Portugal

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.

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries exceeds US$69 billion from January to September

14 November 2016

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries fell by 9.61% in the period from January to September to US$69.128 billion, according to official Chinese figures released by the Macau Forum.

BPI posts a loss after selling 2% of Banco de Fomento Angola

14 November 2016

The reduction from 50.1% to 48.1% of Portuguese bank Banco BPI's stake in Banco de Fomento Angola would have led the bank from a profit of 183 million euros to a loss of 25 million euros if it had occurred in the third quarter, according to a document released to the market. A presentation published by the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM), in which the bank demonstrates the implications of that sale on its consolidated financial statements and capital ratios, shows that the bank will no longer record its stake in Angola by the full consolidation method and begin using the equity method.

BCP shareholders postpone decision on entry of Chinese group Fosun

10 November 2016

The general meeting of Portuguese bank Banco Comercial Português (BCP) will resume on 21 November, when it will vote on whether to increase the limit on voting rights from 20% to 30%, which is one of the conditions for Chinese group Fosun to take a stake in the bank, according to a market statement issued on Wednesday. At its meeting on Wednesday, the shareholders present approved the proposal to keep the shareholder agreement in place, a motion that was presented by the four largest shareholders of BCP.

European Commission lowers growth forecast for the Portuguese economy in 2016 to 0.9%

10 November 2016

The Portuguese economy is expected to grow by just 0.9% this year, according to the European Commission's autumn forecasts, which lower the figure published last May, when it expected economic growth of 1.5%. The Commission also projects that this year Portugal will post a budget deficit of 2.7% of GDP, equal to the amount announced in May, but above the limit set out by Brussels to Portugal under the sanctions application process that sets an upper limit of 2.5% of GDP.

China Minsheng Financial Holding makes proposal to buy Portugal’s Novo Banco

7 November 2016

Investment company China Minsheng Financial Holding is one of five candidates for the purchase of Novo Banco, as well as investment funds Apollo Global Management and Centerbridge Partners, Lone Star Funds and Banco Commercial Portugues, according to the Portuguese press.

Cristina Morais ends her duties at Macau Forum

7 November 2016

Cristina Morais term as coordinator of the Support Office to the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese Speaking Countries ended on 2 November, according to an order of the Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance. The order from Secretary Leong Vai Tac appoints Cristina Morais for a period of one year to the post of head of the Department of External Economic Relations of the Macau Economic Office, with effect from 3 November.

Portugal leaves the diamond sector in Angola after a century

4 November 2016

Portugal put an end to a century-long presence in the diamond sector in Angola with the signing of an agreement Thursday in Luanda, which ended the conflict between Angolan state diamond company Endiama and Sociedade Portuguesa de Empreendimentos (SPE). Signed by the chairman of Endiama, António Carlos Sumbula and his SPE counterpart, Hélder de Oliveira, this document follows another agreement signed by the two parties in November 2015 in Lisbon, which suspended the arbitration and court proceedings involving the two parties.

IMF expected to support Mozambique once again in 2017

3 November 2016

The International Monetary Fund will resume aid to Mozambique by the end of the second quarter of 2017 after the country started taking its first steps to take public debt to sustainable values, the permanent IMF representative in Mozambique said in Maputo.

Universities support the Portuguese language in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

3 November 2016

Portuguese universities will support Portuguese language teaching at the University of Yangzhou, a city in China's Jiangsu Province, according to the Union of Portuguese Speaking Capital Cities (UCCLA). A delegation from UCCLA from 20 to 28 October visited Macau and three cities in Jiangsu at the invitation of the provincial government, with the provincial authorities and the Changzhou city supporting the UCCLA's intention to open an office in Yangzhou, Macau and Portuguese-speaking countries cooperation park, which will be located in that municipality.

Banco BPI likely to lose control of Banco de Fomento Angola

1 November 2016

Shareholders of Banco BPI are expected to approve the sale of 2 percent of Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA) to the Angolan telecoms company Unitel for 28 million euros during the general meeting scheduled for 23 November in Porto, indicates a communication to the market. In the statement released via Portugal’s Securities Market Commission (CMVM), the Banco BPI board of directors affirms that the sale is the “only solution” possible for the bank to reduce exposure to Angola and thereby comply with the European Central Bank’s demand that it resolve the “problem of surpassing the limit for major risks faced since late 2014.”

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries falls 11.22% in the first eight months of 2016

28 October 2016

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries fell 11.22% in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period of 2015, according to figures from the Chinese Customs Services, released by the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macau Forum). According to official statistics the trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in the first eight months of the year reached US$60.23 billion.

Angola among the most difficult countries to do business

27 October 2016

Angola is among the top 10 countries where it is more difficult to do business, according to the World Bank Group "Doing Business 2017- Equal Opportunities for All" report, which assesses 190 countries. The World Bank report concludes that 137 countries have undertaken reforms to improve the business climate in 2015/16, 20% more than last year.

Olam Mozambique provides work to 40,000 farmers

26 October 2016

Olam Moçambique, a company that promotes the production and distribution of agricultural products in Mozambique provides employment to about 40,000 farmers. Sridhar Krishan, the managing director of the company, which is based in Singapore and has operated in Mozambique since 1999, told Mozambican daily newspaper Noticias that as well as financial support to farmers it also guarantees a buyer for their products.

Portugal is sixth European country to receive most investment from China in 2015

25 October 2016

Portugal is on the list of European countries that received most investment from China in 2015, according to a study by the ESADE Business & Law School published in Spanish daily newspaper El Pais.

Cement plant opens in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

24 October 2016

The Metuge cement factory in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, came into operation on Friday following an investment of US$24 million, Mozambican news agency AIM reported. AIM said the plant will have an annual production capacity of 250,000 tonnes of cement.

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