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SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Universo JUNE 2010

Net gains Progress in the fight against malaria Superstructure A gigantic deepwater tower

ISSUE 26 – JUNE 2010

Result!

The boom in Angola’s new universities

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T

he best way to invest in the future of a country is education, and in this issue we focus on the great expansion of universities in Angola. For years there was just Agostinho Neto University, but in the last few years several new institutions have opened. Thousands of places are now available for Angolans to study everything from business to engineering.

At the same time, the quality of life is improving across Angola.

Better roads now mean that the country has its first Western-style taxi service, with a call centre and ranks in central Luanda.

We also have a story on the biggest killer in Angola – malaria – and how millions of dollars are being spent on buying and distributing nets to combat it.

We don’t just concentrate on Angola domestically. In the final pages we print a world map showing just how influential Sonangol now is around the world.

Board Members Manuel Vicente (President), Anabela Fonseca, Mateus de Brito, Fernando Roberto, Francisco de Lemos, Baptista Sumbe, Sebastião Gaspar Martins

Sonangol Department for Communication & Image Director João Rosa Santos

Corporate Communications Assistants Nadiejda Santos, Lúcio Santos, Cristina Novaes, José Mota, Beatriz Silva, Paula Almeida, Sandra Teixeira, Marta Sousa

Publisher Sheila O’Callaghan

Editor Alex Bellos

Art Director David Gould

Sub Editor Ron Gribble

Advertising Design Bernd Wojtczack

Circulation Manager Matthew Alexander

Project Consultants Nathalie MacCarthy Mauro Perillo

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Group President Universo is produced by Impact Media Custom Publishing. The views expressed in the publication are not necessarily those of Sonangol or the publishers. Reproduction in whole or in part without prior permission is prohibited.

This magazine is distributed to a closed circulation. To receive a free copy: circulation@universo-magazine.com Circulation: 17,000

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Education, education, education A special report on the growth of further education in Angola. Thanks to an influx of both private and government money, many new universities have opened in the last few years, and the boom is expanding the opportunities for young Angolans

14 University challenge An interview with Dr Alberto Chocolate, rector of Óscar Ribas University – one of the newest universities in Angola, whose first students will graduate next year

18 Top of the class José Figueira Cola

Cover: Photolibrary

Angola news briefing Wild cheetahs spotted in southern Angola; a new anti-corruption law; Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos made Angolan vicepresident; Hervé Renaud made national football coach; future of Nations’ Cup stadiums; China remains biggest exporter to Angola; TAAG ban lifted; Angola at the Expo in Shanghai; mobile phone usage up; Angola in numbers; national woman’s handball team wins African title (below)

John Charles Gasser

6 Snow Hill, London EC1A 2AY Tel + 44 20 7002 7778 Fax +44 20 7002 7779 sonangol@impact-media.com

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Inside this issue

Universo is the international magazine of Sonangol

Kamene M Traça

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A profile of Agostinho Neto University in Luanda, the most established university in the country

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CONTENTS

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20 Biting back Malaria is the biggest killer in Angola, and a major focus of all relief and humanitarian work in the country. Yet behind the grim reality much good is being done, such as the distribution of millions of nets which are greatly reducing the death toll from the disease. We also look at Vestergaard Frandsen’s remarkable LifeStraw

26 Hail the cabs The first cab rank Angola has had for years has just opened.

We look at the firm, AfriTaxis, with its fleet of more than 300 cars in Luanda, Benguela, Lubango and Cabinda, and we speak to driver Inoque Gonçalves (above)

Sonangol News 30 Sonangol

news briefing Angolan oil output set to rise by 16 per cent by 2011; Daewoo Shipbuilding has won orders for five Sonangol tankers; Baptista Sumbe and Gaspar Martins new on Sonangol board; a new law to support biofuels; news from the blocks

32 On the grid Superleague Formula returns

34 A happy birthday!

The annual press conference delivered by Sonangol board president Manuel Vicente

42 New heights The compliant piled tower Tômbua Lândana is, at 474m, one of the largest man-made structures in the world

48 Extraordinary exploration

An interview with Severino Cardoso, the director of DEX, Sonangol’s exploration directorate

51 The Global Picture A map of Sonangol’s interests around the world

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Angola news briefing Cats back

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Wild cheetahs have been spotted in southern Angola for the first time in decades.

Laurie Marker, from the Cheetah Conservation Fund in neighbouring Namibia, said he saw two cheetahs in the Iona region in southern Namibe province, home to Angola’s biggest national park. Long years of conflict in Angola saw natural habitats destroyed and much of Angola’s wildlife hunted and used for meat.

“To be able to see wildlife starting to come back is a huge benefit for Angola and it is wonderful news at a biodiversity level in general,” said Marker. Angola’s Minister of Environment, Maria de Fátima Jardim, has declared 2010 the Year of Biodiversity, and has pledged to restore the country’s parks and create new conservation areas.

Ethical man

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Citizens’ rights

Vice-President Fernando Dias dos Santos

REUTERS/Nacho Doce

A new law has been approved by the National Assembly to help combat corruption and make sure public money is well spent. The Probity Act was announced by President José Eduardo dos Santos at the inauguration of the new cabinet and voted through parliament in early March. The move to improve the way Angolan resources are used comes after dos Santos called for a zero tolerance approach to corruption and bad management of funds at party and government level. The president has described the new legislation as a key step in creating a “strategy of ethical standards for the provision of service in public administration”.

Angola has a new constitution which sets out how the country is to be governed and defines citizens’ rights and ethical considerations for the nation. Under the new charter, the post of prime minister has been removed and replaced with that of vice-president. Angola’s first vice-president was named as Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, known as “Nandó”, and formerly president of the country’s National Assembly. After the constitutional matters were concluded and the new document incorporated into Angolan law, President José Eduardo dos Santos said the next election would be held in 2012. This will be a parliamentary vote with the president elected from the top of the winning party’s list.

