NO CENTRO DAS GRANDES ROTAS DE NAVEGAÇÃO

A localização centralizada de Cabo Verde tornou, desde há

muitos anos, o arquipélago numa vantajosa encruzilhada para

passageiros e carga, movimentados através do Oceano

Atlântico.

AT THE CROSSROADS OF MAJOR SHIPPING ROUTES

For many years now, Cape Verde’s central position has made

the archipelago an important crossroads for passenger and

cargo vessels crossing the Atlantic.

C.P. 82, Mindelo, S. Vicente, Cabo VerdeTel +238 230 75 00

Direcção Geral: Fax +238 232 43 37Serviço Administrativo: Fax +238 232 21 70

E-mail: enapor@cvtelecom.cv www.enapor.cv

LOCALIZAÇÃO � OPÇÕES � SEGURANÇALOCALIZAÇÃO � OPÇÕES � SEGURANÇA

LOCATION � OPTIONS � SAFETYLOCATION � OPTIONS � SAFETY

B1

CAPE VERDE SUPPLEMENT

www.shanghaidaily.com

Wednesday

9 May 2012

A hotspot for Chinese investment Government passes baton to the private sector to ensure sustainable growth

Bank On Financial ServicesThe financial sector is embracing international partners.

Always With YouAir transport will play a decisive role in the archipelagoí s modernization.

Upgrading InfrastructureCape Verde is capitalizing on its strategic location to become a logistical hub.

José Maria Pereira Neves

Prime Minister of Cape Verde

OVER the last decade, Africa has grown exponentially within a global context. As home to six of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies, the continent is slated to grow by another 6 percent this year, thanks to what the World Economic Forum sums up as “improved macroeconomic and political stability, an ongoing resource boom and a growing consumer base.”

Investment is flooding in, especially from China, and the resource-rich continent is looking forward to more. As leaders gather to attend the World Economic Forum on Af-rica in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in May this year, they will discuss how best to shape the immense change taking place throughout Africa now.

In Cape Verde, the transformation has been dynamic. The country has been iden-tified as one of the few African countries that may meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Four of the eight goals — achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health — were attained by the end of 2010, and there is plenty of political will to keep the country moving forward, with growth this year pro-jected to reach around 10 percent.

For this beautiful group of islands situated 500 kilometers from west coast of Africa, the most pressing priority is infrastructural projects. Tourism, the main driver of the economy, has seen a steady flow of arrivals de-spite the global crisis, yet is under-developed, offering huge potential for expansion.

Situated close to major north to south sea routes, Cape Verde provides an important sea and air refueling site in the North Atlantic, as well as an effective communications station. Sea and air transportation, ICT, financial ser-vices, fishery logistics and creative industries have therefore been identified as sustainable economic solutions for the mid-term. It also offers an under-exploited fisheries sector.

José Maria Pereira Neves, prime minister of Cape Verde, says: “First and foremost, we need to continue with the modernization of infrastructure, and accelerate the rhythm of construction for water, sanitation, en-ergy, telecommunications, ports, roads and airports.

“We must also face the challenge of human capital development to be able to respond

to the dynamics of the transformation of the national economy. We’ve been betting on investment in other areas as well.

“We are promoting investment in profes-sional training at all levels and in all areas that may result in growth dynamics in the country’s economy. Since we intend to be-come an international services center in the fields already mentioned, we have to develop skills and know-how, starting from university education to the lowest levels of professional training. Ultimately, the most important step will be carrying out capacity-building projects.”

The prime minister is keen to showcase Cape Verde’s many competitive advantages to China and has been making important strides in attracting investment from the Asian powerhouse.

“China could use Cape Verde as a base for many things. It could provide logistical support for their Atlantic fishing fleet, help develop the fisheries sector, carry out ship repairs, or provide a technological platform to develop an information society. We’ve been directing our partnership with China towards areas strategic for our development,” says Neves.

The relationship between the two coun-tries is strong, with cooperation agreements

already in existence for infrastructure, health, education and sporting projects. Negotia-tions are currently under way with Chinese companies for ship repairs and logistics sup-port for the fisheries. All of this will impact on port activities and employment.

