The Business Confederation of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) plans to launch a business information platform before the end of this year to facilitate company registration, the submission of business ideas, and the identification of projects with financing potential. The announcement was made on Monday, 26 October, by the organisation’s president, Nelma Fernandes, during the Lusophone Africa Investment Forum, held on Sal Island, Cape Verde.

The platform is intended to help companies structure projects and prepare proposals capable of attracting funding, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and financial institutions. The initiative forms part of the Confederation’s broader efforts to strengthen the Lusophone business environment and turn opportunities identified across different markets into sustainable commercial ventures.

During her address, Nelma Fernandes also highlighted product certification as an important factor in expanding trade between member countries and facilitating access to international markets, including the European market. She revealed that the Confederation is already working on certification for products from CPLP countries and has a protocol in place with one of Portugal’s leading distributors, aimed at easing market entry for products from Portuguese-speaking African nations.

Lobito Corridor Requires Companies and Local Processing

Turning to investment opportunities in Angola, Nelma Fernandes highlighted the Lobito Corridor as a strategic infrastructure project capable of boosting business activity, facilitating the flow of production, and promoting the transformation of raw materials. She argued that the corridor’s development should not be confined to the construction and modernisation of transport and logistics infrastructure, but must also be accompanied by the establishment of businesses along its route.

“A corridor without companies is just a line on a map,” Nelma Fernandes said, calling for the mobilisation of financing for businesses that would allow Angola to process natural resources, create jobs, and increase the added value of national production. She also argued that Angola has the potential to play a more active role in processing the critical raw materials used by the technology industry and in battery production.

To capture these opportunities, Nelma Fernandes stressed the need to develop industrial, business and financial capabilities that would allow Angola to move from extracting natural resources to processing them domestically. She also drew attention to the low volume of trade among Portuguese-speaking African countries, noting that commerce between these states accounts for less than 5% of the trade covered in the analysis presented at the forum.

Intra-Community Trade Requires Greater Local Production

In Nelma Fernandes’s view, the shared Portuguese language facilitates closer ties between markets but is not sufficient on its own to guarantee economic integration. To strengthen trade among member countries, she called for increased production, local processing of raw materials, and the creation of mechanisms that make it easier to buy and sell goods and services within the community.

Guinea-Bissau was cited as an example of the persistent challenges in transforming local resources. According to the data presented, cashew nuts account for around 90% of the country’s exports, yet less than 10% of production is processed locally. In response to this situation, Nelma Fernandes advocated financing industrial processing units for cashew nuts in order to increase the added value of national production and create employment opportunities, particularly for young people and women.

The Confederation president also identified economic diversification opportunities in Equatorial Guinea, local supplier development prospects in Mozambique, and the potential for cocoa and chocolate value chains in São Tomé and Príncipe. In Cape Verde, she highlighted the potential of the tourism, agriculture and blue economy sectors as areas that could help drive economic activity across Portuguese-speaking African countries.

Six Anchor Projects Targeted for 2027

To convert the proposals presented at the forum into concrete initiatives, Nelma Fernandes called for the identification of six anchor projects for 2027, one corresponding to each of the six Portuguese-speaking African countries referenced in her address. The proposal is to select one project per country and ensure that each initiative is properly structured and prepared for presentation to financiers, with a view to appraisal, funding and execution.

She also advocated the creation of a permanent co-financing table, the adoption of risk-sharing mechanisms and the strengthening of trade flows between Lusophone companies. Nelma Fernandes argued that the next forum should deliver measurable results — specifically projects that have actually been financed — rather than limiting itself to identifying business opportunities and holding institutional meetings.

Among the proposals put forward is an initiative to encourage the purchase of products originating from CPLP member countries, including Angolan coffee, Cape Verdean tuna, Guinea-Bissau cashew nuts, and São Tomé and Príncipe cocoa. The initiative seeks to increase demand for these products in Lusophone markets, create new opportunities for producers, and establish more consistent commercial relationships between member states.

Nelma Fernandes argued that strengthening economic cooperation among Portuguese-speaking countries requires greater coordination between governments, companies, financial institutions and private investors. She said results should be measured by the number of projects that are structured, financed and actually implemented, as well as by their capacity to create employment, stimulate production and increase added value in national economies.