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Figured out New coach

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Former Zambia coach Hervé Renaud has taken the reins of Angola’s football team. The Frenchman assumes the job following the departure of the Portuguese former Al-Ahly manager Manuel José, who left at the end of the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) hosted by Angola in January. Renaud, who has signed a two-year contract with Angola, guided Zambia to the quarter finals of the Nations Cup, will not face any competitive action until September and the start of the qualification games for the 2012 CAN. Angola will play group members Guinea-Bissau, Kenya and Uganda.

China remains the biggest exporter to Angola according to 2009 figures released by the Conselho Nacional de Carregadores. Chinese goods and materials accounted for more than a quarter (26.4%) of the products imported into Angola. Portugal was next at 14.3%, followed by Brazil 8.9%, Spain 8.1%, France 5.1% and Belgium 4.4%. The most imported product was cement (28.9%) followed by construction materials such as granite, basalt and sandstone.

Block lifted The European Union has overturned its ban on Angolan airline TAAG, which had been forbidden from flying to European destinations, except Portugal, because of safety concerns. Before the restrictions, TAAG had services to London, Paris and Frankfurt. Spokesman Rui Carreira said the company was now studying the possibility of renewing its fleet and would be introducing a customer call centre. TAAG has recently added new flights to Havana and Cape Town.

Expo excellence

Stadium use

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Important imports

The Angolan government has pledged to make good use of the four new football stadiums it built for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. Sports Minister Gonçalves Muandumba says that ensuring sustainable management for the future of the stadiums is a government priority. He said a working group has been collecting ideas from a number of countries. The plan is to create a public-private initiative to manage the four sites in Luanda, Lubango, Benguela and Cabinda. Some games from Angola’s domestic league Girabola have already been played in the new stadiums, and in March Angola played Lithuania at Luanda’s 50,000seater 11th November Stadium.

Angola is taking part in the 2010 Shanghai Expo, which began on May 1. Aspects of the country’s past and present, details of its national reconstruction plan and various cultural exhibits will be on show under the theme New Angola, Better Life. The aim is to showcase Angola’s development through organisations such as Sonangol, attract international investment and highlight the country’s rich cultural heritage.

Cells sell Mobile phone usage in Angola is continuing to rise, with 7.5 million registrations at the end of 2009, according to the National Institute of Communications. Fortyfour out of 100 Angolans use mobile phones, compared to one in 100 who use fixed-line telephones. Operator Unitel has five million clients, while its competitor Movicel lists 2.5 million. The cost of buying a mobile has fallen from almost $300 in 2001 to around $25.

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number of times the Angolan women’s handball team have been African champions

1.9 million

Angola’s average oil production, in barrels per day, expected until 2013

$350m value of microcredit from the Angolan government to help farmers

7.1%

forecasted GDP growth for Angola during 2010, according to the IMF

15,000 tonnes amount of coffee produced in Angola during 2009

330,000 number of jobs created in Angola during 2009

JUNE 2010 5

José Figueira Cola

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ANGOLA NEWS BRIEFING

GLORY GIRLS T he Angolan women’s handball team struck gold at this year’s African Nations Handball Cup, beating Tunisia 31-30 in the final and claiming their tenth African title. The match was tight throughout, with Angola leading at half-time by 14-13, but they held their nerve and clinched the trophy at the 19th continental tournament staged in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

The team were welcomed home by Luanda’s governor Francisca do Espírito Santo and thousands of flag-waving fans at Luanda’s 4th of February Airport. They then took a tour around the city before going to the Cidadela Stadium for an official presentation event.

A few days later, they met President José Eduardo dos Santos at the Presidential Palace.

Angola’s winning streak began in 1989 when they beat Ivory Coast in Algeria. Since then they have claimed gold every year except in 1996 when they lost in Benin. They have played in ten World Championships and four Olympic Games – their best position was 7th in 1996. Thanks to this latest African win, they have qualified for the upcoming 2011 World Championship in Brazil.

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EDUCATION

Education, education, education After years with just one university, higher education in Angola is expanding rapidly

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lbertina Gilberto chewed her pen nervously. She had just finished an entrance exam and if she passes it means she could soon be studying mathematics at Lusíada University in Luanda.

If she is accepted, the 21-year-old will be the first person in her family to go to university, becoming part of a new generation of Angolans benefiting from an expanding higher-education system.

“In the past, there was no way for ordinary people like me to go to university. You could only go if your parents had lots of money,” she said. “But now that is changing, and even those without a lot of money can study. It means they have a chance to get better jobs and make money in the future.”

Proud With a beaming smile, Albertina added: “I am the third daughter but the first to go to university and my parents are very proud of me. I am very lucky to have their support, but I also don’t have any children of my own to hold me back.”

Dreaming of one day becoming an 8 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

architect or an accountant, Albertina knows it will not be easy to complete her course.

As well as tuition fees of around $250 a month, she will spend over an hour a day getting to classes, catching three minibus taxis to the city centre from her home in Cazenga on the edge of Luanda. “It will be hard, but you have to follow your dreams don’t you?” she shrugged.

The recent expansion of the country’s higher-education system is giving thousands of Angolans like Albertina the opportunity to attend university. For decades, the state-run Agostinho Neto University was the only university in Angola and competition for its limited places was extremely high.

After 1991, when Angola began to open up politically, new private higher-education institutions began to appear. These included the Catholic University of Angola, Jean Piaget University, Lusíada University and the Independent University of Angola.

The Catholic University recently became the first institution in Angola to offer a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), which is being run in partnership

with its sister Catholic universities in São Paulo, Brazil, and Porto, Portugal.

In 2007, another batch of new universities was granted licences by the government, among them the Methodist University of Angola, Óscar Ribas University, Gregório Semedo University, the Technical University of Angola and Belas University, which suddenly created an even wider educational playing field for Angola.