With a small population dispersed across the 1,500 square mile (3,885 square kilome-ter) chain of islands, Cape Verde is expanding its electricity network to support a rapidly expanding tourism industry. The country plans to cover 50 percent of its fuel needs with renewables by the year 2020 and devel-oping 28 megawatt onshore wind farms on four of its islands. This is the first large-scale wind project in Africa and the first renewable energy Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in sub-Saharan Africa. “We expect major in-vestments from China to come in the energy sector,” the prime minister says.

Meanwhile, Chinese exports to Cape Verde continue to rise — in 2000, they amounted to US$19,000 but had grown to US$8.6 million in 2009. “Forecasts predict this trend will continue in the coming years, confirming the importance of China as a commercial partner,” Neves says.

Cape Verde’s reputation as a tourism destination has grown substantially in re-cent years, with 475,294 people visiting the islands last year. Despite a contraction in the building of hotels and resorts during 2009/10, the sector continues to motor the economy.

As well as fueling growth in tourism and trade opportunities, the substantial infrastructure projects planned in air and sea transport will also have far-reaching implications for integration and social co-hesion in the scattered population. Prime Minister Neves says: “We have enormous po-tential as far as air and sea transport goes, thanks to our geostrategic location which is complemented by modern port and airport infrastructure.

“Right now, we are providing a sound regulatory system and legal framework, and institutional support in the area in air and sea transportation. Modern infrastruc-ture and well trained staff that will allow us to manage this sector offer the highest standards of quality. All the conditions have been set to make the most of the existing potential in Cape Verde.”

Wednesday 9 May 2012 Shanghai DailyB2 CAPE VERDE

Building growthStrategic infrastructure plans add cohesion and competitiveness

Air transport has contributed to the inducement of new dynamics in all sectors

of the Cape Verdean economyMário Paixão Lopes, Chairman, ASA

‘

‘

Mário Paixão Lopes

Chairman of the Board

ASA

Cape Verde’s buoyant port sector is undergoing major expansion.

José Maria Veiga

Former Minister of Infrastructure

and Maritime Economy

FOR José Maria Veiga, the former minister of Infrastructure and Maritime Economy, timely expansion and modernization are crucial for sustainability and social cohesion, not least because of the nation’s disjointed, archipelago structure, and the number of Cape Verdeans living abroad, estimated by the International Migration Organization to be 700,000 — more than half of the popula-tion currently residing on the islands.

A lack of any significant natural resources means the government priority is to build an economy that relies on more than tourism.

“As more ports are constructed, vessels will be better able to move between the is-lands, allowing goods and people to move freely about the country. Airports play a similar role,” he says. “We should keep in mind that we are a country that wants to transform the islands into an international center for services, and we will use our air and maritime transport potential to its full advantage.”

Cape Verde boasts 10 airports, four of which are international, at the capital Praia, Sal, Boa Vista and São Vincente, that has helped boost tourism, and while the focus is on a diversified economy, the tourism figures have been climbing.

“Despite the crisis, we’ve experienced large increases in tourist arrivals,” Veiga says. “Boa Vista, in particular, has taken a step forward. It will be necessary to attract more infrastructural development, and our hotel supply is limited.

“We give urgent attention to water and sanitation. We have received funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for the first phase of such developments. I am pleased to say we were the first country to be eligible for a second round of funding from the MCC, due to the excellent management and results.

“We have also had a strong evolution of partnership for development from China. Whether through loans, grants, or direct investment, China has supported the mod-ernization of institutions and infrastructures in Cape Verde.”

For Mario Paixão Lopes, chairman of Airports and Air Navigation Company S.A. (ASA), air transport, being both fast and safe, will play a decisive role in modernization and communication strategies.

The country’s air entry-points have con-tributed enormously to expand the tourism product. Visitors can sample diving, hill-walk-ing, fishing, windsurfing or sunbathing.

“This is a very important issue for the gov-ernment and ASA, as a 100-percent public company, plays a key part in modernizing the air network,” he says. “Airports have also facilitated access to Cape Verde through different gates of the country. This is impor-tant for economic growth and has helped to stimulate investment in those islands where there is an international airport, bringing competitiveness to that destination.”

Boa Vista is an excellent case in point. Since the international airport opened there in 2007, investments in hotels, resorts and real estate have flowed in. Air traffic is grow-ing at a rate of 30 percent a year, and it is due to become one of the hottest destinations in the year, with an average of 30 charters a week from around the world.

