Angola wins Biennale gold

Transcription

SONANGOL UNIVERSO
Universo
www.universo-magazine.com
SEPTEMBER 2013
MUTUAL BENEFITS:
Angola’s China links
ON TRACK FOR SUCCESS:
The Lobito Corridor
ROOM FOR GROWTH:
Sonangol in Asia
Angola wins
Biennale gold
ISSUE 39 – SEPTEMBER 2013
INSIDE:
oil and gas news
Shutterstock
Board Members
Francisco de Lemos José Maria (President),
Anabela Soares de Brito da Fonseca,
Ana Joaquina Van-Dúnem Alves da Costa,
Fernandes Gaspar Bernardo Mateus,
Fernando Joaquim Roberto,
Mateus Sebastião Francisco Neto,
Paulino Fernando Carvalho Jerónimo
4
ANGOLA NEWS BRIEFING
Prince Harry visits Angola; M’banza Kongo heritage status change;
$1.4 billion investment boost; Hub role for Angola; Angola and
United States mark 20 years of diplomatic ties; Angola basketball
player in Hall of Fame; Bank sees 8.2% growth this year
Sonangol Department for
Communication & Image
Director
Mateus Cristovão Benza
6
ANGOLA-CHINA: MUTUAL BENEFITS
Angola and China celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations this year.
Venice arts festival
Editor: John Kolodziejski
Project Consultant: Nathalie MacCarthy
Group President: John Charles Gasser
Universo is produced by Impact Media
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in the publication are not necessarily
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Cover: Getty Images
Transport corridors are forming across Africa to integrate and develop
32
Africa’s sun is an asset now being seriously considered as a source
MAKING ANGOLA GREENER
of energy. We look at some projects leading the way
C
hina’s huge contribution to Angola’s development over the past
ten years is evident. In this third decade since diplomatic relations
were established, a drive along any of Luanda’s major roads and
into the countryside beyond reveals China’s industrious presence.
Ideogram signposts and huge convoys of construction trucks with
Chinese drivers are common sights. Downtown city skyscrapers, numerous
suburban residential blocks and leafy condominiums, highways, bridges and
railways are just some of the many fruits of Chinese-Angolan collaboration.
However, all these advancements are likely to be just the prelude to the
progress and prosperity to come. The infrastructure now in place is a scenesetter for the development of Angola’s rich agricultural and mining resources
and, via the Lobito Corridor, those of its African neighbours too.
As João Garcia Bires, Angola’s ambassador to China, points out (on
page 14) the results of China’s contribution to Angola are plain to see. The
prospects of much more to come are on the way. Watch this space.
John Kolodziejski
38
Angola prepares to host Africa’s first roller hockey world cup
40
SONANGOL NEWS BRIEFING
Fairs fair; Sonangol Schlesser win again; Waste management; Sonatrach
FINALS PREPARATION: HOCKEY ANGOLA
24
cooperation; PSVM oil peaks early; PetroVietnam talks; Angola LNG;
Sonangol accounts approved; Total Angola to launch CLOV
43 NEW DATA CENTRE FOR MSTELCOM
The data centre will meet the needs of the growing domestic market
32
for date centre services
44 REACHING OUT TO ASIA FROM SONANGOL’S
SINGAPORE OFFICE
Editor
As Sonangol’s Asian subsidiary celebrates its 10th birthday, we take a
look at the work of the Singapore-based office
2 SONANGOL UNIVERSO
16
economies. The one originating at Lobito is on the cusp of completion
Peter Moeller
Production Assistant: Sebnem Brown
ROUTES TO RICHES: THE LOBITO CORRIDOR Abengoa Solar
Production Manager: Matthew Alexander
Angola’s Chinese
signs of success
24
Shutterstock
Sub Editor: Ron Gribble
Proofreading: Gail Nelson-Bonebrake
Angola walks away with the prizes at its début appearance at the
Beyond Entropy Press Office
16 VENICE BIENNALE: A ROARING SUCCESS
Publisher: Sheila O’Callaghan
Art Director: Tony Hill
6
We survey the many facets and future of this dynamic collaboration
Corporate Communications Assistants
Nadiejda Santos, Lúcio Santos, Sarissari
Diniz, José Mota, Beatriz Silva, Paula
Almeida, Sandra Teixeira, Marta Sousa,
Hélder Sirgado, Kimesso Kissoka
Managing Editor: Mauro Perillo
Shutterstock
Universo is the international
magazine of Sonangol
Contents
44
SEPTEMBER 2013 3
Angola news briefing
Angola news briefing
HALO Trust
■ Britain’s Prince Harry
visited Angola to see
mine clearance work
in August. He was in
the country to mark the
25th anniversary appeal
for the work of the
HALO Trust charity, an
organisation supported
by his late mother Diana,
Princess of Wales. The
prince toured the once
densely-mined town
of Cuito Cuanavale, a
scene of heavy fighting
during Angola’s 19752002 civil war.
$1.4 billion
investment boost
■ Angola’s National Agency for Private Investment
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(ANIP) finalised 24 investment contracts with local
and foreign companies worth $1.4 billion in July.
ANIP’s chief executive Maria Luísa Abrantes
signed the agreements, mostly linked to the
industrial sector, services and civil engineering,
with companies from countries including
Portugal, Sierra Leone, Holland, Kenya, China,
India, Denmark and the Virgin Islands.
M’banza Kongo heritage status
change
■ The Angolan government designated M’banza
Kongo a National Cultural Heritage city in June.
The change in the Zaire province’s capital status
is a means of preparing the way to have it listed
as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
M’banza Kongo aims to recover the greatness
of its past by rebuilding and modernising its
infrastructures. Founded some time before
the arrival of the Portuguese, the city was the
capital of the dynasty ruling at that time (1483).
Temporarily abandoned during civil wars in the
17th century, the site lies close to Angola’s
border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
■ The African Development Bank
(AfDB) predicts Angola’s economic
growth will reach 8.2% in 2013. The
AfDB says the oil and gas sector and a
public-spending programme designed
to encourage economic diversification
are driving the expansion. However,
the AfDB sees Angola’s GDP declining
to 7.8% in 2014.
Meanwhile, the structure of Angola’s
GDP is changing. Kiala Gabriel,
Secretary of State for Industry, says
manufacturing contributed 6.5% to
Angolan GDP in 2012 but anticipate
that this share will rise to 10% by
2017. Despite this good news, Gabriel
believes there is still much to be done
before industrial production meets
the needs of the domestic market in
several areas of consumption.
Angola basketball player in Hall of Fame
Hub role for Angola
■ Angola is aiming to become an internet and technology hub for Africa within
two years, says Angola Cables’ sales and marketing director Artur Mendes.
With this in mind, Mendes says the country has two projects underway – a
fibre optic link connecting Angola and South America, and from there to
North America.
Fibre optic cable already connects Europe and and South Africa, but Angola’s
intention is to be independent of other African countries for telecommunications,
internet as well as voice and video data. Mendes believes the country must
have its own cable links to all other continents to act as a hub for Africa.
Angola and United States mark
20 years of diplomatic ties
■ Angola and the United States celebrated the 20th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic relations in May. Georges Chikoti, Angolan
Minister for Foreign Affairs, highlighted the need for new impetus toward trade
agreements between the two countries so that the world’s greatest economic
power can contribute more to boosting Angola’s multifaceted development.
The two countries have been strengthening relations since the 1990s,
especially in oil exploration and trade, as well as in education. In the health
sector in particular, the United States has invested thousands of dollars to
combat malaria and HIV-Aids.
4 SONANGOL UNIVERSO
Bank sees
8.2% growth
this year
Getty Images
Prince Harry visits Angola
■ Former Angolan basketball player Jean Jacques da Conceição has been nominated
for the International Basketball Federation’s Hall of Fame.
He said the honour was a victory for the Angolan people since it represented the
recognition of everything the country had done for the development of the sport. “I am
happy for the recognition, but the country should be even happier because it is our flag
that is going to be hoisted in the spot,” he said.
Besides Angola, Conceição played for Benfica and Portugal Telecom in Portugal,
France’s Limoges and Spain’s Unicaja Málaga.
FIGURED OUT
Angola in numbers
$1.4 billion
investment contracts in Angola signed in July
160,000m3
of Angolan liquefied natural gas in first export cargo
$14.5 billion
Chinese credit lines granted to Angola
1,343km
Benguela Railway nears completion
2.5 billion
potential Sonangol oil users in China and India
SEPTEMBER 2013 5
INTERNATIONAL
ANGOLA-CHINA:
MUTUAL
Beijing at night
Responsible for a large range of projects that have set
Angola on the road to greater prosperity, China is Angola’s
largest oil customer and its most important business partner.
Universo looks at this fruitful relationship
Shutterstock
BENEFITS
6 SONANGOL UNIVERSO
SEPTEMBER 2013 7
INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
Chinese-built housing in Luanda
over long periods kick-started Angola’s vast
programme of reconstruction, allowing the
country to overcome the effects of war.
China has lent Angola more than
$14.5 billion to fund large infrastructure
projects, says former Chinese ambassador
to Angola Zhang Bolun. Funds are released
on a project-by-project basis. The main
credit channels are Export-Import Bank of
China, the China Development Bank and
the China International Fund.
Ambassador Bires says the results of
Angola’s close ties with China “are plain
to see”. Indeed the most visible signs of
China’s presence is in Angola’s urban
landscape where its companies have built
skyscrapers, huge suburbs and even a fullsized town at Kilamba Kiaxi. However,
China’s largest impact is on Angola’s
infrastructure, and this is where it is
proving to be the driving force behind the
country’s economic rebirth.