Investment The majority of the new institutions are in the capital Luanda but some also have campuses and affiliations in other parts of the country, mainly Cabinda, Benguela and Huíla.

Higher education is a central plank of Angolan government policy and a key area of investment. Former Prime Minister Paulo Kassoma, who is now chair of the National Assembly, described university as “a source of transmission of scientific knowledge” but added: “It should also be the solution to society’s problems.”

Mário Pinto de Andrade is the rector at Lusíada University, which opened in

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EDUCATION

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Albertina Gilberto: “My parents are very proud of me” 10 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

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EDUCATION

“

Today we’re at peace and it’s good that we can now educate our young people in our own country Dr Alberto Chocolate, rector of Óscar Ribas University

”

Kamene M Traça

Building education: the Catholic University of Angola

University in Moscow. “The Angolan government has invested a lot of money in educating its young people over the years,” he said. “I am a product of that investment because it was the government who gave me the scholarship to be able to go to Moscow to do my studies.”

Development “The phase has now come when we have started to think about the development of our country and that our workers should be educated here. By young people doing their courses here in Angola they will be

educated with the country as it develops.”

Dr de Andrade of Lusíada University shares this view: “During the war people went and studied in various parts of the world, but today we’re at peace and it’s good that we can now educate our young people in our own country. Apart from it being cheaper than sending them abroad, it’s part of the country’s development and young people can take part in that development.”

He explained that the university has nine faculties: Law, Computers, Human Resource Management, International

Outside Luanda, universities too Even though Luanda has most of the country’s universities, the government is also working to decentralise higher education and in 2009 granted licences for a number of new universities to be based in the provinces. The new schools include the 11th November University in Cabinda; the José Eduardo dos Santos University in Huambo, with extensions in Bié and Moxico; the Mandume University in Huíla but with campuses in Namibe, Kuando Kubango and Cunene; University Kimpa Vita with a base in Uíge but also covering Kwanza Norte; Lweji-Ya-Konde University in Lunda Norte; Lunda Sul and Malanje; and Katiavala in Benguela with a campus in Kwanza Sul.

Huambo

Kamene M Traça

1999 and is now one of the most respected institutions in the country. He told Universo: “I think it is a good thing that the government has supported this expansion by private universities when the state did not have the capacity to respond to the demand.

“This strategy has allowed the entry into higher education of many young Angolans, but I believe this is still not enough because there is such a big demand from students. We need to keep investing, especially in areas such as civil engineering, electronics, computer science and agriculture. These are skills we need to develop in Angola.”

In the 1970s and 1980s, scores of Angolans were sent abroad to study on state scholarships. Many went to the former Soviet Union, where members of the ruling MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) had gone before them during colonisation under the Portuguese, among them Angola’s president José Eduardo dos Santos who studied petroleum engineering and radar communications in what is now Azerbaijan.

Dr Alberto Chocolate, rector of Óscar Ribas University, one of the new private institutions opened in 2007, earned his degree in law from the People’s Friendship

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EDUCATION

Relations, Economics, Company Management, Accounting, Psychology and Architecture. There are close to 10,000 students with the most popular courses in Law, Psychology, Economics and International Relations.

Although Dr de Andrade’s own background is International Relations, a topic on which he frequently contributes to national radio debates, he said he wished Angolan students would show more interest in more practical and technical courses.

“There’s a tendency for young Angolans to go for social sciences but we need to change this. We need them to go for medicine, agriculture, computer science, engineering, those sorts of courses. We need to have skilled people for the development of the country. If we don’t, we will always be dependent on foreign expertise.”

Roll call Following a government reshuffle earlier this year, Angola’s education system is now overseen by Mpinda Simão. Other members of the ministerial team are: Ana Paula Inês Luís Ndala Fernando, Vice-Minister for General Education and Social Action Narciso Damásio dos Santos Benedito, Vice-Minister for Training and Technical Vocational Education

“

We need them to go for medicine, agriculture, computer science, engineering, mechanics, those sort of courses

”

Mario Pinto de Andrade from Lusíada University

Lusíada puts special emphasis on connecting students with Angolan industries and runs several partnerships and placements with local companies such as Sonangol, the national airline TAAG, mobile phone operator Unitel, Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and stateowned diamond company Endiama.

Partnerships Lusíada also has a number of partnerships with academic institutions in Europe, particularly Portugal, Latin America, especially Brazil, and the United States. There is a similar approach at other Angolan universities, with some courses taught by visiting professors and others leading to accreditations from European or Brazilian-based colleges.

Getting a university education obviously has many benefits for Angolans but those who attend private institutions face a hefty price tag.

Courses range from $250 to $500 a month, depending on the institution and subject, and this is a lot of money for many people. To help students afford their lessons, classes run either in the mornings,

the afternoons or the evenings, to allow people to hold down a job as well. This makes the evening classes inevitably the most popular and, come 5pm, Luanda’s streets are filled with well-dressed young people clutching folders and laptops, making their way to classes.

For the most promising students who need help, there are scholarships available, either state-funded or offered internally by the universities, and some give discounts to children of war veterans or to students with physical disabilities.

Lusíada rector Dr de Andrade admitted that university is not cheap but said course fees are reasonable when you take into account the cost of books, equipment and the teachers. “This is why we have classes at different times, so that people can keep working to pay for their studies. That is just a reality of Angola,” he said. “But what is important is that people are studying. University used to be just for the elite, but now more people are getting the opportunity. It’s all part of democracy. During the war, people lost a lot of time not being able to study. Now they are making up for it.”

Maria de Cândida Pereira Teixeira, Minister for Higher Education and Science and Technology Adão Gaspar Ferreira do Nascimento, Secretary of State for Higher Education

In making Cândida Teixeira, formerly Science and Technology Minister, also responsible for Higher Education, the idea is to focus on the improvement of Angola’s technical and scientific education and research – rather than dealing with the sectors in isolation.

