The global economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to affect economic growth in Africa, with highly indebted countries, such as Angola and Mozambique, with a limited capacity to respond to stimulus, according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa
São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde last week became the first Portuguese-speaking African Countries to receive aid from the Ali-Baba foundation, owned by Chinese billionaire Jack ma, to support efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrates the importance of the implementation of the African Continental Free-Trade Area (AfCFTA), which includes the Portuguese-speaking African Countries, according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
The funding for the modernisation and expansion of the international airport of São Tomé and Príncipe will be provided by China under an agreement signed on Friday in São Tomé.
The United Nations (UN) expects to remove Angola and São Tomé and Principe from the group of least developed countries (LDCs), according to the World Economic Outlook report.
The new São Tomé deepwater port was to be the signature project of the reestablishment of relations between China and São Tomé and Príncipe. But the country’s debt level currently advises against the large-scale state-to-state financing initially forecast.
Cabo Verde recorded the biggest economic growth among all the Portuguese-speaking African countries, as a new year is about to begin in which Mozambique is expected to see strong economic acceleration and a possible return to growth for Angola.
Guinea-Bissau, Cabo Verde and Mozambique are among the African countries that are most open, with regard to visas, to the citizens of other African states, according to the African Union (AU) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which includes the Portuguese-Speaking countries, enhances the attractiveness of the continent for industrial investment from China, according to Jeremy Stevens, chief economist of the South African Standard Bank responsible for China.
Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa are “a hotspot for investor interest”, says Mateus Magala, Vice-president of the African Development Bank. According to the Mozambican national, “the time is now” to invest in these countries, because of economic reforms, a burgeoning middle class and regional diversity against the background of the new African Continental Free Trade Area.
Brazil and Cabo Verde were among the countries to introduce the most reforms throughout 2018 to improve their business environment, although this was not enough to prevent their decline in the World Bank benchmark index.
Macau has an important role to play as a “knowledge centre” in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) project, according to some of the leading Sino-Lusophone researchers.
The modernisation of São Tomé airport will be “one of the major projects since independence” of São Tomé and Príncipe and will boost tourism, the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China Wang Wei said in an interview due to be published in Macao Magazine in September.
Most African countries, including the Portuguese-speaking ones, have been facilitating the entry of Chinese citizens in their respective territories, the aim being to increase investment and tourism, indicates a study by the Migration Policy Institute
China is a “very important partner” for São Tomé and Príncipe, particularly for “structural projects” such as the airport, new port and housing, São Tomé’s Prime Minister told Macauhub.
Technical studies for the revamp of São Tomé International Airport, whose limitations make it one of the country’s bottlenecks, are almost complete. The most delicate part, financing, is still being worked out. Prospects are more complicated for another Chinese-built major infrastructure, the deepwater port.
The São Tomé Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (APCI) will follow up on potential deals that resulted from the meeting of entrepreneurs from China and Portuguese-speaking countries, said the director of the São Tomé and Príncipe agency.
Art has been around for at least 10,000 years. It has taken many forms, from paintings on cave walls to dead sheep suspended in formaldehyde. But, whatever the medium, age and location, one thing is for sure: you can tell a lot about a culture when you look at its art. As the late anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss said, objects matter.
The diversification of Macau’s economy centred on relations with Portuguese-speaking countries is essential if the territory is to find its place in the Greater Bay Area, said the chief executive of Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU).
China is involved in eight port projects, which have either been completed or announced in Portuguese-speaking countries, as a construction company or through funding, according to a recent survey by the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS).