Angola’s largest
trading partner
Business between the two countries rose
from $1 billion in 2002 to $25.3 billion in
2008 when China became Angola’s largest
trading partner, overtaking the United
States which had been Angola’s main oil
customer for practically the entire postindependence period. Angola became one
of China’s biggest trading partners in Africa
in 2006, and these exchanges were worth
over $33 billion by 2012.
“Co-operation has reached its best
point because there is mutual political
trust, with notable economic and trade
development,” said Gao Kexiang, the
current Chinese ambassador to Angola,
after a meeting with Angola’s VicePresident Manuel Domingos Vicente in
November 2012. The ambassador added
that both sides were assessing other great
business opportunities.
China’s role in Angola
Mark Clydesdale BZO
According to the Chinese embassy
in Angola, there are currently more
than 450 Chinese state and private
companies involved in the construction or
reconstruction of housing, ports, railways,
roads and other facilities. These include
arge Chinese multinational companies
such as the China International Trust
and Investment Corporation (CITIC), the
China Railway Corporation and Huawei.
China has played a major part in
rebuilding and expanding Angola’s
road network. Chinese workers can be
seen throughout the country showing a
remarkable work ethic, undaunted by
searing temperatures. Angola has been
completing the reconstruction of 13,000km
of highways in the period 2008-2013.
Key data
CITIC and housing
One of China’s most visible companies
operating in Angola is CITIC. Its high
profile stems from its involvement in the
residential building sector. The company
was responsible for the giant Kilamba Kiaxi
housing development in Luanda’s suburbs.
Kilamba Kiaxi has 710 blocks, contains
some 20,000 flats and will eventually house
485,000 people. It is self-contained and has
its own shops, schools and health centres.
The first stage of the project was
completed in just over three years and,
at $3.5 billion, was the biggest-budget
Chinese project overseas.
CITIC is also participating in a project
to build 100,000 homes in ten provinces,
its chief executive Chang Zhenming said
in April 2013. Half the dwellings have
already received finance. The new homes
will be in the municipalities of Cabinda,
Angola-China trade US$ billions
Exports: Angola to China
Imports: China to Angola
Total
20032.206
0.146 2.352
20044.717
0.194 4.911
20056.582
0.373 6.955
200610.933
0.894 11.827
200712.889
1.231 14.120
200822.382
2.930 25.311
200914.676
2.386 17.062
201020.820
1.418 22.238
201124.300
1.541 25.841
201229.400
4.000 33.400
Sources: China’s Ministry of Trade and from 2010 Banco Nacional de Angola
Camama Stadium, Luanda, built by Shanghai Urban Construction Group
Population
GDP
Land area
Oil output
Angola
18.5 million
$118.7 billion (2012)
1.3 million km2
1.75 mbd
China
1.35 billion
$8.23 trillion (2012)
9.6 million km2
4.2 mbd
8 SONANGOL UNIVERSO
The Chinese have also delivered
turnkey projects in water supply and
irrigation, electrification, bridge building,
hospitals, schools and colleges. The China
Railway Company (CR-20) has completely
revamped Angola’s three east-west
railways, supplying locomotives and rolling
stock and building attractive new stations.
Chinese companies are active in other
areas in Angola, especially where speedy
delivery to tight deadlines is essential. For
the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations football
tournament, Chinese firms built three
major sports stadia: the nest-like $226
million Camama stadium in Luanda
(Shanghai Urban Construction Group);
the $116 million Ombaka Stadium in
Benguela (Sinohydro); and another $116
million stadium in Chiazi, Cabinda (China
Jiangsu International).
SEPTEMBER 2013 9
Brazuk
C
hina needs natural resources
and Angola wants development,
said President José Eduardo dos
Santos during a visit by China’s
then Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to Luanda
in 2006. It’s a recipe for a perfect partnership.
China and Angola celebrated 30 years
of diplomatic relations this year, but
only in the last decade have economic
relations truly bloomed. Speaking at an
anniversary event, Angola’s ambassador
to China, João Garcia Bires, said this
co-operation has allowed Angola to
become a more modern country.
Trade drives the China-Angola
relationship. Angola is China’s largest
individual supplier of oil, and, in exchange,
the Far Eastern giant pays for part of the oil by
financing and undertaking some of Angola’s
infrastructure development projects.
According to Bires, Chinese loans
offered without conditions and repayable
Getty Images
INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
The raw power of the
world's biggest dam:
China's Three Gorges
In 2006 China's then Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visits President
José Eduardo dos Santos in Luanda
“Co-operation has reached
its best point because there is
– Gao Kexiang, China's ambassador to Angola
Shutterstock
Shutterstock
mutual political trust”
Three Gorges locks: scaling the 185-metre dam
Soyo, M’banza Kongo, Benguela, Namibe,
Lubango, Luanda, Zango and Belas, as well
as in Kuando Kubango, Lunda Norte and
Lunda Sul.
China Railway 20 Bureau
Group Corporation (CR-20)
China’s CR-20 completed the 424km
Luanda-Malange Railway (CFL) in 2010 and
has since then largely completed the 907km
Namibe-Menongue Railway (CFM) in the
south of the country. China contributed
$300 million in 2006 to begin refurbishment
of the Benguela Railway (CFB).
This key railway is currently
operational along most of its 1,343km
10 SONANGOL UNIVERSO
length and reached the border with the
Democratic Republic of Congo on August
13 this year. The entire project is expected
to cost more than $1.5 billion. The CFB and
CFM railways are almost ready to again
transport copper, iron ore and manganese
deposits, a traffic not seen since the 1970s.
Angola has plans to build new branch lines
and connecting lines between the three
main rail routes, and China is likely to be a
strong contender for new contracts.
Sinohydro
The importance of China’s Sinohydro in
global engineering circles is the result of its
work at home on the world’s largest dam,
the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze
River, with an output of 22,500MW, more
than 90 times the size of Capanda, Angola’s
largest dam.
Sinohydro’s dam work in Angola,
however, is on a much smaller scale and is
designed for irrigation rather than power
generation. The company worked on a
number of China Exim Bank projects,
developing and rebuilding farming areas
at Caxito, Gangelas, Luena and WakoKungo from 2007 to 2010, and contributes
to irrigating around 32,000 hectares.
Sinohydro, like several large Chinese
companies, has many arrows in its quiver,
and in Benguela it built the 35,000-capacity
Ombaka Stadium. It has also refurbished
airports at Luena and Saurimo, while at
Kuito in Bié province the company built
a water supply system for the 400,000
habitants. The Chinese construction giant
has also built hospitals at Lubango (590
beds), Benguela and Huambo (410 beds
each) and Namibe (79).
CAMCE
The China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd
(CAMCE), a state-owned enterprise in
Angola since 2004, signed a $168 million
agricultural co-operation contract with
Angola’s Ministry of Agriculture, Rural
Development and Fisheries in April 2013.
The contract includes cultivating 5,000
hectares with soya and maize and also
supplying processing plants at Camacupa,
Bié province, at a cost of $88 million.
Elsewhere, another $79 million will
be spent on farming 2,960 hectares.
CAMCE will provide irrigation works, farm
machines, storage and farm technology
training. The company is also developing
a $76 million rice farm project at Cuito
Cuanavale in Kuando Kubango province.
The Longa Agro-Industrial Farm project
was agreed in 2010 and is financed by the
China Development Bank.
The experimental phase of the project
will assess the capacity for rice production
in an area of 1,500 hectares of irrigated
land in two harvests a year. CAMCE
expects the project will produce 15,000
tons of rice over 60 months, using water
from the Longa River.
China Road and Bridge
Corporation (CRBC)
CRBC was the first Chinese corporation in
infrastructure rebuilding to enter Angola
back in 2004. CRBC has many large-scale
projects under its belt such as the $29 million,
808-metre River Cunene Bridge and the $47
million contract for 108km of Highway 211
between Ondjiva and Xangongo. Both were
completed in June 2009.
SEPTEMBER 2013 11
Angola’s new parliament takes shape
INTERNATIONAL
Shutterstock
China has the world's longest
high-speed rail network
Malocha
INTERNATIONAL
Luanda’s new city satellite: Kilamba Kiaxi
One of Huawei Global Headquarters
In May 2011, CRBC’s $3 million, 44metre bridge over the Mponzo River on
Highway 210 between Luanda and Mbanza
Congo was inaugurated. CRBC has also
built roads and bridges in Uíge (117km of
Highway 220) and other provinces.
Huawei
China’s giant Huawei corporation,
the
world’s
largest
maker
of
telecommunications equipment, is
enjoying a successful partnership with
Angolan mobile phone operator Unitel.
It supplies Unitel’s 8 million clients with
state-of-the-art fibre optic transport
technology and other equipment. Unitel
is a leading mobile operator and has
the largest and most advanced mobile
broadband network in Angola.
ZTE
Another Chinese telecommunications
major, ZTE Corporation (formerly
Zhongxing Semiconductor Co. Ltd
and Zhongxing Telecommunications
Equipment), is partnering Angola’s
Movicel in a $1 billion upgrade of its
system. It has already introduced a 4G
mobile phone network that gives Angola
a faster communications system than
Luanda's new Chinese-built airport will
handle 13 million passengers a year
Major Chinese companies active in Angola
CITIC
CAMCE
ZTE
Sinohydro
CIF
CR20 CMEC
Jiangsu International
CRBC
COVEC
Huawei
CWE
SinosteelSinopec
many developed countries. Movicel has
3 million subscribers.
China International Fund
Limited (CIF)
CIF is building Luanda’s new international
airport, located 30km from the city. China
is financing the project at a cost of $450
million. The airport will have two double
runways and the capacity to handle over
13 million passengers and 35,000 tonnes
of freight.
