Portugal

Mozambique exceeds tax collection target in 2016

3 January 2017

The Mozambique Tax Authority (AT) raised 173 billion meticais (US$2.395 billion) in taxes in 2016, more than the 165 billion patacas it expected, said the president of the institution, cited by the Mozambican press. Amelia Nakhare stressed that tax revenues have exceeded the initially planned amount, "in another year marked by business closures and a deep economic and financial crisis."

Exhibition of food from Portuguese-speaking countries open for another six months

30 December 2016

The Special Exhibition of Food Products from Portuguese Speaking Countries will remain open until 30 June, 2017 in order to allow more people and traders to get to know those products, said the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), the exhibition's organiser. The Special Exhibition of Food Products from Portuguese Speaking Countries includes a variety of wines, canned foods, processed foods, spices, coffee, tea, milk, juices and other food products especially selected from Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde (Cape Verde), Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Timor-Leste (East Timor).

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries reaches US$75 billion from January to October

28 December 2016

Trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries in the first 10 months of 2016 amounted to US$75.491 billion, or a year on year fall of 10.32%, according to official Chinese figures released by the Macau Forum.

Airline from Azores to begin flights to Cabo Verde in 2017

23 December 2016

Azores Airlines, a subsidiary of Portugal’s SATA group, will begin flying connections to Cabo Verde and Barcelona in the 2017 IATA summer season (April to October), the group’s CEO Paulo Menezes announced. The operation will use company aircraft, similar to what was done in the summer of 2016, Menezes said while presenting the summer 2017 operational plan along with new Azores Airline products.

Portugal’s Galp Energia group approves investment in Mozambique

22 December 2016

Portugal’s Galp Energia group has approved the plan for investment in the Coral South project in area 4 of Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin, indicates a statement released by the Securities Market Commission. The approval is “a significant step toward making the final decision on investment in the project, which besides requiring conclusion and signing of all associated documents also depends on the project’s approval by the other consortium partners, completion of the project’s financing and approval of conditions concerning financing of the respective stake of Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) on behalf of the Mozambican government.”

Privatisation process of Cabo Verde’s shipyards far from completion

19 December 2016

The sale of Cape Verdean shipyard company Cabnave is far from being completed, wrote Cape Verdean newspaper Expresso das Ilhas, which noted that Portuguese group ETE had made the best financial offer for the company's privatisation tender. The Portuguese group recently announced it had qualified "first in the international public tender for the privatisation of Cabnave, shipyards on the island of Sao Vicente in Cabo Verde, and the next step is financial negotiations and the final terms of the 30-year concession contract."

Governments of Cabo Verde and Portugal meet at summit in February 2017

19 December 2016

The fourth summit of heads of government of Portugal and Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) takes place on 20 February in Praia announced last week the Cape Verdean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luís Filipe Tavares. The minister, who was speaking to journalists in the capital, said that the documents for the summit, during which the 2016-2020 Strategic Cooperation Programme will be signed "are finalised."

Mozambique and Portugal study closer relations in the agro-industrial sector

13 December 2016

Officials from Mozambique and Portugal met in Maputo to study ways to encourage partnerships between entrepreneurs from the two countries in the agro-industrial sector. They attended a meeting organised by the Portuguese Embassy of Portugal along with Mozambican leaders and Portuguese staff from Portugal's Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) and the Mozambique-Portugal Chamber of Commerce, according to the press.

Macau wants more cooperation to enhance its role as a platform between Portugal and China

12 December 2016

The Macau Secretary for the Economy and Finance, Leong Vai Tac, said on Sunday that Macau wants to strengthen its economic relations with Portugal to enhance the role of the territory as a platform for relations between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries. During a recent visit to Portugal, Leong Vai Tac met with the Secretaries of State for Industry, Commerce, Environmental Protection, Energy and Internationalisation,with whom he discussed how to put into practice broader cooperation using the mechanisms created to boost relations between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.

Chinese ambassador Cai Run calls for boost to business cooperation with Portugal

9 December 2016

The Chinese ambassador to Portugal, Cai Run, wants cooperation between Portuguese companies and Chinese investors in various areas of economic activity such as traditional Chinese medicine, tourism and education, among others, according to statements made in Lisbon.