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João Sebastião Teta, Secretary of State for Science and Technology

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UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE Óscar Ribas University’s first students will graduate next year

W

hen you visit the campus of Óscar Ribas University (UOR) in Luanda Sul, the first thing that strikes you is the newness of the complex from the security lodge at the entrance to the tree-lined student walkways next to the classrooms. Much of the site is still being built upon, and on the day Universo paid a visit we had to shout to be heard over the whirr of the cement mixers.

“Here we will have more classrooms and a library, and over there a new residency area for our teachers,” said the university’s rector Dr Alberto Chocolate, pointing at the building site below his firstfloor office window. “We are a very new university. There is still a lot of building to be done, as you can see, but we are getting there piece by piece.”

UOR was among a clutch of new private universities granted government licences in 2007 and this academic year, which began in March, will see the institution’s first batch of graduates.

“This is an important year for us,” said Dr Chocolate. “We have many questions that will be answered – how does society see us? How will our students fit into the employment market? Will they be accepted? Will they be seen as students of quality?

“At the moment, we can’t make an evaluation because we do not yet have students in the market. But when we see the reaction of the market, this will give us 14 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

important feedback to work with.”

UOR students need to pass internal exams to graduate but there is currently no countrywide evaluation scheme or a set of national standards. It is also easier to gain a place at the university because fewer students apply and there are no entrance exams, just the requirement of a highschool education.

Reputation While some courses at Agostinho Neto University (UAN) can attract up to one hundred applications per vacancy, Dr Chocolate, who also teaches at UAN’s economics faculty, admitted that not all his university’s places were filled. He said it would take time for the school’s reputation to develop and in order to guarantee the quality of the courses offered, an internal evaluation project was being set up with the Polytechnic of Porto in Portugal.

“It is important that we are a university of quality and reference. I don’t like to say ‘excellence’, I prefer the term ‘reference’,” said the rector, who has been involved with the UOR since the early consultation stages. “We are still in an embryonic phase, but we are moving forward every day.”

UOR, which was named after the late Angolan writer Óscar Ribas, offers the usual university courses such as law, economics and social sciences, but it also has a specialist engineering faculty with

courses designed for civil construction and the telecommunications industry. All students are required to do at least one module in English, to help them with their studies and to create employment opportunities down the line.

“These are the demands of the market,” said Dr Chocolate. “We are trying to encourage all our students to learn English, not just to be able to read the many textbooks which are printed in English but also to make our graduates more attractive to employers. Longer term, we hope to open an English language study centre here on site so that English can be a part of all our courses.”

UOR’s teaching staff come from a variety of countries beyond Angola, including Brazil, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cuba and Portugal and many live on campus. Some are to be housed in the new residency wing currently under construction.

With working partnerships with King Juan Carlos University in Madrid, the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Lisbon, UOR hopes to bring established expertise and educational know-how to Angola.

“We are a very young university and we still need to grow and learn, which is why we have chosen these well-established public universities to form partnerships with because they have a culture over many years,” said Dr Chocolate.

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Dr Alberto Chocolate: “We are moving forward every day.”

Kamene M Traça

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ÓSCAR NOMINATIONS: STUDENTS TALK ABOUT THEIR LIVES

Kamene M Traça

“It will give me more opportunities”

inga Julio Francisco Baptista is in the second year of his law degree at Óscar Ribas University and spends over an hour a day getting to classes from his home in the bairro of Sapú in Kilamba Kiaxi on the outskirts of Luanda. “I am studying because it is important to get an education,” the 21-year-old told Universo. “It will give me more opportunities in the future as I want to be a lawyer.

“I chose this university because it had a good reputation and I like how it is organised. It’s hard to get into some universities because of the competition for places, so I decided to come here because it wasn’t so difficult to get a place.”

Zinga, however, is not finding paying the course fees as easy as the studying and he has had to take a job in the

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university’s administration department to help make ends meet. His classmate and friend José Republican, from Morro Bento in Luanda Sul, also wants to be a lawyer and hopes after five years at UOR to do a master’s degree in the United States.

“I want to be a lawyer so that I can defend people and make Angola a better place,” he said, explaining that he paid for his studies by working part-time at his uncle’s private health clinic nearby.

José, who spent his childhood in Namibia where he learnt English, said it was good news that more universities were opening up in Angola, but he felt it was important quality was maintained.

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“I want to work in politics ” ourença dos Santos is beginning the second year of a four-year international relations course at Óscar Ribas University. Married and living in Viana, she chose UOR because of its location outside the city centre. “It’s easier to get here,” she said. “You don’t have all the hassle with the traffic that you have in the city centre.”

Lourença, 26, had already started an international relations course through her job at the Foreign Ministry but was starting afresh. She is paying course fees of around $300 which she admits is expensive, but believes is worth it. “I want to work in politics or abroad for an Angolan embassy,” she said, “so I need to study. I like studying and learning more about the world.”

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“Without university, you won’t get a good job”

fter a number of years working on construction sites in Spain, Yannick Cruz decided it was time to come back home to Angola and study. The 26-year-old is hoping to be accepted to an economics course at Lusíada University so he can study at night and get paid work during the day.

“Life has been complicated.

Before I had to work, but now I am back in Angola and I want to study.

Without university, you won’t get a good job, so you need to get a degree. I’m doing economics because, like everyone else, I want to work in a bank and get rich.”

Living close by in Maianga, Yannick said he chose Lusíada because of its location, but also because of its reputation and the fact that his mother and brother studied there before him. “It’s a four-year course, which is a long time and a lot of maths for someone like me who left school nine years ago. It’s not going to be easy, but I am determined to do it.”

Kamene M Traça

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Dr Albano Kanga: “Many of the leading executives in Angola graduate from here.”