CIF has also rebuilt the 498km coastal
highway from Luanda to Lobito and
1,107km of the road between Malange,
Saurimo, Dundo and Luena in eastern
Angola. The company has built three
major logistics centres in Luanda,
Benguela and Namibe. It also has a fleet
of 25 ships to carry construction materials
to Angola.
CIF built its own iconic head office in
Luanda, which for many years has given
Luandans an impressive LED light show.
The company is also developing
Angola’s national administration complex
in Luanda, which includes a presidential
palace, parliament, a supreme court,
ministries and museums. The bright red
parliament building with its distinctive
dome reminiscent of Washington’s Capitol
Building is now largely complete and has
become a new landmark for Luanda. p
SEPTEMBER 2013 13
INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
Interview with João Garcia
Bires, Angola’s ambassador
to China
Chinese inventions
China is particularly proud of
four inventions:
Education and training are going to be necessary
for the maintenance of new infrastructures. What
is the role of China in this area?
The People’s Republic of China has been one of the
partners in the training of specialists with a university
education for my country. Annually, apart from
receiving scholarship students through INABE [The
National Institute for Scholarships], a body linked to the
Ministry of Higher Education, it also accepts Angolan
students that compete for grants given exclusively by
the Chinese government.
Thus, little by little, the specialists of tomorrow will
be able to handle the equipment coming from China and
other countries, and at the same time be faithful spreaders of the
Chinese language in Angola. It is also our certainty that from among
them will come those who will have a role in developing technical and
scientific products with the label Made in Angola.
Compass
(221-206 BC)
Modern paper
(105 AD)
Movable type
(960-1279 AD)
Gunpowder
(1044 AD)
Macaulink
Much basic infrastructure in Angola has been built
thanks to Chinese co-operation: highways, railways,
water supply systems, airports and homes. What
are the future areas of bilateral co-operation?
The new areas of co-operation could be in farming,
animal rearing, mineral exploration and ornamental
stones. In agriculture we would like to develop small
and medium-sized processing industries, taking into
account that in our soil produce of excellent quality
grows. As well as supplying the domestic market and
improving our people’s diet, this is also exportable.
China has much experience in rearing, breeding and
improving animal stock. So, equally, it is in our interest
to learn this subject and aquaculture [the farming of
fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants].
Mining and ornamental stones are other areas that
we can jointly exploit. The international market knows
these products very well and values them. It is up to
both parties to prioritise the areas and simultaneously
train specialists that may in a rational way exploit
farming and mineral resources.
“The help China has given our country
has served as a starting point, so that
Angola might occupy a leading
A decade ago it was difficult to imagine the great changes in
Angola, but thanks to Chinese co-operation the country is seen
in a different light. What does the ambassador expect from
this collaboration and what impact will it have on the Angolan
economy over the next five to ten years?
The help China has given our country has served as a starting point,
so that Angola might occupy a leading position in various areas. This
position in various areas”
help has marked and opened stages of development and that is why
China is today our strategic partner.
Our vision of increasingly diversifying the areas of co-operation,
seeking other facilities and training increasing numbers of specialists,
be it in Angola or in China, is a continuous task.
Another aspect is that the country may grow and ensure its
(economic) independence. Today, above all, it is necessary to
consolidate the macro and micro economy. The rhythm and the
index of our growth shows signs that we are on the right path and
that is why, within five or ten years, we believe we will have a modern
Angola. This struggle isn’t easy; we are counting on collaboration
with China.
SEPTEMBER 2013 15
Shutterstock
Source: Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding
CULTURE
VENICE BIENNALE:
A ROARING
SUCCESS
Defying the odds, first-time participant
Angola won the Golden Lion for best pavilion
at the 55th edition of the Venice Biennale
SEPTEMBER 2013 17
By Lula Ahrens
Edson Chagas with the coveted
Golden Lion main prize
CULTURE
T
he press cameras flashed on
Angolan photographer Edson
Chagas at the Venice Biennale,
the world’s most prestigious art
event, as Angola carried off the Golden
Lion main prize on its début appearance.
The exhibition Luanda, Encyclopaedic
City (June 1 – November 24) features Found
Not Taken, Chagas’ series of photographic
posters of the Angolan capital. His images
contrast sharply with the lavish decorations
and furniture in the background of the
16th-century Cini Palace, which houses the
Angolan pavilion exhibition.
Angola’s Golden Lion award underlines
the country’s growing prestige in
international artistic circles. A five-woman
jury which included Africa’s Bisi Silva,
curator and founding director of the Centre
for Contemporary Art in Lagos, Nigeria,
judged the competition.
Angola became the first sub-Saharan
African nation to win the Golden Lion
for best country participation, the
biennale’s highest achievable honour,
despite rumours the previous week that
France, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania
and Romania were the favourites. “It was
a complete surprise. We were competing
against 88 countries, countries with a
tradition at the biennale, with big budgets
and big artists,” curator and architect
Paula Nascimento told Universo. “This
clearly is Angola’s greatest artistic
achievement to date.”
Nascimento, director of international
architectural agency Beyond Entropy,
curated the Angolan pavilion together
with the agency’s founder Stefano Rabolli
Pansera and artist Jorge Gumbe. “The
biennale has been very good for Angolan
artists. It increases sales of their works
and their chances of holding exhibitions
abroad,” says Gumbe.
Nascimento and Pansera also
curated the Angola Pavilion at the 13th
International Architecture Exhibition,
Venice Biennale in 2012.
Angola’s Ministry of Culture
commissioned and supported the country’s
contribution to this year’s biennale while
Angolan banks BAI and Banco Privado
Atlântico and insurance company ENSA
sponsored the pavilion.
CULTURE
Encyclopaedic Luanda
The Angolan collection, spread over two
floors in the Cini Palace, forms part of
Massimiliano Gioni’s flagship exhibition
The Encyclopaedic Palace.
Curators Nascimento and Pansera
purposefully chose the palace, which is
filled to the brim with early Renaissance
art and furniture, to exhibit Chagas’ work
in the form of 23 mass-produced posters.
The posters contain uncaptioned
photographs of doorways and discarded
objects in Luanda. Central to Chagas’ work
is a reflection on how images are used
to shape the way people experience the
Angolan capital, his home city.
“The initial idea was to exhibit several
Angolan photographers’ work, but when
we saw Edson Chagas’ Found Not Taken
series we decided to work exclusively with
him,” says curator Nascimento. “His work
reveals the urban complexity of Luanda
without clichés.”
In Found Not Taken, Chagas relocates
thrown-away, broken and abandoned
objects within the urban context. Each
object transforms the context where it is
What is the Venice Biennale?
the viewer who seeks in art the emotion of dialoguing
with the work... a desire to go beyond. This is what is
expected from art.”
Edson Chagas’ work certainly creates an intense
dialogue between viewer and work of art. “While
growing up in Luanda, everything was reutilised,
and it was special to me to see how the habits of
consumerism were changing,” he says. “I would find
old sofas, washing machines and chairs; those were
the most common, but other objects too. It was always
about the object and how it interacted with the space
around it and also what I felt when I looked at it. It was a
learning process of the city, its people and its rhythm.”
Biennale artistic director Massimiliano Gioni says
artists, writers, scientists and self-proclaimed prophets
have tried, often in vain, to fashion an image of the world
that captures its infinite variety and richness. “Today,
as we grapple with a constant flood of information,
such attempts seem even more necessary.”
SEPTEMBER 2013 19
Getty Images
Around 150 artists representing 88 countries are taking
part in the Venice Biennale, which has been held every
two years for the past 118 years.
Since its foundation in 1895, it has been the
arena where the elite of the art world have wrestled
for international attention and recognition. Some
people describe it as ‘the Art Olympics’ as there is
such a strong element of competition. As in other
international exhibitions, each country sets up its own
national pavilion.
The 55th biennale’s inspirational theme is the
Encyclopaedic Palace. This was the utopian dream
of Italy’s Marino Auriti for a 136-storey building in
Washington that would house the world’s entire
knowledge. Auriti tried to patent the idea in 1955.
The 2013 biennale aims to replicate this accumulation
of knowledge in the artistic world and, according
to biennale president Paolo Baratta, focus “on the
intensity of the relationship between the work of art and
View of Venice during the Biennale
CULTURE
CULTURE
Italian press reaction
Getty Images
located, while at the same time acquiring a
new meaning for itself.
“There is a beautiful ambiguity in Chagas’
work. On the one hand, it is systematic
and precise. On the other, it is poetic and
encyclopaedic,” says Nascimento. “Our
agency, Beyond Entropy Africa, has been
researching Luanda’s morphing nature as a
paradigm of urban transformations in subSaharan Africa. We wanted to continue this
urban analysis by showing that, through its
diversity of forms and energies, Luanda is an
open encyclopaedia.”
Nascimento loves the subtlety of
Chagas’ photographs. “There are no people
in his pictures. The feeling of absence is
very strong, yet the photos retain the soul
of Luanda,” she says.
Babylon by Joana Vasconcelos is displayed at the Biennale’s
parallel glass-based art event, Glasstress 2013
Getty Images
Visitors admire the Swarovski installation Perspective,
a project in collaboration with British Architect John Pawson
Green leap forward: Li Wei of China’s pavilion on the Venice waterfront
Unfolding into the city
Angola’s win at the Venice Biennale also won plaudits from the
local press. Naples newspaper Il Mattino titled its piece on the
bienniale “The lion roars in Angola” and said the prize verdict
was broadly backed by the world art community and greeted
with a standing ovation at the award ceremony.
“A pavilion like this would overwhelm anyone,” raved
L’Espresso newspaper, adding that the excellence of Angola’s
work made it hard for other pavilions to compete.
