Twenty-five companies receive the “Empresa Excelência” Seal in the second edition of the distinction
- heldervieira9
- Nov 18
- 3 min read
The seal is used to recognize companies that meet excellence criteria defined together with institutional partners, including banks.
Twenty-five national companies will be recognized with the Empresa Excelência Seal in the second edition of the initiative. According to the promoting company, BTOC Cabo Verde, this 2nd edition saw significant growth in both distinguished companies and applications compared to the first edition.
As explained by Carlos Graça, manager and partner at BTOC Cabo Verde, this year there were 150 companies registered on the platform and around 50 applications, with 25 companies fully complying with the regulations and being considered Empresa Excelência, thus receiving the distinctive seal.
Graça comments that although “the assessment is positive, it fell somewhat short of our goals. But we clearly understand that there was a number of obstacles that are being gradually resolved — namely people understanding the concept and the essential importance of participating in this initiative and obtaining this recognition and notoriety.” He adds that “our expectation is that next year will be even better.”
That some companies are receiving the seal for the second year in a row, says Graça, is a data point that shows the initiative “is on the right track.” The companies awarded for a second consecutive time are Aquaservice, EMEP, Inktoner, SESIS, Medispharma, Farmácia Jovem (Mindelo), Salss, Guia de Serviços, Khym Negoce.
Meanwhile, the companies being distinguished for the first time this year are: CV Interilhas, Caboplast, ETE Logística, Freexauto, Grupnor, Impofrut, Incentea CV, Inforsal, Isatour, Logis CV, Morabitur, Navex CV, Óptica da Praia, PraiaTur, Trial, and Tuacar.
Graça clarifies that the seal is not meant to pick “the best” companies, but rather to recognize those that meet the Empresa Excelência criteria defined together with institutional partners, including banks.
The goal, as the number of participants grows, is to allow qualification by island and sector, and later enable comparison and generate useful information for the market about the health of the business ecosystem — including by sector — something that is still limited by the low number of participants, he explains. He also points out that the platform does not give access to companies’ internal data, but only shows the results of the applications.
According to a BTOC statement, the distinguished companies fully met the eligibility criteria defined in the EMPRESA EXCELÊNCIA 2024 Regulation, namely:
Positive net profit
EBITDA positive in both years under review (2023 and 2024)
Financial autonomy (Equity / Assets) ≥ 20.00%
Return on Equity (Net Profit / Equity) ≥ 2.00%
Net Financial Debt / EBITDA ≤ 4.50
EBITDA / Assets ≥ 2.00%
EBITDA / Turnover ≥ 2.00% (in 2024)
Most of the distinguished companies remain in Santiago, but BTOC intends to expand the initiative to other islands and run informational sessions about the benefits of the platform, which can be used free of charge and confidentially, to do a business self-diagnostic without necessarily applying for the seal.
The certificate awarding ceremony for the Empresa Excelência companies was originally scheduled for November 21, but was postponed to late November or early December.
Looking forward, Carlos Graça points out that their goal is to increase the number of company applications. “According to the most recent business census, there would be about 5,000 potential candidate companies, and those are the ones we would like to have over the next five years, so we can have a robust database from which we can start producing statistical data — complementing the statistics from the INE — and give, for example, this information to banks so they can better understand the financing profile of companies,” he says.
In addition, BTOC is working on protocols with banks and partner institutions to promote and encourage companies to join the initiative, with the idea that Empresa Excelência companies might benefit from better financing terms at banks.
The Empresa Excelência initiative was officially launched in 2024 with the objective of recognizing and rewarding best business practices, transparency and sustainable development. It is promoted by the financial consultancy company BTOC and co-funded by the UNDP Accelerator Lab in Cape Verde.
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