About Us

What is ELO?
ELO – Associação Portuguesa para o Desenvolvimento e a Cooperação is a non profit private sector association.  Signifying “Link” in Portuguese, ELO was registered as a public utility organization in September 1993.

What are ELO’s Objectives?
ELO promotes commercial, social, scientific and cultural exchanges between Portugal and developing countries and aims to strengthen economic and business ties in particular with member states of the CPLP, the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries. ELO achieves these objectives through Portugal’s Vice Presidency of the CPLP Business Confederation, by working bilaterally or within multilateral organizations, with special reference to the Cotonou Convention (European Union/ African, Caribbean and Pacific States) through our membership on the board of the European Business Council for Africa and the Mediterranean, based in Brussels.

What do we do?

We extend our objectives through a range of activities that allow us to establish and maintain a close and constant contact with the authorities in developing countries; to identify issues that our associates consider to be important and to raise awareness of these issues both within and outside the organization, with governments, public and private sector  agencies and with public opinion in general; we work together with national and international organizations in any actions or programs that help to further our objectives and we monitor economic problems that affect the relationships of these countries with Portugal, with the European Union and with other countries in general.

In the European Union, ELO represents Portugal in the European Business Council for Africa and the Mediterranean (EBCAM), which comprises about 4,000 European companies that have activities and interests throughout the African continent, from the Maghreb to South Africa, who believe in the principle that the private sector plays a crucial role in the development of African countries and therefore consider that it is vital to promote trade and investment in Africa. These companies employ approximately 3 million people in every sector: trade, industry, agriculture, transports, banking and other services.

EBCAM seeks to develop partnerships among European investors and other market agents in Africa and to establish closer ties between the European private sector and African countries, particularly with the private sectors. It is the only organization that comprehensively embraces every kind of business operations carried out in Africa by European firms.

Through its office in Brussels EBCAM maintains a close dialogue with the European Commission, particularly with the Directorate General for Trade and the Directorate General for Development.  EBCAM also keeps in touch with the World Bank in Washington and has a cooperation agreement with the USA Corporate Council on Africa (CCA).

EBCAM has a rotational annual presidency (from 1st July to 30th June), the current presidency (1st July 2010 to 30th June 2011) being held by Hungary through AHEAD Global with two Vice-Presidents, HACCD of Greece and SwissCham from Switzerland.

In the Community of Portuguese Speaking Cuntries (CPLP), ELO carries out the mandate it was given at the July 2002 Council of Ministers Meeting in Brasilia (External Relations and Foreign Affairs).  After setting up the Conselho Empresarial da CPLP, the CPLP Business Council whose statutes were signed at the CPLP headquarters on 4th July 2004, ELO immediately took up Portugal’s representation on its board.  ELO’s Executive President, Dr. Francisco Mantero was also appointed by the board on 4th June 2004, to be Secretary General of the CPLP Business Council.

The statutes of the CPLP Business Council were altered on 22nd March 2010 and the name changed to Confederação Empresarial da CPLP (CPLP Business Confederation), and ELO’s President was elected Vice-President for Portugal of this multilateral association.