“Air transport has contributed to the in-ducement of new dynamics in all sectors of the economy,” Lopes says.

The organization has also played a stra-tegic part in Cape Verde’s global economic dynamic, through bilateral agreements.

“Early last year, ASA signed an agreement to adapt Cape Verde’s regulations to the EU legal framework, which would evolve to ver-tical agreements for open skies in Europe,” the aviation chief says. “It’s a prime target for ASA and negotiations are already under way.

“We also have an open skies agreement with the US under which airlines from both countries can fly with unlimited frequency, and there is one with other countries within the West African region. Cape Verde is build-ing these factors to boost accessibility and competitiveness that will allow policies to be successful.

“To build the hub and achieve our objective

of transforming Cape Verde into a platform for air services, it is necessary to create a good logistical base, as well as providing quality services that can develop the cargo and pas-senger segments to its fullest potential.”

The air chief points out some of the advan-tages that set Cape Verde apart from other countries in the region.

“We enjoy a consolidated democracy with peaceful transfer of power, cultural homogeneity, economic stability and a risk of political, ethnic and religious conflicts that are close to zero. Cape Verde is safe. All investors can come here without prob-lems, and that is an important factor in our

Staff training a priorityLike the government, ASA’s chairman is

also making human resources a priority with regards to staff training. However, his vision extends to a change in the mentality of the island population. “We need to pro-mote a mentality that is focused on services for the client. This is critical and depends on the people, not just the infrastructure. ASA has a strategic plan for training and innovation. We understand this is a key fac-tor for success.”

While acknowledging consistent help from Chinese investors — “There are signs on all the islands of the great Chinese contribution

intervene. Opportunities exist for invest-ment in all these areas. The tenders will be announced very soon. We want to continue working to promote quality and excellence, not just among our employees, but among all Cape Verdeans.”

The government is also optimistic that the country will soon open up to become a popular cruise ship destination in the North Atlantic.

Franklim Spencer, chairman of ENAPOR, the state-owned company in charge of creat-ing a healthy, competitive and diversified port enterprise, takes up the story.

“The ports sector ended 2011 with an over-all growth of 10 percent,” he says. “We have grown in all segments and in almost every port. There was a growth in international traffic and cabotage, and growth between the islands of Cape Verde also increased.

“We also had considerable growth in the passenger segment due to increased regular maritime transport offer. This is a very im-portant element, as in the past, it constituted an obstacle to tourism growth and we have been tackling these obstacles by eliminating waiting lists. This year we will inaugurate the new infrastructure in Porto Novo, the port with the best possibilities to mobilize tourists which will also be a reference for cruise tourism.

ENAPOR is already in negotiations with the Association of West African ports and vari-ous shipping companies for possible cruising partnerships and has begun a dialogue with the Brazilian Port of Fortaleza in response to the demand of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. “We have an agreement with the Port of Fortaleza to develop new tourism products within the mid-Atlantic cruise seg-ment,” Spencer says. “For example, cruises departing from Brazil can pass by Cape Verde before arriving to the Canary Islands, with a potential connection to Madeira.

“Operators have already shown interest in a West African package, which comprises Sen-egal, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde and Gambia that started last November. Fred Olsen will begin making stops in Cape Verde, within five national ports after the completion of works.

“Cruise tourism is not a port business per sé but one that arose because the ports started getting visitors. In the past, the ships that docked here carried 200 passengers, now they are carrying 600 passengers. Now we understand the potential of this seg-ment, we can organize, develop and promote activities.”

Fisheries expansion Cape Verde’s fisheries sector has grown

enormously internationally in recent years, and is set to play a dynamic part within the economy, with a strong impact on job creation for Cape Verdean sailors and crew. China has a strong positioning strategy in the region and will require certain services from Cape Verde.

All projects will be open for Chinese in-vestment, on a PPP basis, Spencer explains. He is particularly excited about opportuni-ties in fish transshipment. ENAPOR has an agreement to construct refrigerators with a capacity of up to 50,000-60,000 tons and there are plans to implement fish processing plants for export.

