A joint fishing company initiated by Cape Verdean and Angolan businessmen will shortly be submitted to ship owners in Cape Verde for scrutiny and approval.
Half of the capital of the future company, dubbed “Atlantico Tuna†and specializing in tuna fishing will be provided by Cape Verdean private ship owners, against 40% by Angolan partners and 10% by the government of Cape Verde.
According to project sources, the corporate capital will represent 32.5% of the total volume of the planned investments estimated at 15.7 million euros.
The 10 ships, making up the new company’s fleet will operate in the exclusive fishing Zone (ZEE) of Cape Verde, of countries on the West African coast, Angola, and Sao Tome and Principe.
About 40% of the fleet will remain in Cape Verde and West African countries ZEE, while 60% will do fishing in Angola and Sao Tome, a project consultant commented here Wednesday.
Most of the 10 tuna-fishing boats in fiberglass and measuring 26 meters in length, which will be put at the company’s disposal, have already been built and some are already in Cape Verde.
Cape Verde has purchased the ten fishing boats as part of an industrial fishing project jointly funded by the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for 1.3 billion Cape Verdean escudos (about 12 million Euros). The governments of Cape Verde and Angola signed an MOU last May for the creation of this business corporation in industrial fishing and fish marketing.
â€The main objective is to enable industrial tuna boats to do fishing in Angolan territorial waters,†explains Julio Morais, international co-operation Director General of Cape Verde.
The project proposal will receive in-depth analyses and discussions from Angolan partners before it is submitted to Cape Verdean ship owners in Praia, Sao Vicente and Sal.