Lisbon, Portugal, 15 Nov – Banco Espírito Santo (BES) Cabo Verde is due open its first branch on the Cape Verdean archipelago in January 2011, on Sal Island, the chairman of the bank, Pedro Cudell told Portuguese news agency Lusa.

“We are very focused on the development of the various islands and it is likely that the next branch to open, after the initial one on Sal island, will be in Mindelo,” he said.

On Friday, BES launched a credit line of 50 million euros to support exports to cape Verde, ahead of FIC, which will be attended by several Portuguese companies.

“Last July we opened a local bank, after four years of business of our subsidiary and, after a further four months we are opening up this credit line of 50 million euros at a time when FIC is due to begin, which will have the biggest ever attendance by Portuguese companies,” Cudell told Lusa.

The bank will take a delegation of 15 businesspeople from the Industrial association of the District of Aveiro (AIDA) to the event which, according to Cudell, “ is exceeding all expectations,” of its organisers in terms of exhibitor participation.

BES Cabo Verde is a local bank, with headquarters in Praia, focused on supporting the economic development of Cape Verde, the internationalisation of Portuguese companies, promotion of partnerships with Cape Verdean companies and cooperating in expansion to new markets on the West African coast and in central Africa. (macauhub)