By CHRIS GRAEME chris.graeme@theresidentgroup.com
The United States should use Portuguese companies as strategic investment partners in Portuguesespeaking countries in Africa, concluded a conference in Lisbon last week.
The aim of the Access Africa Forum, organised by the United States Embassy in Lisbon and the chambers of commerce of the various countries involved, was to strengthen economic ties between the United States and Portuguese-speaking African countries, using Portugal as a platform for creating lasting partnerships in accessing these growing economies.
But it was stressed that partnerships had to be serious, sustained, long-term and beneficial to all sides.
During the two-day conference, the Angolan ambassador to Lisbon, José Marcos Barrica said that corruption in Angola was “not a problem for foreign investors” in the country and stressed that the Angolan government was “trying to clamp down on the vice”.
He said there was a “favourable bi-lateral spirit of cooperation between Angola and the United States with a firm and continued political will to reinforce its development and clear reciprocal advantages for both sides.” During his fifteen-minute speech, Marcos Barrica highlighted the growing relationship between the two countries and how far the country had come since the end of the civil war, namely in securing peace, democracy, macroeconomic stability and sustainable economic growth.
But he said that Angola was “experiencing a period of enormous challenges, but one which also held out immense opportunities and considerable hope for the future”.
The Portuguese Minister for the Economy, José Vieira da Silva, said that Portugal was the “ideal partner” for doing business in Portuguese speaking African nations since ties between these countries and their formal colonial power had “never been so strong”.
The minister suggested that companies should look for threeway partnerships in which Portugal could act as a go-between but warned that growing interest and competition from China in Africa made those partnerships and strategies vitally important.
Former ambassador to Lisbon, Gerald McGowan explained how the idea of developing stronger economic ties with Portuguese speaking Africa had been mooted between 1998 and 2001.
“We were a little premature then, they were still in the conflict stage and that was an issue then. However today no one imagines that these countries will return back to those years of civil war,” he said.
“At the time the US State Department had not been supportive of the idea and they thought it was a zero sum game. Th ey never thought companies like Exxon or Coca Cola would need Portugal to gain access to Angola because of cultural or language issues,” he added.
However, McGowan suggested that US companies might stand a chance if investment proposals were properly solicited by a gateway partner such as Portugal.
“Over the next few years 100 billion US dollars will be deployed in Africa and some of that should go via Portugal for these reasons and Portugal should take advantage of that. Th is situation might not last forever but it is a reality now,” he said, hinting that once US companies had established trust with Angolan and Mozambique markets the need for Portuguese companies as strategic partners might become redundant.
It was stressed that while diplomatic link would play an important role, this was essentially a process for Portuguese and US investors and business and it wasn’t ultimately the US embassies or the US government’s role to do the job of research and risk evaluation for them.
However, Portugal could play a vital role in reducing the risk of US companies investing in Portuguese-speaking Africa, adding that Portuguese companies such as EDP and Brisa were making an impression on the US business community.
Persistence was the key and striking while the iron was hot and not waiting another ten years for opportunities that were around now.
Rui Santos of Cape Verde Investments said that the Cape Verde islands were open to all areas of direct foreign investment in all sectors of economic activity with growth expected to pick up in 2010.
“Cape Verde can be an important platform to access growing markets of 300 million consumers in West Africa” he said, highlighting that US investment had shot up in recent years to 45 million US dollars while the US could bring innovative solutions, goods and products to Cape Verde while stressing that because the islands had one of the most favourable wind regimens in the world it was ideal for renewable energy companies.
Gerald McGowan concluded by stating: “there can’t be one winner and one loser; it has to be win-win.
United States companies can piggy back on Portuguese relations but the Portuguese have to push the idea that creating synergies and partnerships is the way to cut risk and then sell it”.
