Exploring the Alentejo continental shelf for minerals and Quaternary environmental changes: preliminary results of the MINEPLAT survey.

This study presents the preliminary results of MINEPLAT survey, organized by Universidade de Évora in partnership with Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA) based on an integrated analysis of geophysical data namely, ultra-high resolution seismic data (UHRS), multibeam data, backscatter data and magnetic data. The survey took place on north Alentejo continental shelf (30 to 200 meters depth) between Tróia and Sines. The interpretation and integration of the acquired data allows substantial improvement on the knowledge on the morphology and geology of the surface and subsurface of the Alentejo continental shelf towards the assessment of the mineral resources potential in the continental shelf off Alentejo and of the environmental conditions caused by the tectonic uplift in the Pliocene-Quaternary.

Measuring persistence in nominal exchange rate: Implications for Angola’s entrepreneurship and business development

The purpose of this paper is to measure the degree of persistence in the Kwanza to US Dollar exchange rate. First, our results indicate that nominal exchange rates both in levels and in first differences are I(0), thus implying that the relative purchasing power parity hypothesis for Angola is not rejected. Secondly, we find a significant degree of persistence in both the formal and informal nominal exchange rates. Thirdly, the degree of persistence in the official market is significantly lower than in the formal market, while In first differences, persistence in the official exchange rate is substantially higher than in the informal exchange rate. Lastly, we could not find strong evidence that persistence has changed in levels throughout the sample period. By contrast, there is significant evidence that persistence in first differences has consistently increased after September 2003. These results have important policy implications as the National Bank of Angola is preparing to change its monetary and exchange-rate policy focus to a more inflation-targeting regime and to a more a flexible (or low-managed) exchange-rate regime.