La Repubblica, the second-largest Italian paper in
circulation, described Luanda, Encyclopaedic City as “an
impressive installation”.
Italy’s largest financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore said that Angola
had won because its artist and curator skills reflected the
“irreconcilable complexity of the concept of location”.
Corriere della Sera, Italy’s biggest-selling paper, also
described the Angolan victory in a positive light.
Golden Lion prize for the best pavilion awarded to Angola
The curators chose to exhibit Chagas’
photographs as a series of posters to enable
the audience to interact with his work in
much the same way as he does with the
photographed objects. Visitors are allowed
to take home copies of the posters.
“That way, the exhibition leaves the
confined space of the palace and unfolds
into the city,” says Nascimento. “One
visitor, for example, took a series of posters
to decorate his shop window in Milan.
“The audience was visibly impressed
with Chagas’ images. We shared a space with
some rarely seen works from Renaissance
masters including Jacopo Pontormo, Piero
della Francesca and Sandro Botticelli.
Despite that, the visitors’ main focus was
on the photographs,” she says.
Chagas not alone
Corbis Images
Getty Images
Getty Images
Although Edson Chagas is the star of the
Angolan pavilion at the current edition of
the Venice Biennale, it also features other
Angolan artists.
Upstairs from the rooms containing
Chagas’ posters, visitors can see a display
of wood sculptures and paintings created
in Angola since 1991. A polished wood
sculpture abstractly portraying a seated
figure by João Domingos Mabuaka
Mayembe, entitled Vuata N’Kampa ku
Makaya Katekela, has received special
attention from visitors.
SEPTEMBER 2013 21
An exhibition visitor helps herself
to a Chagas picture
their chances of holding exhibitions abroad’
– Jorge Gumbe, artist
It won the 2006 Ensarte Grand Prize
for Sculpture in Luanda. The pavilion
also includes paintings and sculptures by
Francisco Van-Dúnem (Van), António Ole,
Finesse and Marco Kabenda Teta from the
Ensa collection.
Nascimento says she hopes Angola’s
victory at the biennale will generate
more attention for the arts within Angola
besides music, and that it will push
forward the establishment of art schools,
art education, a centre of contemporary
arts and serious investment in highquality cultural projects.
She also hopes that it will lead to
wider national recognition of Angolan
contemporary art. “Contemporary art in
Angola is always viewed with a slight distrust
by those who favour traditional art,” she says.
“The Golden Lion for Edson Chagas’ project
puts the supposed distinction between the
two into perspective.”
Ministering praise
Rosa Cruz e Silva, Angolan Minister of
Culture, who inaugurated the country’s
pavilion, said her ministry was doing its
best to support Angolan contemporary art
and artists.
“Despite some difficulties our artists
experience, they have shown exceptional
talent,” she said after Angola received its
Golden Lion. “They make our country
proud, and deserve the world’s admiration.”
She lauded the Angolan artists and the
country’s pavilion team for the work they
have been doing in favour of culture in
general and the plastic arts in particular.
African lion pride
Many African countries also perceive
Angola’s victory at the Venice Biennale
as global cultural recognition for their
continent as a whole. Nascimento
experienced that first-hand. “All the other
African countries congratulated us. They
feel that this is a bit of an African award as
well, and I agree,” she says.
This feeling was reinforced by the
significant increase of African participants
at the Venice Biennale compared to
the last edition, when South Africa
and Zimbabwe were the only African
countries to host national pavilions. This
year Egypt, the Ivory Coast and Kenya
joined the club alongsides Angola, raising
the total to six.
“We are definitely at a stage where Africa
is establishing its position in the global
art circuit, without the traditional African
stigma attached to it previously,” says
Nascimento. “This summer, for instance,
the works of leading contemporary African
artists are being exhibited in major galleries
in London and New York.
“Through contemporary African art
at international events we must shift the
discourse on Africa from traditional issues
such as war, poverty, aid and oil towards
ideas and culture.” p
Who is Edson Chagas?
Edson Chagas was born in Luanda in 1977. After
obtaining his degree in photo journalism at the
London College of Communication, he studied photo
documentary at the University of Wales, Newport. He
returned to Luanda in 2007, while still continuing his
international exhibitions.
Chagas is a globally-recognised photographer
who has exhibited at many major art events
including the Luanda Triennial 2010, SP-Arte and
the SOSO Gallery in São Paulo, Brazil. He also
exhibited at a travelling exhibition from the National
Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa; the Rheinisches
Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany; Rencontres d’Arts
Visuels in Yaoundé, Cameroon; and the collective
show No Fly Zone at the Berardo Collection Museum
in Lisbon in 2013. In addition, his work has been
displayed at the Landscapes exhibition at the Palazzo
Gallery in Brescia, Italy.
Edson Chagas
artists. It increases sales of their works and
“This prize shows that we are on the right
path. It is also a prize that will add value to
the work done by the team that installed
the Angola pavilion. We are worthy of this
international recognition.”
According to the minister, the prize
will encourage the Angolan government
to work together with the artistic class to
do even better in coming editions of the
Venice Biennale. “This prize will force
us to redouble our efforts, as in the next
edition eyes will be turned to see what
Angola will present.”
Rosa Cruz e Silva said that the prize
will also stimulate Angola's art-sponsoring
partners sponsoring partners to reinforce
their assistance in cultural activities,
helping the Angolan government to spread
the name of the country across borders
through the arts.
Edson Chagas
‘The biennale has been very good for Angolan
CULTURE
Edson Chagas
CULTURE
SEPTEMBER 2013 23
INDUSTRY
A new bridge on the Benguela-Lobito highway at Catumbela
ROUTE TO RICHES:
THE LOBITO
CORRIDOR
SEPTEMBER 2013 25
Peter Moeller
Several African governments have jointly planned a set
of transport corridors to speed up trade and boost their
economic development. Universo looks at the prospects
for the corridor originating at Lobito in Angola
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY
T
he Lobito Corridor is the most
strategic of the 15 corridors
designated by the Southern African
Development Community (SADC)
to boost regional trade and communications
in the region, says SADC deputy executive
secretary João Samuel Caholo.
SADC, an association of 15 countries,
aims to better connect their economies
through the integral development of road,
rail, energy and telecommunications
infrastructure. The expectation is that
these improvements will provide the
synergy necessary to attract investors
to their farming, industrial, mining and
tourism sectors.
The core assets of the Lobito Corridor
are the Angolan port of Lobito and the
Benguela Railway (Caminho de Ferro de
Benguela or CFB). Before 1975, more than
80 per cent of CFB freight carried to Lobito
originated beyond Angola’s frontiers,
with the most important cargo – copper
– mined in Zambia and what is today the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
The strong business case for resurrecting
the CFB's copper traffic underpins the
urgency of rebuilding the railway. The price
of this mineral has rocketed in the past
decade, stimulating greater output. Copper
has risen from $1,500 a tonne in 2000 to
around $7,000 today.
The Lobito Corridor provides a more
direct link to the sea than via eastern and
southern Africa, bringing the copper much
closer to Atlantic markets in Europe and
the Americas (see map on page 29).
Mozambique, on the Indian Ocean, and is
southern Africa’s second designated major
east-west corridor.
Lobito was conceived as an export port,
with around 90 per cent of goods handled
sent overseas. However, for the past four
decades Lobito has reversed this flow, and
nearly all its traffic is currently inbound
to serve Angola’s massive reconstruction
Natural harbour
efforts and the population’s food and
The focal point of the corridor is the natural consumer needs. Angola aims to reconquer
harbour of Lobito, one of the biggest this export market.
deepwater seaports on the west coast of
An extensive $1.2 billion portAfrica. While identical in form to Luanda, improvement plan has been under
with its quays protected by a long spit way since March 2008. Rail and port
of sandy beach formed by the prevailing infrastructure is almost ready for a massive
southern current, Lobito has deeper access boost in throughput from just under 3
channels. Its dock areas are more extensive million tonnes a year at present to a total of
and spacious and have ample room for around 20 million tonnes.
expansion, whereas Luanda is constrained
One study forecasts 2 million tonnes of
by steep hills.
copper will pass through the port in 2020.
Lobito also enjoys a strategic location, At current prices this would be worth a
not only in Angola but also in relation huge $14 billion.
to Africa. It is halfway along the northWhen completed, the revamped port
south coastal route and is thus ideally will have a total of 7.8km of quays and the
placed as an outlet for the east-west capacity to berth 20 ocean-going vessels at
corridor at Angola’s ‘waistline’. It is also any one time, move 11 million tonnes of
the Atlantic terminus of an extended road general cargo a year and handle 700,000
and rail corridor that connects with Beira, containers. Lobito port can currently
accommodate 12 ships at the same time,
compared to eight in 2012.
So far the port has rebuilt 1,122
metres of quays and has repaved the dock
areas. Equipment upgrades include new
cranes, container handlers, grain silos
and a terminal for refrigerated containers.
Additional facilities under construction on
a site reclaimed from the sea include a new
ore terminal to handle increased copper
exports and other minerals.
A new container terminal and access
bridge provides a rail link with a dry
port 3km away. Work has also begun
on a specialist terminal for containertransported minerals. Topping off the
Botswana DR Congo
port’s make over are future plans for an
ocean cruiser terminal and yacht marina to
MadagascarMalawiattract tourism to the region.
Port modernisation efforts are not
MozambiqueNamibialimited to infrastructure. The dock
authorities have also improved staff
South Africa
Swaziland
training to enable workers to use the
sophisticated new equipment, as well as
A study forecasts 2 million tonnes
of copper will pass through Lobito in 2020.
At current prices this would be
streamlined customs operations to meet
international efficiency standards.
