macauhub).

Brazil news update, December 14th

In Agriculture, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, Telecom, Travel on December 14, 2009 at 7:05 pm

ECONOMY

At present, Brazil is the fifth-largest country in the world and has the fifth-largest population as well. But in 17 years’ time, it will also be the fifth-largest economy in the world, says its finance minister, Guido Mantega. Read the full article at the BBC.

Brazil’s government said it will lend an additional $80 billion reais ($45.3 billion) to the national development bank over the next two years to boost investment and keep the economy’s strong recovery on track (Reuters).

Brazil’s economy created a record number of jobs in November, in the latest sign the country’s labor market has fully recovered from this year’s recession, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said (Reuters).

BUSINESS

Brazil’s JBS SA, the world’s largest beef processor, said it plans to raise the equivalent of $2 billion in a bond offering, part of a plan to fund its U.S. unit after the takeover of Pilgrim’s Pride Corp (Reuters).

China’s Lenovo, the world’s fourth-largest seller of personal computers, is “open” to buy rivals in Brazil, where it wants to triple market share by 2014, if it strikes the right acquisition price, the company’s top two officials said (Reuters).

Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s third largest aircraft maker, has signed an agreement with CDB Leasing Co worth $2.2 billion over three years to help finance the sale of regional jets in Asia (Reuters).

Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s third-largest aircraft maker, will likely sell a record $500 million worth of planes in Brazil this year, helping offset a tumble in global demand amid the worst civil aviation market in years (Reuters).

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer will be invited to join a tender to supply narrow-bodied planes to United Airlines, the head of United’s parent company UAL Corp said (Reuters).

France’s Renault SA plans to invest about 1 billion reais ($571 million) in Brazil over the next three years, the company’s chief for the Mercosur trade bloc said (Reuters).

MINING

Iron ore prices will likely rise in 2010, underpinned by growing demand from China, the chief executive of Brazilian mining giant Vale said, without offering estimates of how much prices could rise (Reuters).

AMAZON

The $7.7 billion Santo Antonio dam on the Madeira river is part of Brazil’s largest concerted development plan for the Amazon since the country’s military government cut highways through the rain forest to settle the vast region during its two-decade reign starting in 1964. Read the full report at Reuters.

Brazil took a step forward in protecting the Amazon rainforest, starting satellite surveillance of the cattle ranches that are among the chief culprits in the forest’s destruction (Reuters).

AGRICULTURE

Brazilian authorities have approved the use of a new genetically-modified soy seed which was developed jointly by BASF and state agricultural researchers in the world’s No. 2 soy exporter (Reuters).

Sugar output in Brazil, the world’s largest producer, will rise to a record after declining supplies from India boosted demand for sweetener from the South American country, the government said (Bloomberg).

FINANCE

BTG Pactual, the securities firm led by Andre Esteves, is set to launch a private equity-backed Brazilian infrastructure fund, to take advantage of massive road, port and dam projects (Reuters).

OIL

Brazil’s lower house of Congress has approved the second of four bills designed to overhaul the country’s oil legislation and give the government greater control over vast new offshore reserves (Reuters).

Brazil’s Petrobras expects to raise more than $10 billion in a sale of shares it is planning as part of an ambitious expansion effort, the company’s Chief Executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli said (Reuters).

Brazil’s oil giant Petrobras said tests confirmed that Iara oil field, off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, contains a potential of 3 billion to 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Reuters).

TELECOM

Spain’s Telefonica plans to spend more than 2 billion reais ($1.14 billion) in Brazil next year, compared with expected capital expenditures of 2.4 billion reais earmarked for 2009, the chief executive of its Brazilian unit Antonio Carlos Valente said (Reuters).

Cape Verde news update, November 29th

In Airports, Banking, Cape Verde, Economy, Energy, Infrastructure, Telecom, Tourism, Travel on November 29, 2009 at 9:45 pm

ECONOMY

The government has proposed the elaboration of partnerships with the private sector to create management corporations for water and electricity utility Electra on an island-by-island basis (A Semana).

The Bank of Cape Verde (BCV) is expecting a “slight recovery” of the economy in 2010, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth of between 4 and 5 percent, after “continues slowdown” due to an “unfavourable international climate” (Macauhub).

The government of Cape Verde wants to turn the Archipelago into a “cybernetic island” and to do this will be supported by India, specifically in creating a technological hub, Cape Verde’s Foreign Affairs Minister said in Praia (Macauhub).

BANKING

Banco Interatlântico has opened its first branch on the island of Santiago outside of the city of Praia. The new branch, in the city of Assomada, is its eighth in the country. The central region of the island of Santiago has grown economically over the past several years, and is now third in the growth ranking in Cape Verde, following the city of Praia and the island of São Vicente (A Semana).

TRAVEL

Cape Verde is currently under the influence of a zone-specific anti-cyclone flow that is favoring the transportation of dust from the coast of Mauritania to the archipelago. The phenomenon, known in Cape Verde as “dry haze,” has led TACV Cabo Verde Airlines to cancel flights from the island of Sal to other islands (A Semana).

Cape Verde’s airline has become a fully-fledged member of the International air Transport Association (IATA), the company’s commercial director said (Macauhub).

Brazil news update, November 8th

In Banking, Brazil, Economy, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, Ports, Real estate, Telecom on November 8, 2009 at 2:07 pm

ECONOMY

Brazil will publish on Monday a preliminary list of U.S. goods it intends to hit with trade sanctions in retaliation for Washington’s cotton subsidies, a senior government official told Reuters.