Neto profits: students (left) and classes (right) at Agostinho Neto University 18 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

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TOP OF THE CLASS Agostinho Neto University is the best in the country, with courses of an international standard, reports Cécile de Comarmond

S Pictures: Kamene M Traça

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tate-funded, the University of Agostinho Neto is the oldest university in Angola. Created in 1962 as the Estudos Gerais Universitários (General Studies University), it was renamed the Universidade of Luanda in 1968, and then in 1979 the Universidade de Angola.

It became Universidade Agostinho Neto (UAN) in 1985 in honour of Angola’s first president, who died in 1979, four years after the country attained independence from Portugal.

“Agostinho Neto University is the alma mater of all universities in Angola,” says Dr Albano Kanga, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering since 2002. “And in my mind, it is still the best in the country in terms of education and organisation, and many of the leading executives in Angola graduate from here.” Dr Kanga says competition is high, particularly for engineering places. Every year as many as 2,000 candidates sit an entrance exam, but the university accepts only 10 per cent of them.

Recruitment Many international oil companies operating in Angola recruit directly from the course, he says, taking students into jobs as soon as they graduate and sending them on further training. In 2002, UAN launched a post-graduate degree in Petroleum Engineering which is run in conjunction with the French Petroleum Institute. Dr Kanga says funding comes in part from oil companies and all students are guaranteed a job at the end.

Another UAN department with its eye on maximising students’ professional potential is the Faculty of Law, which in partnership with BP has started a Master of Laws degree specialising in oil and gas legislation. It is the first of its kind on offer in Angola, and UAN is one of only a handful of institutions in the world providing this specialism.

In terms of facilities, UAN has lots to shout about too. In about a year from now, its 3,500 Luandan students will take their first steps into a brand new campus in Luanda Sul, which is scheduled to be fully completed by 2013. UAN has branches in ten of Angola’s 18 provinces. Its faculties include Law, Engineering, Education Sciences, Economy, Medicine, Social Sciences, Nursing and Arts.

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MALARIA

BITING BACK

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Great strides are being made in the fight against malaria, Africa’s biggest killer, thanks to the distribution of millions of mosquito nets. Nina Hobson reports ➔

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Community help: Esso Angola staff volunteers demonstrate how nets should be used

Kamene M Traça

alaria is the most common cause of illness and death in Africa, where one child dies every 30 seconds from the disease. Yet despite its shocking prevalence, there is a simple and effective way to stop the disease from spreading: sleep under a mosquito net.

In the last decade, a massive drive has been under way throughout the continent to distribute millions of free nets. And there is a cautious optimism that the effort is bringing results with the aim, set by the United Nations, to halt the spread of the disease by 2015.

In 2005, American President George W. Bush set up the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), run by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and Angola was selected as one of the first countries to be targeted. Since then, the PMI has spent more than $63 million on fighting malaria in Angola, including the distribution of three million nets and investment in community programmes. A further $35.5 million has been earmarked for 2010.

USAID receives its funds from the US government and also private organisations such as the ExxonMobil Foundation, which has donated $3.5 million over the past four years to the PMI. In addition to this, since 2009 the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria has spent more than $78 million on fighting malaria in Angola.

The results have so far been positive. A 2006 survey showed that usage of insecticide-treated nets in Angola increased from less than 2 per cent in 2001 to over 18 per cent in 2006. Another survey in Uíge province, one of the most malarial areas, showed that the proportion of households with insecticide-treated nets increased from 8 per cent to 86 per cent in a year.

As the number of nets distributed goes up, so the number of cases of malaria and deaths related to the disease is going down.

According to Filomeno Fortes, the national co-ordinator for the Angolan government’s anti-malaria campaign, there were 3.1 million cases of malaria in the country in 2009, down from more than 3.4 million in 2008.

Deaths are also down from 25,000 in 2003 to just over 7,000 in the last 12 months.

Helping to bring down these numbers is the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef ), which has given out nearly two million free bednets since last April, and hopes to distribute at least the same quantity by the end of this year. It has also been taking a far more active approach to its distribution system.

Whereas it used to provide free nets and wait for people to collect them, it is now going into the community. Typically, Unicef workers set up stalls in local community centres or public spaces and advertise free distribution throughout nearby villages, with the help of local leaders.

Combat

Kamene M Traça

Dr Koenraad Vanormelingen, Unicef representative in Angola, says that mosquito nets not only protect those sleeping under them, but also help reduce the number of mosquitoes in the region. “Communities with large-scale coverage of insecticidetreated nets have 50 per cent less malaria, but also 80 per cent fewer malarial mosquitoes. So if you sleep under a net, you are actually helping to reduce the number of mosquitoes in the environment.

“The Angolan government has dedicated a lot of resources to fighting malaria.

Over 20 per cent of Angola’s national budget is allocated towards social services, which includes programmes to combat malaria.” The Department for Public Health 22 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

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“ Stephen Morrison/epa/Corbis

As all workers are volunteers, there are no administration costs, so every dollar donated goes straight towards the purchase of nets

”

and Disease Control, he says, recently announced the distribution of over 150,000 mosquito nets in Huíla province.

On a smaller scale, the Angola Mosquito Net Project (AMNP) is completely run by volunteers. It distributes nets to areas which larger organisations might have difficulty accessing because of transport or logistical problems. It was set up in 2000 after Toril Ostvedt, a Norwegian worker at Unicef, became concerned about the desperate need for bednets in hard-to-reach rural areas. She teamed up with other volunteers and the AMNP was born.

Project manager Tako Koning is passionate about the work: “We are distributing nets free of charge to Angolans who don’t have the funds to buy nets or live in remote rural areas where nets are unavailable. So, in our own small way, we are trying to make a difference.”

The charity raises on average $15,000 a year through private donations from all over the world. “We are on the internet and we

received a donation of $300 from a school somewhere in Texas, for example, where the students were raising some money to offer mosquito nets to Africa.” In 2005, the project even received $9,000 from an oil executive who had run the Dublin marathon.

Volunteers As all workers are volunteers, there are no administration costs, so every dollar donated goes straight towards the purchase of nets.

