Euroeste in weekly newspaper Expresso
In an article entitled "Portuguese in the green African revolution", themed by the envolvement of Portuguese entrepreneurs and their investment held in Africa in the agrobusiness sector, the weekly edition of Expresso mentions Euroeste and Pedro Garcia de Matos, with special reference to Santo António's farm project, in Angola, in the region of Quibala, in partnership with Fernando Teles, chairman of BIC Angola.
Translated below is the portion of the article that refers the project of Euroeste in Angola, with quotes from Pedro Garcia de Matos, adressing also the Angolan situation regarding agrobusiness:
“Angola beyond oil
You have to enter in Africa with dimenson. It is the opinion defended by Pedro Garcia de Matos, president of Euroeste, the largest pig breeding company in Portugal, that, in partnership with Fernando Teles, chairman of BIC Angola, is investing 22 million euros in Quibala, in South Kwanza: beyond 4 thousand hectares of corn, the project includes production of cattle and a pig farm with 750 sows. By next year, the feed production units and cornmeal (maize flour) will be built. "The agricultural projects in Africa are either made with partners or have to be verticalized: you must have the raw materials to feed the animals and ensure the processing thereof. We must ensure all stages of the chain", explains Garcia de Matos. The production will be exclusively for the Angolan market consumption.
According to Euroeste's president, "very interesting" projects from a financial point of view are starting to appear. "The Chinese do it poorly, Brazilians help implement interesting things. There are also Angolan doing things very well made, with Generals investing in agriculture. In the case of the Portuguese, there are not many examples yet, but the ones which exist are good and with large dimension", explains.
In a text supporting the main article, which talks about how agriculture still lacks the business component, Euroeste and its activity in Angola have again been highlighted:
“Pedro Garcia de Matos believes that one can only invest in agriculture in African geographies if he invests with scale. The necessary infrastructure is always huge, since there is almost nothing available: no services, you cannot find a mechanic or electrician. We need to take everybody, to have equipment and parts in stock for unforeseen events". At the same time, it is necessary to control all stages of the chain (production, processing and distribution) for "no loose ends”.
Garcia de Matos' company (in partnership with tha banker Fernando Teles) is also providing services to other companies (technical assistance to animals, sale of animals, feed and equipment, among others). Regarding the primary production, "only in next stages we can speak about exporting. The corn we are going to produce will be sold to the domestic market, at least in the next 15 years".
When the business is up to speed, the company billing results will be 27 million euros per year".