Secil Lobito cement plant now being expanded
The Benguela Railway
Starting at Lobito, the 1,343km CFB has
historically been a strong unifying factor in
the region as it traverses an important trading
zone for farm and industrial products.
The CFB scales Angola’s central
highlands in Huambo and Bié provinces,
before crossing the wide-open plains of
Moxico to the border with the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC). Severed in
several places since the 1970s, the rail line
is now nearing completion of a $1.9 billion
revamp contract undertaken by by China
Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation (CR20) begun in 2006.
When fully operational with new
rolling stock and fibre optic signalling, the
line will have capacity to carry 20 million
tonnes of freight and 4 million passengers
a year. This compares with the CFB 1973
record of just 3.28 million tonnes, half of
which was international traffic. Angola
signed an agreement with General Electric
in February for the supply of 100 new
locomotives for use on the CFB, with
delivery to begin by the end of 2013.
The railway’s reconstruction is almost
complete. In August, work reached Luau in
Moxico on the border with the DRC. From
there it will reconnect with the rail network
in the rich copper belt of the DRC and
neighbouring Zambia in December.
Copper mining in the region amounts
to around 1.3 million tonnes a year and
Lobito port movement data
20112012
Container movements
106,552
124,243
Cargo handled
2.7mt*
2.9mt*
708
579
1,847
2,129
Ship movements
Cars unloaded
Source: Port of Lobito Authority
* million tonnes
worth a huge $14 billion
SADC countries
Angola
Lesotho
Mauritius
Seychelles TanzaniaZambia
Zimbabwe
Potential Corridor cargoes
CopperManganeseCobalt Zinc Sugar
Coal
Lead
TimberMaize
Cement
Oil
Construction materials
SEPTEMBER 2013 27
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY
The Lobito Corridor: A means to tapping Africa's potential
rail link will make Zambia and the DRC
more dynamic economies, while Angola
will reap transport revenues and attract
private investment along the route and to
the wider region.
The CFB will allow copper to travel
more efficiently from the mines in central
Africa to the coast in just 72 hours, reducing
freight costs. Present alternative routes to
the coast almost double the distance.
The DRC reportedly needs to invest
Kamene M Traça
accounts for 7 per cent of world output.
Angola’s CFB serves as a cheaper and
shorter link to the coast and markets in
the Americas and Europe. Copper exports
currently go mostly by road transport, but
also by road and rail, to Indian Ocean ports
at Beira in Mozambique, and Dar es Salaam
in Tanzania, as well as via Durban in South
Africa, doubling the copper’s distance to
Atlantic markets.
The hope is that the re-established
$500 million to reinstate its rail
infrastructure in the copper belt, while
Zambia requires just $15 million. Given the
better state of Zambian railways, Angola is
considering building a direct 300km crossborder line. This would bypass the DRC
via a junction around Chuaia to the Jimbe
border town in Moxico. This would have
the advantage of reducing dependence on
the DRC for transit and delays caused by
border crossings.
The CFB is modernising with an eye
on economic developments in Angola for
future traffic. It is developing branch lines
to serve industrial concentrations along
the route, such as Caála near Huambo.
The scene is now set to change current
freight flows. Within a short period, the
copper traffic and bulk freight from the
coast such as fuel, fertilisers and cement
will restart in earnest. In the medium
term, farm produce from Angola’s interior
and beyond will begin to use the CFB
along its entire length, and also for export
via Lobito.
Eventually, goods produced on
Angola’s coast in the Lobito-Benguela
region – notably products related to the
Lobito refinery now under construction,
as well as textiles – will also use the crossAfrica railway link.
Mark Clydesdale BZO
Kamene M Traça
Attractive new stations are a feature
of all Angola's railway lines
The modernisation of the CFB also has
an eye on economic developments in
Angola for future traffic
SEPTEMBER 2013 29
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY
Mark Clydesdale BZO
Lobito Corridor: The fastest route to the ocean
Road connectivity
Rail is not the only transport mode in the
Lobito Corridor. As the CFB traverses
the ‘waistline’ of Angola, Trans-African
Highway 9 shadows it for much of its
length. Highway 9 links Lobito to Beira on
the coast of Mozambique 3,523km away.
Within Angola the road is still being rebuilt
for much of its length east of Kuito to the
border of the DRC.
The highway provides connections
to the north and south, giving access to
the whole Angolan road network as the
major north-south routes cross the Lobito
Corridor at the coast and at Huambo, Kuito
and Luena.
Latest traveller reports reveal the
revamped highway north from Luena is in
excellent condition all the way to Saurimo
in Lunda Sul province and work is under
way beyond in Lunda Norte, the heart of
Angola’s buoyant diamond industry.
Chinese companies connected with
railroad builder CR-20 are looking at
developing agribusiness concerns in
Angola’s fertile interior in Lunda Sul, Lunda
Norte and Moxico provinces. This will
potentially add more traffic to the CFB and
corridor highways.
To effectively tap Angola’s economic
potential, strategic logistic hubs are planned
where roads from the provinces meet the
CFB. Private operators are expected to run
these multimodal terminals.
Energy network
An essential ingredient for the Lobito
Corridor’s development is energy. Angola
currently lacks an effective electricity supply
network despite an ambitious expansion
programme for power dams.
Sweden’s Eltel Networks is erecting
more than 600 pylons over 250km to carry
wires from the Cambambe Dam to Lobito
by the end of 2013. The dam’s capacity
will rise from its present 180MW output to
960MW in 2014, and the Lobito area will
receive up to 200MW in the following year.
Work on the transmission line reached
the coastal plain near Sumbe in June,
allowing a clean run through to Lobito, after
having conquered the obstacle of Angola’s
central highlands.
The extra wattage will ensure the
operation of the corridor’s largest industrial
project – the $8 billion, 200,000 barrels per
day Lobito refinery now under construction.
Power supplies will also have a dramatic
effect on other industrial developments at
the twin cities of Lobito and Benguela.
Other dams are feeding energy into
the Lobito Corridor. In Benguela province
Biopio (18MW) is already operative, while
Lumaum (65MW) is scheduled to start up
this year. Gove Dam (60MW) in Huambo
was reinaugurated in 2012, and this supplies
Huambo and Kuito, the two major cities
on the highland section of the corridor,
while Luena will benefit from the 12.4MW
Tchihumbwe Dam planned for 2015.
Process industries
Given adequate electricity supplies,
processing and manufacturing industries
will be able to expand with an eye on the
market provided by the Lobito Corridor’s
vast hinterland.
Secil Cement’s existing Lobito plant
produces 400,000 tonnes a year but is
investing in a new factory nearby to add a
million tonnes a year of capacity.
Benguela’s modernised Africa Textil
mill producing towels, sheets and blankets
is due to restart operations in 2014. There
are also investment opportunities for food
cold storage and processing of supplies
from Benguela’s extremely rich fisheries,
and meat packing in the Corridor’s
highland pastures.
The Lobito refinery will be a major
boost for the corridor. Eventually, the CFB
will carry refined products to central Angola
as well as on to markets elsewhere in the
interior. Planners are also considering
building a fuel pipeline parallel to the
railway to serve Zambia.
Looking further ahead, petrochemicals,
plastics and fertilisers may all be produced
in the refinery area.
Economic expansion
The Lobito Corridor even in its incomplete
stage shows signs of the greater economic
expansion to come. Operative sections
of the CFB are already attracting large
numbers of farming families as passengers,
often carrying sack loads of excess produce
for sale in neighbouring town markets.
This ant-like, small-scale carriage of goods
will only increase in size as new industries,
wholesalers and distributors are attracted
to the corridor. Cement from Cimaforte’s
new plant at Catumbela is already using the
line and has transported over 3,000 tonnes
to date.
Once investors realise the region’s
potential and mobilises, they will have
easier access to the western hub, thanks
to Catumbela Airport, which lies between
Benguela and Lobito. Catumbela was
rebuilt and extended in 2012 to handle
international flights. It will serve an
important role for businesspeople investing
in and overseeing projects in the Lobito
Corridor, as well as air cargo. It will also aid
the region’s tourism industry. p
Catumbela Airport was rebuilt in 2012
SEPTEMBER 2013 31
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT
F
MAKING ANGOLA
GREENER
Ambiente 2013, the Luanda-based environmental fair, promotes
Angolaʼs green agenda. Universo reports on the recent event and
innovative solar energy initiatives in southern Africa
By Adam Marshall
inding common ground towards
creating a greener Angola was the
theme of Ambiente – Angola 2013,
the third Luanda International
Environmental Technologies Fair.
The Luanda International Fair (FILDA)
and Angola’s Ministry of Environment
jointly organised the event from May 30
to June 2.
Speaking at the fair, José de Matos
Cardoso, chairman of FILDA’s board
of directors, stressed the importance
of integrating clean technologies and
production processes. He outlined a
future vision for Angola where the public
and private sectors placed concern for the
environment at the heart of their strategies
with the goal of achieving sustainable
development for the country.
The fair, promoting environmental
technologies, was held at the FILDA
exhibition site on the outskirts of Luanda.
It brought together Angolan specialists,
institutions and citizens with prospective
technology suppliers and business
partners, in particular those related to
solid, liquid and gas waste management.
“FILDA aims to promote savings,
investment and development, as well as
to highlight the opportunities that exist to
unite the economy and ecology in order
to make business both profitable and
sustainable,” said Matos Cardoso.
Mankind must be aware of the need
to preserve the environment in order to
accomplish its aims and lead comfortable,
dignified lives while not forgetting future
generations, he said.
Mato Cardoso highlighted the key role
that Angola could play in achieving these
goals, via public-private partnerships that
simultaneously pool skills and promote
social responsibility. The third edition of
Ambiente – Angola marked a positive step
in this direction, he said.
