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Portugal's effort to exploit ties with former colonies pays dividends
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Business English: Portugal's effort to exploit ties with former colonies pays dividends
Portuguese groups are looking beyond Europe for growthAt the height of the civil war that ravaged Angola for 25 years after its independence from Portugal in 1975, grades de cerveja (crates of beer), became a popular medium of exchange in the absence of a stable local currency. More than 30 years on, Unicer, Portugal's largest drinks group, is building a €100m brewery in Luanda, the Angolan capital, in a project that highlights the former colonial power's position as the biggest foreign investor in Angola outside the oil industry.
Portuguese wine is also widely drunk in Luanda, the world's most expensive city, according to the consultants ECA International, with Angola becoming the biggest overseas market for Portuguese winemakers last year, accounting for €57m of exports of €246m.
As demand falters in Portugal's main export markets, led by Spain, Germany and France, local companies are building on common ties with Portuguese-speaking Africa and Brazil to expand outside Europe in some of the world's fastest-growing economies.
"Portugal maintains a close and productive relationship with lusophone Africa through its common language, direct transport links, shared legal framework and long-standing business ties," Alan J Katz, the US ambassador to Portugal, told a recent conference in Lisbon. "It's uniquely positioned to serve as an effective 'gateway' for companies seeking greater levels of business in these markets."
He points out that in 2008, when, the world economy grew by only 2.9 per cent, economies in Portuguese-speaking Africa expanded by as much as 13.2 per cent in Angola, 5.9 per cent in Cape Verde and 6.8 per cent in Mozambique. "As these economies continue to grow, so does the demand for quality goods and services from infrastructure and energy equipment to medical technology and legal services," says Mr Katz.
Portuguese companies aim to be in the front line of groups supplying those needs. The country's exports to non-EU countries have risen from 15 per cent of the total to more than 27 per cent over the past decade, with up to 10,000 Portuguese companies estimated to be doing business with lusophone Africa.
These groups have invested more than Dollar1bn in Angola over the past three years and helped to lift Portugal past China to become the country's biggest foreign supplier, accounting for 17 per cent of imports of almost $16bn last year. As a result, Angola has become Portugal's fourth-biggest export market, ahead of the US, with sales to its former colony growing 35 per cent in 2008.
Following suit
People have followed trade. After 700,000 settlers fled the country's Africa colonies ahead of independence in 1975, the number of Portuguese living in Angola is estimated to have doubled over the past three years to about 100,000.
Portugal is also the main foreign supplier for Cape Verde and one of the top five for Mozambique. Every week, TAP-Air Portugal, the national airline, runs 20 direct flights from Lisbon to Luanda and 14 to Cape Verde.
Leading Portuguese companies, including Sonae (manufacturing and services), Pestana (tourism), Millennium BCP (banking), Mota Engil (construction) and Galp (oil), are rapidly expanding their operations in African markets, says Mr Katz. About 84 per cent of Portugal Telecom's 70m customers live in Africa or Brazil, where gross domestic product was up 5.1 per cent in 2008. "Market diversification is one of the tools we have to use to reduce our foreign deficit," says José Vieira da Silva, the economy minister.
Seeing little prospect of domestic consumption or public investment growth at home or in European markets, Portuguese companies are increasingly looking further afield for opportunities, helped by a weaker euro.
Brazil, home to most of the world's 223m Portuguese speakers, like lusophone Africa, is also proving a strong growth market for Portuguese banks. Banco Espírito Santo, has a 7 per cent shareholding in Brazil's Bradesco bank and operates its own investment bank there. State-owned Caixa Geral de Depóstos, Portugal's biggest bank by deposits, last year launched Caixa Geral-Brasil.
Diversifying into new overseas markets is also seen as an important driver of technological innovation and marketing flair. Unicer, for example, has developed a non-alcoholic version of its best-selling Super Bock.
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19.08.2010
© 2010 Financial Times Deutschland
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© 1999 - 2010 Financial Times Deutschland
Aktuelle Nachrichten über Wirtschaft, Politik, Finanzen und Börsen
Börsen- und Finanzmarktdaten:
Bereitstellung der Kurs- und Marktinformationen erfolgt durch die Interactive Data Managed Solutions AG. Es wird keine Haftung für die Richtigkeit der Angaben übernommen!
Über FTD.de | Impressum | Datenschutz | Disclaimer | Mediadaten | E-Mail an FTD | Sitemap | Hilfe | Archiv
Mit ICRA gekennzeichnet
VW | Siemens | Apple | Gold | MBA | Business English | IQ-Test | Gehaltsrechner | Festgeld-Vergleich | Erbschaftssteuer
G+J Glossar
Partner-Angebote