“Installing the Beijing-based CNFC Over-seas Fishery Co Ltd here will create a flow of imported materials, components and sup-port for fisheries and the construction of large warehouses. These might generate a flow of between 10,000 and 15,000 contain-ers that will bring all these materials to be incorporated between the fleet,” he says. “Ship repair company, CABNAVE, has set up a modern slipway platform which can take vessels up to 110 meters long and 18 meters wide on São Vincente, and this has spawned a chain of businesses.

“We have a great business environment, a competitive workforce and the most flex-ible legislation in the region. We are aiming to build a terminal with hundreds of acres available for the installation of logistics and an industrial area very close to the port. I hope it will become the largest offshore platform in the region.”

competitiveness,” he says. “Clearly the world is in crisis and this is

affecting air travel. We are in a world of uncer-tainty and are seeing investments retracted especially those from Europe, yet we have the strongest trade and tourism exchanges there. Within this scenario, we are doing our bit and preparing well for the good times.”

Airport traffic is growing solidly. “For-eigners have a good image of Cape Verde, the country has prestige and credibility abroad,” Lopes says. “ASA is a barometer of Cape Verde. We finished 2011 with posi-tive rates of productivity, and this speaks well of the potential and how the country is facing the crisis period.”

to the development of Cape Verde” — Lopes lists the new developments in the pipeline: “We are expanding and modernizing Boa Vista Airport, especially the passenger and cargo terminals, in order to meet growing demand. We are doing the same to Sal airport.”

“All these projects are in the planning stage and awaiting funding,” he says. “We need around US$20 million. In São Nicolau, we are finalizing the executive protocol for the construction of a new passenger terminal to improve services.”

“These are the priority projects. In Praia, there is an feasibility study under way for the expansion of the airport. Once that is completed, we will know where and how to

Shanghai Daily Wednesday 9 May 2012 CAPE VERDE B3

Wednesday 9 May 2012 Shanghai DailyB4 CAPE VERDE

More Chinese investment will arrive, and when it does, there must be a bank with the

capacity to provide its financial needs.Emanuel Miranda, Chairman and CEO, Caixa Económica de Cabo Verde

‘ ‘

Expanding all areas Financial services: sustainable growth is possible with the right partnerships

Emanuel Miranda

Chairman and CEO

Caixa Económica de Cabo Verde

Cristina Duarte

Minister of Finance

CAPE Verde’s financial sector is in good shape, with eight main banks and two insur-ance companies currently in operation. The Central Bank of Cabo Verde (Banco de Cabo Verde) is responsible for the supervision of the sector, interest rates and price stability. Recent legislation has given the entity more independence, promoting its financial inter-mediary role, and the whole sector has been strengthened by improved regulations and monetary policy autonomy.

For Cristina Duarte, minister of Finance, there is still plenty of potential for internal growth. “We have a significant diaspora, so the sector has great potential to grow,” she says. “We need to position Cape Verde as a platform for services, and make more bets on technology.

“When a country begins to build infra-structure at the pace we are, it needs to be certain of the quality of the spending. It is a simple equation; the expense must drive the growth and the growth will pay the debt. This equation cannot fail. We have devel-oped a monitoring and evaluation strategy for public investment. From 2013 onwards, projects must pass an assessment based on the criteria of economic, financial and social profitability. This ensure the quality of our spending.”

“We have strengthened our supervision arrangements and adopted international standards against money laundering. Cape Verde will only be able to become a finan-cial services if it is fiscally competitive, and credible.”

As Duarte notes, one of the major chal-lenges the economy faces is the role of tourism as the principal driver of economic growth. “This is risky,” she says. “Our external anchor is in Europe, most of the touristic flow comes from the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Portugal. Foreign direct

investment continues to come from Europe, and has decreased because of the crisis. We have an umbilical cord attached to Europe, and obviously, when it is in crisis, we also suffer the consequences.”

Despite this, things are much more positive, she says. “We’ve gone through the tsunami. In the first place, we built the fiscal space to digest the crisis. We also reached significant levels of social cohesion. That, in fact, is one of the greatest achievements of this government. Civil society created social spaces during the crisis which have subse-quently been used to cushion the impact. We had to manage budgets very realistically and implement unpopular measures at the time that was necessary.”

The government has also contained the

growth of expenditure over the past five years. “All the spaces created in terms of deficit and debt were kept for public invest-ment and not for the operation of the state machine.”