Bank of Mozambique nominates committee for Moza bank

7 December 2016

The Bank of Mozambique will appoint a committee to lead the process of capitalisation or sale of troubled bank Moza as soon as the report that was commissioned from KPMG is delivered, the central bank said in a statement issued on Tuesday in Maputo. The committee will be responsible for analysing the diagnostic report and independent review of the financial statements of Moza, as at 30 September, 2016, prepared by KPMG in collaboration with the Financial Department of the bank, which will then be sent to shareholders.

Sale of Portugal’s Novo Banco expected to be completed this year

6 December 2016

The sale of Portugal's Novo Banco, the bank that inherited the healthy assets of the bankrupt Banco Espírito Santo, should be completed by the end of the year, with the Bank of Portugal announcing which of two candidates has been selected, according to the Portuguese press. The two applicants to buy the bank are US investment fund Lone Star Funds and the China Minsheng Financial Group, which according to daily newspaper Público has put forward a more interesting proposal.

Mozambican company invests in breeding crocodiles

5 December 2016

Mozambican company Agro-indústria e Comércio, Lda. (Agripec) plans to invest US$1.4 million in a project to breed crocodiles to use their skins, said the managing partner, Manuel Guimarães, quoted by news agency AIM. The announced investment is intended to finance the construction of a slaughterhouse in Beira and a crocodile skin tanning unit, with individual tanks for crocodiles, a hatchery and fattening and growing tanks in Chemba, one of the districts in the province.

Cashew exports may bring Mozambique tax revenues of US$33 million

5 December 2016

The current cashew marketing year in Mozambique could provide a tax revenue of US$33 million resulting from the export of 110,000 tonnes of raw nuts, said the president of the Association of Cashew Manufacturers (Aicaju).

BPI shareholders postpone for decision on the sale of 2% of Banco de Fomento Angola until December

24 November 2016

The decision on the sale of a portion of 2% of Angolan bank Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA) by Portugal's Banco BPI to Angolan telecommunications company Unitel was postponed until 13 December, according to a proposal by majority shareholder, CaixaBank approved during the General Shareholders' Meeting held on Wednesdayin the city of Porto. CaixaBank asked for that item on the agenda to be suspended arguing that conditions were not in place and that the European Central Bank had yet to authorise the sale in order to reduce exposure to Angola.

Mozambique’s ENH approves natural gas project investment plan

23 November 2016

The Mozambican government's oil and gas company ENH will have to pay US$800 million for its share of 10% in the natural gas exploration project in area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, the company said in a statement issued in Maputo. The statement said that the board of directors approved the investment plan for the Coral Sul project, which will require an investment by all partners of US$8 billion for natural gas extraction and liquefaction using a floating platform at sea.

Chinese group Fosun is the largest shareholder of Portuguese bank BCP

21 November 2016

Chinese group Fosun has become the largest shareholder of Portuguese private bank Banco Comercial Portuguese (BCP) after paying 174.6 million euros in a reserved share issue, which means it now holds 16.7% of the bank's share capital, according to market statements.

ENI Group approves investment in natural gas project in Mozambique

21 November 2016

The board of Italian oil and gas group ENI has approved an investment in the first phase of the development of the Coral gas field (Coral Sul project), located in the deep waters of the Rovuma Basin (Area 4), in northern Mozambique, the group said in a statement issued on Friday in Milan. The project involves the construction of six sub-sea wells connected to a floating production facility (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Unit), with a liquefaction capacity exceeding 3.3 million tonnes of natural gas, equivalent to about 5 billion cubic metres.

Moza bank’s shareholders to decide in December whether the bank will be sold

21 November 2016

Shareholders of Moza, a bank in which the Bank of Mozambique intervened in late September, will hold a general meeting in early December to decide whether the bank will be recapitalised or sold, a director of the central bank said on Friday in Maputo. Joana Matsombe, the director responsible for supervision, said, "there are already interested parties but at the moment what interests us is to assess the real situation of the bank, and we are now awaiting the completion of the audit ordered for this purpose."

International Cabo Verde Fair needs more room to grow

21 November 2016

The International Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) Fair (FIC), which ended its 20th edition on Sunday in Praia, "has established itself as the largest business platform in the country," said the chairman of the event, drawing attention to the urgent need to address the lack of space in the existing venue.

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