Since its launch, AMNP has distributed about 20,000 nets. They are family sized, so assuming three people sleep under one net, the charity has provided protection from malaria to about 60,000 Angolans.

Malaria is endemic throughout Angola, being hyper-endemic in the

northern part of the country and along the coastal lowlands of the Atlantic Ocean.

Incidence rates and levels of understanding of the disease also vary according to the region.

According to Dr Francisco Saute, resident adviser at the President’s Malaria Initiative in Angola, “the main driver of malaria transmission is by far the climate”. Recent research has also found that the risk of malaria in Luanda is comparatively low, despite a high density of mosquitoes. This is because higher levels of pollution hinder the malaria-carrying type of mosquitoes from breeding.

Travel just over one hundred kilometres east to the region of Kwanza Norte, however, and the rate surges to hyper-endemic. Equally, the region of Uíge has one of the highest levels of malaria in the JUNE 2010 23

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country. Here, communities are aware of the problem, but when it comes to nets, demand outstrips availability. Meanwhile in Cunene, the problem lies in the lower level of public awareness and how best to fight the disease.

Education Unicef’s Dr Vanormelingen underlines the importance of sensitising people to the risks of malaria. “It is essential that people develop their own capacity to diagnose the symptoms of malaria. Recognising the symptoms and getting treatment within 24 hours saves lives,” he says. Angola Mosquito Net Project manager Koning adds: “I think education is the most important way to combat malaria.”

An example of recent efforts to raise awareness includes a TV and radio campaign linked to the Africa Cup of Nations 24 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Kamene M Traça

Elliott Yamin distributing bednets to children during a malaria-prevention event held in Luanda

and broadcast throughout Africa in English, French, Portuguese, Swahili, Wolof and other local African languages. In it, football stars warned about the dangers of malaria and how best to prevent the disease. The campaign was sponsored by Sumitomo Chemical, manufacturers of mosquito nets, and was supported by the Angolan ministers of health, youth and sport.

More recently, Elliott Yamin, a singer from the TV series American Idol known for his hit single Wait for You, and Idol judge Kara DioGuardi came to Angola to raise awareness of malaria and to help distribute free nets. This was facilitated by Esso Angola and happened because ExxonMobil is a major corporate sponsor of the programme’s initiative “Idol Gives Back”.

Not only are more nets being distributed, but protection is getting better.

Vestergaard Frandsen has developed the

Permanet 3.0 mosquito net, the only net that offers improved safeguards against Angola-specific insecticide-resistant mosquitoes. Another net, which contains insecticide within its fibres and never needs retreating, has also been produced by Sumitomo Chemical. The tough, tear-resistant net, called the Olyset, is not yet on the Angolan market, but some charities have expressed an interest in future distribution.

While nets are currently the best way forward, there are other ways to fight malaria. A new version of the life-saving anti-malarial drug Coartem is now available in Angola. Coartem Dispersible is the first dissolvable combination therapy developed to treat malaria among children.

Angola’s National Programme for Malaria Control is offering this cherryflavoured medicine to children from six months to eight years old. Its sweet, fruity

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Vestergaard Frandsen has developed the Permanet 3.0 mosquito net that offers better protection against Angola-specific insecticide resistant mosquitoes

taste makes it appealing to children, and because it can be dissolved in milk and other drinks it is easier to administer than the previous large, bitter-tasting tablets.

Fast-acting, it cures over 97 per cent of patients after a three-day treatment course.

Chris Hentschel, chief executive of the Medicines for Malaria Venture, says: “As malaria is essentially a paediatric disease, we are hopeful that this child-friendly formulation will contribute to a reduction in child mortality in Africa, and give children back their future.”

Perhaps the greatest hope for the future is the chance of an anti-malarial vaccine. Tests by US and African researchers

in Mali have delivered promising results so far, with the vaccine producing a robust immune response in young children.

Research Microsoft founder Bill Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is leading the research, said recently: “We have a vaccine that’s in the last trial phase. A partially effective vaccine could even be available within three years, but a fully effective vaccine will take five to ten years.”

With new scientific developments and joint efforts from the government, the private sector and NGOs, as well as faith and civil society groups, Dr Vanormelingen

”

is optimistic that Angola will halt the spread of malaria over the next five years. Indeed, the government has set a target of complete elimination of the disease by 2030.

“Angola has a huge window of opportunity to dramatically reduce malaria,” he says. “It has huge national and international resources at its disposal and consistent economic growth to fund anti-malarial programmes. It has good co-ordination in place and it is actively addressing the underlying factors behind malaria, such as poverty. Demand for our nets is increasing; it is really encouraging that people are becoming more aware of malaria and know what to do.”

Straw of survival Company Vestergaard Frandsen has come up with an ingenious way to stop the spread of other diseases in Africa.

Vestergaard Frandsen

The LifeStraw (pictured below) looks like an oversized version of an ordinary drinking straw, but actually contains a water filter which protects against diarrhoeal diseases. The larger LifeStraw family version lasts for up to three years, and will be available in Angola this year.

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TRANSPORT

HAIL THE

CABS Luanda’s roads have improved so much that one enterprising company has launched a new taxi service

A

ngola has been at peace for eight years, and during that time the country has undergone extensive redevelopment.

The capital Luanda is awash with new skyscrapers and office buildings, testament to the booming economy and the fact that communities across the country are gaining new schools, hospitals, airports and health posts.

But ask any Angolan to pinpoint the biggest change they have seen, and it is likely they will say the new roads. There are now good fast links from Luanda on the country’s west coast to all the major provincial cities, such as Benguela, Lubango and Huambo. And a number of places previously accessible only by air because of the risk of landmines can now be reached by car.

Luanda has also enjoyed a roads renaissance, with many poorly-maintained potholed tracks replaced by multi-laned smooth tarmac highways with roundabouts, slip roads and traffic lights. As well as making driving easier and safer, reducing traffic queues and cutting journey times, the improved road system has also seen the launch of a new private taxi service.