Regional co-operation
Shutterstock
Even before the fair had come to a close,
there were signs that it was starting to
bear fruit. Speaking to the press during
the event, Osvaldo Abreu, Minister of
Environment for the island nation of São
Tomé and Príncipe, declared his country’s
desire to “boost co-operation with Angola
in the areas of environmental technology,
with a view to increasing development in
the sector”.
Minister Abreu also outlined the
necessity of strengthening the partnership
in areas relating to the management of
ports, telecommunications and airports.
He revealed that other partnerships with
Angolan firms were in the pipeline and
would boost existing fraternal relations
between the two countries.
He noted that the fair was “three days
of hard work, but with lots of learning and
exchanges of experiences. We leave here
with a broader view of what is being done
in Angola in relation to environmental
protection, and the care to be taken with
the environment, so I must thank and
congratulate Angola for the invitation to
this event.”
Success for Sonangol
The fair attracted a 100-strong contingent
of exhibitors, representing the full
spectrum of Angola’s emerging economy.
Those present included the sectors of urban
development, construction, farming and
forestry, industry, energy and transport.
Nine foreign countries flew the flag for
four continents: Brazil, China, France,
Germany, Nigeria, Portugal, São Tomé and
Príncipe, South Africa and Spain.
Sonangol was among the exhibitors,
and this year’s fair brought accolades
as the company scooped the award
for Best Participation-Environmental
Technologies. This topped off a successful
month for Sonangol; the Angolan oil giant
received a Best Oil Company award at
the Cabinda International Fair and was
honoured for Best National Participation
at the Benguela International Fair.
SEPTEMBER 2013 33
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT
The Solucar solar complex, Seville, Spain
At cold daybreak he has a mind to get
firewood. After sunrise he changes his mind
saying, “Sending forth the sun, Kalunga
(God) has supplied the fuel” – Angolan
Umbundu proverb.
Angolans have always appreciated the
capacity of the sun’s energy to sustain life
on earth. In today’s Angola, positive steps
are being taken towards harnessing this
resource in new exciting ways.
Research by the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL), a US Department
of Energy-funded institute, ranks Angola
25th in the world in terms of solarpower potential. NREL calculates that
the country has the capacity to produce
a whopping 3.9 billion megawatt hours
(MWh) of electricity per year from the
sun’s rays.
To put this in perspective, in 2008
Angolans consumed less than 4 million
MWh, meaning that if Angola could
somehow harvest all that extra solar power,
it would be able to cover its annual energy
needs many times over.
A shining example
Abengoa Solar
If Angola requires inspiration on ways to
unlock this potentially bountiful resource,
it does not need to look too far from
home. Spanish firm Abengoa Solar, one
of the most innovative solar technology
companies in the world, has a global
presence, with operations in Europe, Asia,
and the Americas and, crucially for Angola,
in Africa.
Worldwide, Abengoa Solar has 743 MW
of installed solar capacity around the
world, 910 MW under construction and a
blistering gigawatt (GW) in development.
The firm’s African operations are
currently focused in Algeria and South
Africa. In Algeria it has built and now
operates a 150 MW integrated solar
combined cycle (ISCC) power plant, while
in South Africa it is constructing two
concentrating solar power (CSP) plants
which, when operational, will have a
combined output of 150 MW.
Abengoa Solar’s innovation and
application of CSP technologies is what
makes it stand out from the crowd. CSP
is the concept of concentrating solar
radiation to produce steam, which can
subsequently generate electricity.
One advantage of CSP technology,
compared to other renewable technologies
is its capacity to store energy efficiently,
making it possible to generate electricity
even after sunset. This can be achieved
using various CSP types. The two projects
under construction in South Africa make
use of CSP tower technology and parabolictrough technology respectively.
Towering above the rest
In tower systems, a field of mobile
mirrors known as heliostats, tracks the
sun’s position and reflects the rays onto
a receptor located in the upper part of a
tower, concentrating it at up to 600 times
the rays’ strength. This heat is transmitted
to a fluid to generate steam. The steam
then expands in a turbine linked to an
electricity-producing generator.
In parabolic-trough technology
covered, trough-shaped reflectors
concentrate solar radiation on to a receiver
pipe running along the inside of the curved
surface. This heats synthetic oil which
flows through the pipe, heating water to
produce electricity via a conventional
steam generator. As with the mirrors,
parabolic troughs also track the sun’s
position throughout the day in order to
optimise efficiency.
African example
South Africa’s Department of Energy
picked Abengoa Solar to develop the
country’s first two CSP projects, both of
which are currently under construction.
Abengoa Solar will have a 51 per
cent stake in the projects: 29 per cent
will belong to the state-owned Industrial
Development Corporation – South Africa’s
largest development finance institution
– while the nation’s Black Economic
Empowerment programme will hold the
remaining 20 per cent.
The South African government has set
a target date of 2030, by which time it aims
to produce 17,800 MW of the country’s
energy needs from renewable sources.
It hopes that these projects will help it
achieve this ambitious goal.
Located in Upington, Northern
Cape, Khi Solar One will be the first 50
MW superheated steam solar tower in
the world. It will have a thermal storage
capacity of two hours, being able to
produce electricity for that period after
sunset. According to Abengoa Solar,
this project “represents an important
technological advance in tower efficiency
by using higher temperatures and
an innovative dry cooling system”. It
has calculated that this technological
innovation will reduce water consumption
by 80 per cent.
Also located on the Northern Cape
near to Pofadder, the other project under
construction is KaXu Solar One, a 100 MW
parabolic-trough project with three hours
of thermal storage. The plant will cover 315
hectares and have approximately 1,200
parabolic-trough solar collectors.
Water for all
Although Angola has yet to embrace largescale solar projects, there are encouraging
signs that it is starting to take solar
technology seriously. A governmentbacked solar project has already started
to make a huge difference to the lives of
ordinary Angolans and is being piloted
at Bom Jesus, 50km east of Luanda. This
technology uses the sun’s power to supply
clean drinking water.
The pilot is being delivered through
the Angolan government’s Water for All
Programme, which aims to provide clean
water to 80 per cent, of its rural population
and 50 per cent of urban dwellers by 2015,
with targets raised to 100 per cent and 80
per cent respectively, by 2020.
To achieve this ambitious target, the
government enlisted the help of Quest
SEPTEMBER 2013 35
Abengoa Solar
Here comes the sun
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT
its solar power, it would be able to cover
its annual energy needs many times over
Water Solutions, an innovative Canadian
water-technology company.
After seeing first-hand the daily
struggles of ordinary Angolans to source
safe drinking water, company founders
John Balanko and Peter Miele set about
designing the AQUAtap, a mobile solarpowered water-purification system.
The pilot AQUAtap has been operating
at Bom Jesus since March 2012, providing
the villagers and people from the
surrounding area – some of whom come
from 20 miles away – with clean drinking
water. Before its installation, they took
their water directly, untreated, from the
nearby Kwanza River.
AQUAtap is able to take water from
a source deemed “unfit for human
consumption” and purify it to a level
exceeding World Health Organization
standards. So how does it work?
The contaminated water is pumped up
to the unit – a brightly painted shipping
container situated just 35 metres from the
river bank. The AQUAtap’s humble exterior
belies a high-tech interior replete with topspecification water filters and ultraviolet
lights which clean and disinfect
the water, bringing it up to
the required standard.
The entire system
runs off batteries
continually charged
by 16 rooftop
photovoltaic
solar
panels, strategically
placed to capture the
abundant rays of the sun.
This allows the AQUAtap
to operate off-grid in
remote areas.
All that it requires
is a water source and
sunlight; Angola has an
abundance of both. The
grateful villagers access
the finished product free
of charge via two taps
situated at one end of
the unit.
In
addition
to
requiring no mains
electricity, the AQUAtap
produces zero harmful
waste and does not
employ any of the chemicals often
associated with traditional waterpurification techniques.
“We’ve created something that can
be run as a business, but be very much a
humanitarian effort as well,” says Peter Miele.
“At the moment Angolans are paying as
much as $30 for 1,000 litres of water which
is delivered by trucks. Our water works out
at around $1.60 for 1,000 litres, making it
ten times cheaper than what is currently on
the market,” Balanko says.
The entrepreneurs and the government
Shutterstock
If Angola could somehow harvest all
are currently involved in discussions
which could see AQUAtaps distributed
throughout Angola. “We’re hoping that
we become the de facto system for the
entire Water for All Programme for rural
populations,” says Balanko.
If given the go-ahead, Quest plans
to open an AQUAtap factory in Angola.
Balanko says this would make the system
cheaper to produce, bringing down the
final cost of each unit. At the same time
it would benefit the Angolan economy by
providing jobs for the local population. p
Secretary of State for Industry
Dr Kiala Gabriel inaugurates
AQUAtap's Bom Jesus plant
SEPTEMBER 2013 37
AQUAtap
AQUAtap
Abengoa Solar
SPORT
FINALS PREPARATION:
HOCKEY ANGOLA
A
ngola is preparing the ground
for hosting the 2013 FIRS
Men’s Roller Hockey World
Cup from September 20 to
28. This 41st edition of the games will
be the first time the tournament has
been held in Africa and will take place
at two venues – the Cidadela stadium in
Luanda and the Welwitschia Mirabilis
stadium in Namibe.
The teams playing in the World
Cup are the first 13 countries at the last
World Cup, and the first three countries
qualified at the last ‘B’ World Cup. The
make-up of each group has already been
decided. Angola will be in Group C and
will face Chile, Portugal and continental
rivals South Africa.
In preparation for the competition,
the country is spending around
$14 million to improve roads, basic
sanitation, green areas, parking and
public lighting around the stadia.