Emboldened by emergency measures that helped pull Brazil out of a brief recession, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is intervening more aggressively in the economy and betting on big government (Reuters).

Brazilian congressional committees passed two of four bills designed to overhaul the country’s oil legislation and give the government greater control over vast new offshore reserves (Reuters).

BUSINESS

Mexico’s state oil company Pemex said it signed a letter of intent with a consortium led by Brazil’s Braskem SA to supply raw materials for a proposed petrochemicals plant the consortium may build in Mexico (Reuters).

Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer will produce its 120-seat E-190 jet in China to respond faster when the country’s aviation market recovers, O Estado de S. Paulo said (Reuters).

Brazilian iron ore mining company Vale signed an agreement worth 900 million reais ($520 million) over three years granting access to its railway and port operations to local steel maker Usiminas (Reuters).

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, will partner with mining giant Vale to build a steel mill in southeastern Brazil as part of a plan to spend $5 billion in the South American country, Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal told daily Valor Economico (Reuters).

OIL & GAS

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras said it signed an agreement to buy Chevron Chile, a producer and seller of industrial lubricants under the brand name Texaco in Chile, for around $12 million (Reuters).

Brazil’s Petrobras has found natural gas in Peru’s Amazon jungle and the discovery of about 1 trillion cubic feet could turn out to be much larger, Peruvian President Alan Garcia said (Reuters).

INVESTMENT

Gerdau, Brazil’s largest steelmaker, plans capital expenditures of 9.5 billion reais ($5.5 billion) for the 2010-2014 period, with around 80 percent of the investments within Brazil, Chief Executive Andre Gerdau Johannpeter said (Reuters).

REAL ESTATE

Brazil, a future host of the World Cup and the Olympics, is drawing global investor interest to its real estate sector. As investors and analysts predict a wave of investment in Brazil in coming months, read a sampling of recent deals at Reuters.

TELECOM

America Movil Chief Financial Officer Varlos Garcia Moreno said Brazil’s economic resilience will help its wireless industry outpace other Latin American countries through 2010 (Bloomberg).

BANKING

Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, will become a major financial center, “just like the City of London, Frankfurt and New York,” said Emilio Botin, chairman of Banco Santander SA (Bloomberg).

The fight for control over Brazil’s telecoms

In Brazil, Telecom on October 15, 2009 at 7:41 pm

Foreigners vie for a bigger slice of Brazil’s telecoms market.

Read the full story in The Economist

Brazil news update, October 12th

In Banking, Biofuels, Brazil, Economy, Investments, Mining, Oil, Telecom on October 12, 2009 at 7:02 pm

INVESTMENT

Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is close to opening an office in Brazil that will run its growing Latin American business and is examining business opportunities there, a senior executive said (Reuters).

Brazil’s state development bank disclosed that it boosted its stake in government-run power holding company Eletrobras last month, a move that should help the utility gain financial muscle for investment (Reuters).

ECONOMY

Brazil’s government will increase its target for the primary budget surplus in 2010 to improve public finances as the economy rebounds, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said (Reuters).

MINING

Brazilian miner Vale is in talks to form a consortium with utility holdings Neoenergia and CPFL for the Belo Monte hydroelectric project, the president of one of Vale’s shareholders said (Reuters).

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, is restarting a $5 billion investment program for Brazil that was delayed by the world economic crisis, Valor Economico  said, citing Chief Financial Officer Aditya Mittal (Bloomberg).

ArcelorMittal has chosen Brazil, India and iron-ore mining as its three platforms for investment following the crisis, Mittal told the Sao Paulo-based newspaper. The company may build another plant in Brazil, he added, without elaborating.

ETHANOL

Brazilian ethanol and sugar groups ETH Bioenergia and Brenco said they have signed an agreement to study a merger which could create one of Brazil’s largest biofuel producers (Reuters).

BUSINESS

Hypermarcas, the largest Brazilian maker of toiletries and over-the-counter medicines, agreed  to buy two domestic condom makers for $221 million to increase its presence in Brazil’s beauty care and medicine sectors, Chief Executive Claudio Bergamo told Reuters in an interview (Reuters).

TELECOM

Spain’s Telefonica offered to buy Brazilian telecommunications company GVT for 6.5 billion reais ($3.7 billion) in cash, seeking to trump a bid by French rival Vivendi (Reuters).

TIM Participacoes, Brazil’s third-largest wireless carrier, will speed up its 7 billion reais ($4 billion) investment plan for 2009-2011 to expand voice and data services across the country, its chief executive said (Reuters).

OIL

Brazilian oil and gas company OGX said it found traces of oil in shallow water in the offshore Campos Basin (Reuters).

Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA will have to pay Brazil’s Petrobras $400 million when it signs a final deal for a tentative 40 percent stake in the Abreu e Lima refinery, a Petrobras director said (Reuters).

Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petrobras may explore for deep-sea oil reserves to the north of existing subsalt prospects, possibly extending the range of the vast offshore deposits, a company director said (Reuters).

Odebrecht SA, a Brazilian engineering company, said it obtained $1.5 billion from banks to finance the construction of two drilling rigs it will lease to state-controlled oil producer Petrobras (Bloomberg).

BANKING

Banco do Brasil, Latin America’s largest bank by assets, plans more takeovers in the insurance market as it expands its pension, health and other units, Chief Executive Aldemir Bendine said. The bank may also expand a joint venture with Spain’s Mapfre to other countries in Latin America, Africa, Japan and the United States, Bendine said (Reuters).

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