Launch AfriTaxis operates a fleet of more than 300 cabs in Luanda, Benguela, Lubango and Cabinda, offering for the first time in several years the option of hailing a taxi from a designated rank, rather than squashing into a shared blue and white public-service minibus or paying out for a private hire car and driver.

The company – which is a public-private partnership – had been planned for the middle of 2010, but its launch was brought forward in time for the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament which Angola hosted in January. “We started working on the project in 2009,” says AfriTaxis boss José Manuel Rasak.

“With the Cup of Nations coming, we thought, how will visitors cope without being able to hire taxis? So we brought 26 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

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Service with a smile: taxi driver Inoque Gonรงalves

All pictures: Kamene M Traรงa

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Luanda has also enjoyed a roads renaissance, with many poorly-maintained potholed tracks replaced by multi-laned smooth tarmac highways with roundabouts, slip roads and traffic lights

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things forward and started running on January 4,” says Rasak, who is also the general manager of vehicle-hire company WAPO Angola Gestão e Serviços Lda. This is a major step in the right direction for Angola. You can now get off a plane at Luanda airport and walk into a taxi just like you can in any other city in the world. The initial investment was $12 million and Rasak says $8 million more will be spent during 2010, but the plan is to develop the service gradually.

“We have to go slowly otherwise we will fail, so it’s a case of step by step,” he says. A call centre opened in March, so that customers can now ring and order a taxi rather than go to a rank.

“

Comfortable

just over $1 – per kilometre or on a time and distance basis.

“This is a business-class service. It’s not going to replace the blue and white minibuses, because that is public transport. But this does give a new option to people who can afford it and who want to travel in style,” says Rasak. “It might be expensive if you’re stuck in traffic because the meter keeps going, but out of traffic we’re around 25 per cent cheaper than taxis in Portugal and Brazil and offer a fair price.

“So far, the business is going very well indeed. It was extremely popular during the Cup of Nations, especially with visiting journalists, many of whom booked our taxis for the whole day because it was better value than hiring a car and a driver.”

Other types of clients, says Rasak, are parents sending their children to school by taxi and people going shopping who do not want the hassle of parking. The taxis, he explains, are fitted with trackers so they cannot go faster than 70kph or further than 25km from the centre of Luanda.

The services in Benguela, Lubango and Cabinda are also proving popular, and with less traffic in these smaller cities taxis are a winning way to get around. Rasak says the provincial arm of the business will be released to local franchises in the coming months, but Luanda will stay centrally owned and managed.

AfriTaxis uses white Kia Sportages which are five-door 4x4 models.

“It’s not that we’re going off road,” says Rasak. “We went for 4x4s because they are larger and more comfortable for clients, and because they are higher they are safer. Kia vehicles also come with more than two years without maintenance and we don’t have problems getting spare parts.

“This was a problem for Macon, a company which tried to run a taxi service five years ago. The road conditions were very bad then and their cars’ suspension got damaged and they had difficulties in making the repairs.”

Learning from Macon’s mistakes, AfriTaxis have a policy of waiting in ranks to be hired, instead of driving around looking for clients, getting stuck in traffic and wasting petrol.

Rasak, a Mozambican who has been working in Angola for 15 years, also stressed the strict hiring policy for his drivers who must be over the age of 30 and know the city inside out. All applicants must sit several tests and the company has left some vacancies open in order to make sure that it gets the right type of staff. Drivers earn a basic salary of $700 a month and up to 10 per cent of their daily takings on top of that, plus customer tips.

The Kias are spacious with leather seats and air conditioning and are cleaned daily, sometimes twice a day. The minimum charge is 300 kwanzas – just under $3 – and then around 120 kwanzas –

We went for 4x4s because they are larger and more comfortable for clients, and because they are higher they are safer José Manuel Rasak, AfriTaxis

”

AfriTaxis call centre is on +244 222 311 754.

Hey taxi!

Inoque Gonçalves, aged 38, is a driver at AfriTaxis. A father of four, he has only been doing the job for a month but really enjoys the new routine. His shift starts at 3pm from Monday to Friday at the company’s headquarters. He checks his car to make sure it is clean, and then goes to Mutamba, one of the most important bus stops in downtown Luanda where AfriTaxis has a rank. “We see all kinds of people in this job,” he says. “Tourists, businessmen, local people, foreigners.”

Inevitably, Gonçalves spends a fair amount of time in traffic jams.

But he is quite stoical about it all: “Those things are part of daily life. Of course, sometimes there are people complaining, but what can we do?

They have to be patient as well!”

Before becoming a taxi driver, he used to work in a factory making aluminium fences. “It was OK,” he says, “but I feel good here. There’s a feeling of mutual respect among all the staff.”

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utput of Angolan oil is set to rise by 16 per cent by 2011, according to Aníbal Octávio Teixeira da Silva, the Deputy Oil Minister. The forecasted increase in production is attributed to a number of new deepwater projects coming on stream in the coming months and more than 30 other discoveries currently under development. The deputy oil minister made the comments at an energy conference in South Africa and said production would rise to around 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by next year, above its current output of 1.9 million bpd. According to industry studies, Angola’s oil industry will attract more than $50 billion in investment between 2009 and 2013.

In the following pages we publish board president Manuel Vicente’s annual press conference to the media, together with the highlights of the subsequent question and answer session with him and other board members. In the exchanges, the conversation often covers Sonangol’s increasing presence abroad.

In order to show how much of an international outlook the company now has, the inside back pages show a global map of the company’s activites around the world.

➔

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Bloomberg via Getty Images

Sonangol news briefing O

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SU26.Sonangol News.pp30-31:SU24

Ship sales Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co has won orders to build five 160,000-ton tankers for Sonangol. The South Korean shipbuilder said the deal signed in Lisbon was worth $344 million and the ships would be delivered from mid-2011 to early 2013. The tankers are 274m long, with a beam of 48m, and can cruise at an average speed of 15.4 knots or 28.5km an hour. Since 1995, Sonangol has placed orders with Daewoo for 12 offshore plants, three LNG carriers and five oil tankers.