Angola’s hosting of the hockey
championship is expected to boost the
sport throughout the country. p
Group A Austria Spain Brazil Switzerland
Group B Argentina France England Germany
Group C Angola Portugal Chile South Africa
SEPTEMBER 2013 39
Gordon Morrison
Group D Colombia Italy Mozambique United States
Sonangol news briefing
Fairs fair
Sonangol Schlesser win again
Waste
management
■ Sonangol Logística is to build an
■ Jean-Louis Schlesser of the Sonangol Schlesser team was the overall winner of the
Silk Way Rally in Russia’s Volga region in July. The race over 500km in temperatures
of 50 degrees centigrade was another tough test for the team, but the Frenchman and
his Russian navigator Konstantin Zhiltsov took the spoils and celebrated in Astrakhan,
beating Vladimir Vasilyev of the G-Force team into second place.
“I built this victory one day at a time,” said Schlesser. “I had to stay in contact with
the contenders and never lose my cool and take each stage as it came. I won stage
two, and then we remained mindful and paid extra attention not to commit any errors.
The battle with Vasilyev was intense, it was a great fight. We won because I am more
experienced and have a faster car.”
oil-waste storage and treatment
terminal in Luanda. The aim is to use
the facility to deal with any future oil
spills. Mondlane Boa Morte, secretary
of Sonangol Shipping’s executive
commission, announced the move
at the Third Seminar on Safety,
Protection and Marine Environmental
Preservation held in Luanda in June.
He said all security measures in
line with national and international
standards were essential, as risks
were high in marine transport and
any possible spills might damage the
image of Sonangol and Angola.
Shutterstock
other international fairs: firstly, at Expo Cabinda 2013, where 220
companies representing the industrial, oil, agribusiness and food
sectors took part, and second, at the Third Benguela International
Fair where 240 companies exhibited.
In Benguela, Sonangol’s stand portrayed the size and
multiple trajectories achieved since its foundation 37 years ago.
The company had displays from several of its many businesses
such as gas subsidiary Sonagás, SIIND and fuel distributor
Sonangol Distribuidora.
counterpart Sonatrach announced
in July that they will cooperate
in oil sector projects. After a
meeting with José Maria Botelho
de Vasconcelos, Angola’s Minister
of Oil, Youcefi Yousfi, Algeria’s
Minister of Energy and Mines, said
that his country aimed to widen
the range of its co-operation with
Angola in oil exploration.
“We discussed all the
possibilities and opportunities for
co-operation between our two
ministries and between our two
state companies, Sonangol and
Sonatrach,” he said.
PSVM oil
peaks early
Sonangol in
talks with
PetroVietnam
■ Angola and Vietnam are to set up a joint
venture to explore for crude oil in Angola
and Vietnam. A co-operation protocol was
originally signed in 2008 and subsequently
ratified. Vietnam’s oil major PetroVietnam
and Sonangol are now holding talks on
the subject.
The announcement by Oil Minister
José María Botelho de Vasconcelos came
during the August visit to Angola of Pham
Binh Minh, Vietnam’s Foreign Minister.
■ Sonangol partner BP said in June that its PSVM offshore oil and gas development
will reach peak production of 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) in December,
earlier than previously expected. Martyn Morris, BP’s regional president, said PSVM
was currently producing around 100,000 bpd, up from 70,000 barrels earlier this
year. The project, which has already absorbed around $10 billion of investment,
includes two other partners, Statoil and Marathon Oil.
Shutterstock
the energy and oil category at the 30th edition of FILDA, Luanda’s
International Fair (July 19–21).
Sonangol showcased products and services from
subsidiaries MSTelcom, Sonagás and its industrial investments
arm SIIND at the event and also publicised its corporate social
responsibility work. The company was also awarded a prize in
recognition of its contribution to supporting FILDA’s success over
the past three decades. In May, Sonangol also exhibited at two
■ Sonangol and its Algerian
Shutterstock
■ The Angola LNG project won the prize for best participant in
Sonatrach cooperation
SEPTEMBER 2013 41
Angola LNG delivers
New data centre for MSTelcom
■ The Angola LNG project delivered
its first consignment of liquefied
natural gas on July 14 when the cargo
arrived at Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara
Bay gas terminal. Angola LNG is a
joint venture formed by Sonangol,
Chevron, BP, Total and ENI.
Gas tanker Sonangol Sambizanga
transported 160,000 cubic metres
of the gas from Angola’s Soyo
facility in Zaire province across the
South Atlantic.
Artur Pereira, chairman of
Angola LNG Marketing, said several
sale agreements had been signed
with companies around the world,
ensuring Angola LNG a stable
customer portfolio. The $10 billion
Angola LNG project is a trade and
environmental solution adopted to
reduce gas flaring and pollution.
The company will process, sell and
deliver 5.2 million tonnes of LNG a
year as well as propane, butane and
condensed gases.
■ Sonangol subsidiary MSTelcom has started work on a $98
Angola LNG unloading its first cargo in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro
Sonangol accounts
approved
Total Angola to
launch CLOV
■ Angola’s Ministry of Economy has certified Sonangol EP’s
operations on the fourth floating production, storage
and offloading (FPSO) vessel in deepwater offshore
Block 17 in 2014. The CLOV project, launched in
2010, consists of four fields – Cravo, Lírio, Orquídea
and Violeta.
Jean-Michel Lavergne, director of Total Angola,
said altogether 34 subsea wells will be connected to
the FPSO, which will have a processing capacity of
160,000 bpd and a storage capacity of approximately
1.8 million barrels.
accounts for 2012. Approval was given by Economy Minister Abraão
Gourgel gave approval during a formal ceremony held on July 29.
This was the second time that the ministry has approved
the accounts of public firms with a view to standardising their
management and thus effectively contributing to the production and
diversification process of the Angolan economy. Twenty-eight other
public companies from several sectors, out of a total of 54 firms,
presented their reports and accounts for the year.
■ Sonangol partner Total Angola is preparing to start
million data storage centre. The project aims to provide secure
data backup and thus ensure business customers are able to
continue operations even in the event of a disaster. It will also
meet the needs of Angola’s growing domestic market for data
centre services.
Located at Zango, Viana, on the outskirts of Luanda, the
centre will reduce clients operational risks and guarantee normal
continuity of their data services. The new facility will provide the
expanded telecommunications infrastructure needed for growing
businesses and meet international standards.
The data centre will be situated on the Viana industrial estate
and has guaranteed basic infrastructure services.
The project is divided into four stages. The first stage of civil
engineering works for the centre was awarded to Portuguese
firm Grupo Mota Engil
which will be responsible for
building roads, maintenance
buildings, technical galleries
and underground installations
for water, power, fire services
and telecommunications.
Work began on June 21.
The second stage is
the construction of the data
centre, and this is currently
out for tender. Work is
expected to begin in January 2014.
Details for the administration and social buildings are still
being developed and work on the third and fourth stages will
begin towards the end of 2015. The completed
data centre is scheduled to be fully functioning by
July 2016.
Tier III level rating
MSTelcom’s existing data centre has been
certified by the Uptime Institute to Tier III level.
This means that its backup systems provide close
to 99.98 per cent service reliability in the event
of a crisis. The highest level is Tier IV, which
provides 99.99 per cent availability – this is used
for systems with a global economic impact such
as financial institutions.
SEPTEMBER 2013 43
Sonangol Asia
Sonangol Asia
REACHING OUT
TO ASIA
Sonangol Asia celebrates its 10th birthday this year.
Universo looks at how the company is building its
customer base in the exciting, fast-growing Asian
regional market
SEPTEMBER 2013 45
Shutterstock
FROM SONANGOL’S SINGAPORE OFFICE
Sonangol Asia
Sonangol Asia
“There's a lot of space indeed for growth” - Luís Pedro Manuel, president
A
I
AYS
AM
TN
VIE
L
MA
INA
CH
IND
ON
China is where the
market is shifting to;
most new refineries are
being built there
ES
IA
IA
IND
T
D
AN
IL
HA
– Luís Pedro Manuel, president
MY
AN
MA
“One must understand and
respond to Asian cultural
sensitivities” - Sonasia's
operations manager, José
Fonseca Coelho
R
N
WA
TAI
KO
R
AN
JAP
EA
S
INE
PH
IP
ILL
SEPTEMBER 2013 47
Shutterstock
S
onangol Asia, Sonasia for short,
is the youngest of Sonangol
EP’s three international trading
and marketing offices, joining
operations with London and Houston
in 2003.
Established ten years ago as a
platform to engage in the expanding
Asian market, 16 employees, mostly
Angolans, work quietly away in the
company offices on the 31st floor of
the Centennial Tower, a stone’s throw
from Singapore’s iconic colonial-style |
Raffles Hotel.
Luís Pedro Manuel, Sonasia’s
president, has been in office for just over
15 months after making the move from
his eight-year stay at Sonangol USA,
where for the final three years, he was
president and chief executive officer.
The best part of taking up the
Sonasia post, he says, was that when he
arrived its operations were already wellestablished; it had a portfolio of clients
and enjoyed a very good reputation.
Manuel was well grounded in the
American environment (he studied at
Tulsa University), but the oil trading
global village where he spent much of his
career in trading and marketing meant
he was already familiar with many of the
players in Asia.
“It was a big plus that it wasn’t
completely new to me. I had already
dealt with many people from the Asian
market. Sonangol has three offices
and a global team so there was lots of
interaction with colleagues and I had the
opportunity to meet most of the Asian
clients at international oil conferences
such as IP Week and APPEC.”
Manuel considers it a great privilege
to be in the position of having led
Sonangol’s marketing efforts in two
of the world’s largest economies – the
United States and now China. “China
is where the market is shifting to; most
new refineries are being built there.