“Nowadays, domestic debt is kept with-in sustainable limits consolidating our exchange rate regime. We are not distracted and we mobilized external funding for pub-lic sector programs that served to provide the country with infrastructure and as an anti-cyclical measure.”

The country is not competing with Afri-can centers such as Lagos, Dakar, Abidjan or Accra, Duarte asserts. “We are not in a posi-tion to do so because we lack a real economy. But we have many other advantages: Cape Verde has a massively developed informa-tion and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, institutional credibility, po-litical stability and good governance ratings. Investment in human capital will allow us to position Cape Verde as a secure platform for back up systems, booking systems and call centers, not only for the financial institu-tions, but also for the oil companies that are emerging in the region. It is not a coincidence that we have begun building our first cyber zone in Praia with Chinese funding.”

On a mission As part of its mission to become the coun-

try’s leading bank, with a market share of 33 percent, Caixa has developed 14 projects, based on four strategic areas, namely qual-ity, innovation, proximity and leadership. It hopes to have implemented close to 96 percent of these projects by the end of the year.

“We will have a new headquarters ready by the end of May,” Miranda says. “We are also in the process of creating a new corporate image. Caixa, in recent years, has taken a huge step forward in terms of quality — we are in discussions with Bureau Veritas to obtain the ISO 9001 certificate of quality. We have also passed the first phase of ISO 27001, which relates to information sys-tems security, and are due to be certified imminently.”

Miranda is mindful that the country needs technical assistance in general. “We are less dependent than we were 10 or 12 years ago, but we need to make sure Cape Verde produc-es enough scientific knowledge to support the development programs.”

International expansion is also on the cards, with the chairman keen for Caixa to have a presence in every country where Cape Verdeans are. The diaspora community cur-rently totals between 350,000 and 400,000 in the US — almost the same number as in Cape Verde itself — with significant num-bers in Portugal, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The second track of inter-nationalization will be joint ventures with other banks in the African region; this is already at an advanced stage, starting with Guinea Bissau and Angola.

“We also want to see internalization reached through the financial cluster,” Miranda says. “The government’s strategy is to transform Cape Verde into a hub of services, and that cannot be implemented if the country has no financial institutions with the competencies and skills to accom-pany and support the regional development strategy. Caixa is prepared to take on that challenge: we want to be ready when the time comes.”

The bank is also keen to develop partner-ships with Chinese financial institutions in order to channel investment to Africa

www.prisma-reports.com

A collaboration with

Chinese partnership is a major priority for the rapidly growing Caixa Económica de Cabo Verde (Caixa).

Emanuel Miranda, Caixa’s chairman and CEO, reiterates Minister Duarte’s assertion that Cape Verde’s economy depends a lot on its huge diaspora, with its development largely funded from private international institutions.

The time has come, he says, for domestic banking institutions to gradually assume the role of mobilizing financial resources, and Caixa, the only Cape Verdean bank to have a direct relationship with a Chinese bank, is well placed to facilitate this.

“We have grown a lot,” he says of Caixa. “It is the country’s oldest institution, created in 1928. We have been through several phases. Since 1993, Caixa was transformed into a universal bank, and is now the second-larg-est bank in terms of assets and our market share of loans and deposits. Despite the in-crease of new entities in the country, we have continued to increase market share.”

“When we defined our strategic plan in late 2008, there were five commercial banks. Today, there are eight. The natural evolution should have been to lose market share, but we gained market share! Not only did our activity represent impressive growth, but also, two years ago, we quadrupled the social capital — it was a risky bet but it has allowed us to implement this strategy.”

through Cape Verde. “Cape Verdean banks will never have the

financial capacity to bear the government’s strategy alone so the mechanism must be there to establish such partnerships,” Miran-da says. “I have already been to China to make the first contacts, but we will intensify this with a view to finding the partnerships we are searching for. Some of the banks have already sent representatives here to get to know the country and we have met with them.”

“More Chinese investment will arrive, and when it does, and there must be a bank with the capacity to provide the financial services it needs. Caixa wants to be a strategic part-ner for national investment.”

As Minister Duarte concludes, China is the “perfect partner” for Cape Verde. “The relationship started in 1975 with aid dona-tions; now it our first partner in terms of high-level investment,” she says.