Crude consumption has been growing
fast in recent times,” he points out. “The
US market is already very mature but
Asia is growing. Asia is concentrating on
building and securing crude supplies.”
Sonangol Asia
Sonangol Asia
“Sonasia's philosophy is to be a reliable supplier
and open partner” - Alex Tan, trading and
marketing manager
Singapore site
For Manuel, Singapore was chosen as
the site for Sonasia’s operations for
much the same reasons as the city itself
was established: it is in the heart of an
economically important region and has
easy access to almost all Asian markets.
Strategic position was paramount.
“Placing Sonasia in a large country
such as China or India may distract us and
limit our attention away from the rest of the
Asian market,” he says.
Singapore-born Alex Tan, Sonasia’s
manager for crude oil trading and marketing
is an eight-year company veteran.
While most of Sonasia’s staff members
are fluent English-speaking Angolans, Tan
has a key role as a speaker of Mandarin and
as a cultural ambassador. He understands
the nuances of doing business with the
company’s largest client, China. Singapore’s
lingua franca is English. Local Malays,
Indians and Chinese speak to each other in
this international language of business.
Asian promise
Tan says the potential for oil sales growth
in Asia is enormous as there are 2.5 billion
people in China and India alone in a region
The complete Sonangol Asia team at the Singapore office
with relatively lower per capita energy
consumption and very high economic
growth rates. “The only way is up,” he
chuckles. “Singapore is THE place to be.
We need to be near our customers and be
Sonangol’s face to the Asian market.”
Before Sonasia started up in 2003, the
company had no representation in Asia
and sales were negligible, but since 2005
they have expanded massively largely
thanks to burgeoning Chinese demand for
crude oil.
A decade ago volumes were small and
Sonangol EP had altogether only 12 cargoes
a month globally. Now there is a very
different picture. Sonangol EP manages
more than 22 cargoes and the number of
oil grades has risen from fewer than 10 to
around 14.
In the past eight years the Chinese
market has grown tremendously. Most
business is still conducted with state oil
companies but now includes other clients in
China. Market coverage has become wider.
Besides China, the company now
has also a very important presence in
India, an achievement that is a source of
great pride among the staff at Sonangol’s
Singapore office.
Cultured club
Manuel is keenly aware of the importance of
cultural understanding in Asia, and this has
been a learning curve after his long experience
in the US market. Building trust with Asian
clients is vital , he explains, and trust takes
time to develop. But once established, it leads
to a solid business relationship.
Alex Tan says more and more Chinese
oil companies, including privately-owned
ones, are moving to Singapore. Although
he has Chinese language skills, Tan says
that they alone are not sufficient to bridge
the gap in understanding. Oil marketers
in Asia need to be cultural translators,
develop personal trust and have a cultural
affinity with clients.
“Sonasia’s philosophy is to be a reliable
supplier and open partner with a longterm perspective. It has built a very good
reputation for reliability and fairness with
customers in Asia,” he says.
Sonasia seeks out platforms to meet
existing and potential customers to
promote interaction and understanding.
It uses opportunities such as international
conferences and exhibitions to meet and
reinforce client connections.
José Fonseca Coelho, Sonasia’s
operations manager, agrees. “Networking
is very important and you need to visit
customers to build up and consolidate
it. You need to join the voice to the face.
It is always easier to find paths to solve
problems once the face is known,” he
explains. “One must understand and
respond to Asian cultural sensitivities and
be flexible with customers. Trust takes time
to build up.”
“It’s also important to offer a quality
service and be readily available. Our clients
prize this availability.
The Indian market is expanding, says
Tan; refining until recently was a state
monopoly but now new private refiners
are emerging so there are lots more
opportunities for Sonangol. Sonangol Asia
is already established in China and India
and is now working on developing other
Asian markets.
“Senior crude oil trader Óscar
Brito believes that although Sonangol
is a company with an African cultural
background it has managed to mingle and
blend in and is “now nicely established”.
“We’re in the market and we try to do
our best for each sale. Our potential is the
whole Asian market,” he says.
“Our potential is the
whole Asian market”
- Óscar Brito, senior
crude oil trader
Work-life balance
The consensus among Angolan staff is that Singapore
is an easy city to live in. It offers a good standard of
living and services. English is spoken. Amenities are
good. International schools – American, Australian,
French, British and Chinese – are available for the
highly mobile international business community. Many
parents are seeing the benefits of giving their children an
understanding of Mandarin.
Vanda Assis, Sonasia’s senior finance, says Singapore
has a high standard of living, is good for education, health
provision and safety, and the climate is summer all year
round, so she is happy to bring up her two children there.
Assis found it easy to adapt to the city-state and
her colleagues, who echo her views, helped make it a
welcoming place.
SEPTEMBER 2013 49
Sonangol Asia
Sonangol Asia
“We provide the vital support service”
- Januário Jorge Chivangulula, senior finance officer
Januário Jorge Chivangulula, Sonasia’s
senior finance officer when explaining
the role of Sonasia’s finance department,
says: “We provide the vital support service
to trading and operations. We make sure
payments are made accurately and in a
timely manner.”
Future expansion
The huge Chinese and Indian oil markets
still have great potential for growth.
However, Luís Pedro Manuel sees a lot of
space for sales elsewhere in the region too.
Tan agrees that well-established major
oil consumers must not be overlooked
in Sonangol’s quest for a wider range of
clients. “Let’s not forget that Japan is still
one of the world’s largest economies and
Korea is also very important too.”
Manuel would also like to grow Sonangol’s
business in Taiwan and Thailand while at the
same time look for an opportunity to enter
new markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam.
“There’s a lot of space indeed for growth,”
emphasises Manuel. Nevertheless, he is well
aware of the big challenge new markets
represent as many are already tied into longterm Middle Eastern supply contracts.
Manuel sees a need to expand
operations and employ more staff at the
Singapore office to deal with the existing
and future workload. “Thanks to company
policies, Sonangol already has many
capable, trained personnel within its
ranks ready to step up to the challenge,”
he notes.
Sonaci adds value
The subsuming of Sonangol’s three
marketing offices – London, Houston
and Singapore – under the umbrella of
Sonangol Comercialização Internacional
(Sonaci) management is positive and will
improve efficiency, Manuel believes.
“Sonaci will concentrate on strategy
and the mission of bringing greater value to
our shareholder, Sonangol EP,” he predicts.
Singapore’s Asian air access
Capital city
> 8 hours
Flying time
(hours - minutes)
Tokyo......................... 7.06
> 7 hours
Beijing........................ 6.40
Lahore....................... 6.45
Seoul.......................... 6.17
8
hrs
7
hrs
6
hrs
5
hrs
4
hrs
3
hrs
2
hrs
> 6 hours
Delhi........................... 5.38
> 5 hours
Taiwan....................... 4.19
> 4 hours
Hanoi......................... 3.13
Hong Kong................ 3.42
Manila........................ 3.28
> 3 hours
Bangkok.................... 2.16
Yangon...................... 2.52
> 2 hours
Phnom Penh............. 1.54
Jakarta...................... 1.37
Kuala Lumpur........... 0.53
Well connected
Singapore is one of the world’s most
advanced cities in terms of infrastructure,
and also in environmental care. It is an
excellent air-transport hub and has good
public transport. The city also boasts one of
the busiest container ports in the world.
The government provides a very
favourable and welcoming environment
for business, making it easy to establish
new offices.
Strategic location
The port city of Singapore was founded in
1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles, the British East
India Company agent, because of its key
location in the narrow Malacca Straits on the
main shipping route between India, Japan
and China. Raffles was largely responsible for
the creation of Britain’s Far Eastern empire.
Sonasia’s Alex Tan describes Singapore
as “a big city in a small country”. Business
and commerce on Singapore’s river was the
starting point of the former British colony.
It developed into a major transport hub
and warehousing facility where large bulk
cargoes were parcelled off into smaller
quantities by middlemen for selling on to
regional markets, he explains.
Indians, Chinese and the local Malay
populations settled at this junction of
seaborne goods traffic and have continued to
trade here with enthusiasm ever since. Tan
says there is a pioneering spirit in Singapore’s
population similar to that found in highly
functional entrepreneurial and immigrant
societies elsewhere, such as New York. The
people are naturals at commerce with a
strong urge to create and build businesses.
Today the city is truly an international,
multicultural and multiracial society with
a population of over five million. Gone
are Singapore’s original warehouses – in
their place are modern, glass-fronted
skyscrapers clustered along the waterfront
serving multinational companies and
banks, dedicated to investment and trade
finance. Foreigners and locals alike still fill
Singapore’s waterfront, where merchants
once sat at their storeroom gates, but they are
more likely to be jogging along the bay side
or having a drink in the busy bars, perhaps
chatting to tourists breaking their journey on
a stop-over from a long-haul flight. p
Key support
Finance, administration and
human resource manager,
Clarisse Figueira, says that
Sonasia serves an important
role in covering and
representing Sonangol’s
name in the Far East
region. She added that
the department that she is
heading is also critical as
it contributes by looking
after Sonasia personnel.
“We contribute by looking after
Sonasia personnel” - Clarisse
Figueira, finance, administration
and human resource manager
SEPTEMBER 2013 51
Supplying the world…
SS Sonangol Sambizanga leaves Soyo, Angola, with
the first cargo of LNG bound for Rio de Janeiro
ANGOLA LNG
Liquefied Natural Gas was always going to be an intelligent move and
Angola LNG has begun the first of many shipments to the world of this
precious, clean and reliable fuel.
One that will not just fuel the Angolan economy but the world at large.
To learn more about Angola LNG and the biggest investment that has taken
place in the oil and gas industry in Angola, visit: www.angolalng.com

Angola wins Biennale gold

Transcription

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