Growth potential

Personnel news

Angola will provide 19.7 per cent of Africa’s oil by 2014, according to a report

by Business Monitor International. BMI’s report also notes that Angola has the greatest production growth potential, with Nigeria continuing to experience political problems. Overall, African oil production was 7.84 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2001, and averaged an estimated 9.79 million in 2009. It is set to rise to 12.52 million by 2014. In 2001, the region was exporting an average 4.86 million bpd. This has risen to an estimated 6.19 million in 2009 and is forecast to reach 8.4 million by 2014.

Baptista Sumbe and Sebastião Pai Querido Gaspar Martins have been named as new executive board members of Sonangol and Albina Assís Africano as a new non-executive member. Thus, the board of Sonangol, chaired by Manuel Vicente, now has seven executive members and three non-executive members. José Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos has been reappointed as Angola’s oil minister following a government reshuffle. Aníbal Octávio Teixeira da Silva continues as his deputy.

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NEWS

News from the blocks

Green fuels

The China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has bought a 55 per cent stake in the joint venture Sonangol Sinopec in Block 18, from its parent company China Petrochemical. The deal is the company’s first acquisition of overseas upstream assets and is set to push Sinopec’s proven crude oil reserves up by 3.6 per cent or by 102 million barrels, with daily crude-oil production rising by 8.8 per cent, according to a Reuters report.

The east zone of Block 18 has been on stream since October 2007, with a daily production capacity of 240,000 barrels. BP is also a partner in Block 18.

M-I SWACO, a drilling fluids venture partly owned by Schlumberger Ltd, has won a contract from Chevron for work off Angola that could lead to $800 million in revenues over six years. M-I SWACO will provide drilling and completion fluids, drilling-waste management, and cleaning tools and services for six to ten rigs in two blocks off Angola for the Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Chevron.

iStockphoto.com

Italy’s ENI has made two new oil discoveries in Block 15. The two new wells – Nzanza-1 and Cinguvu-1 – were drilled in a water depth of 1,400m, located around 350km northwest of Angola’s capital Luanda. ENI has a 35 per cent working interest and is the operator in Block 15/06, while Sonangol EP, is the concessionary. Other partners are Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção (15%), SSI Fifteen Ltd

(20%), Total (15%), Falcon Oil Holding Angola SA (5%), Petrobras International Braspetro BV (5%) and Statoil Angola Block 15/06 Award AS (5%). ENI has been in Angola since 1980 and its current daily production is around 130,000 barrels per day.

iStockphoto.com

Cobalt International Energy Inc has announced risk-service agreements for Blocks 9 and 21 offshore Angola. The Houston-based company has a 40 per cent interest in the blocks, working in conjunction with Sonangol EP, Sonangol P&P, Nazaki Oil and Gáz SA, and Alper Oil Limitada. The agreements form the basis of Cobalt’s exploration, development and production operations on these blocks. The drilling programme is expected to begin within the next 12 months.

Angola’s parliament has approved a new law to support biofuel production and regulate the industry in a move to create jobs and future renewable energy sources.

Under the new legislation, foreign companies that invest in biofuels will have to ensure that local populations have access to water, basic services and medical care.

They will also be required to sell a portion of their biofuels to the state oil company Sonangol to supply the local market.

Sonangol has a 40 per cent stake in Biocom which is planting sugar cane in the Angolan province of Malanje. A factory is also being built to process sugar and produce ethanol and electricity. Speaking in parliament at the approval of the new legislation, Oil Minister José Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos said: “Biofuels will create jobs and a renewable supply of energy for the future.”

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ON THE GRID S

uperleague Formula, a motor racing championship sponsored by Sonangol, had the first race of its second season at Silverstone, England, in April. The format involves racing cars that run under the flags of top football teams, including Liverpool, Porto and Olympique Lyonnais (see picture). At each race meet – 12 over the season – there are three races. The grid of the second race is the inverse of the results of the first race, which gives the race added excitement as the on-form drivers must start from the back of the grid. The third race is the Super Final with only the six best drivers from the first two races. The overall winner at Silverstone was Craig Dolby, racing for Tottenham Hotspur.

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A HAPPY BIRTHDAY! On February 25, when Sonangol celebrated its 34th birthday, board president Manuel Vicente gave his annual press conference. He was joined by board members Mateus de Brito, Francisco de Lemos and Anabela Fonseca. On the following pages we present an edited version of his speech and selected questions âž”

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‘‘ NEWS

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‘‘

n behalf of the Administration Council of Sonangol we would like to thank you for your presence and to tell you that it is an honour to have you here.

As usual when the company’s anniversary is celebrated, we look in the scope of our mission, vision and values at how to satisfy our stakeholders and society. So we are going to use this occasion to share with you some information in relation to the operations and economic activity of 2009.

As we said last year, 2009 was really a difficult time. It was a year of many restrictions where the economic situation, national and international, was totally unfavourable. We had to make adjustments to our programmes of work, and consequently our budgets at operational and investment levels.

During 2009 we continued with our restructuring process to consolidate the organisational chain of Sonangol so that Sonangol EP can become a financial house with the business being done at the level of its various subsidiaries. At the subsidiary level, we continued to strengthen the role of Sonangol P&P as an operating company. We also entered into the refining business. During the year we consolidated control of the Luanda refinery and its operational aspects, and studies were carried out to see how to improve and modernise it.

In terms of Sonangol Logística, we continued to implement the programme of expanding the capacity of warehousing to improve services. At present, Sonangol is the only operator in this area, but in the future other operators will come in as the government has opened up the market.

The distribution chain has also expanded and more will be done this year. In shipping, we continue to grow. We also consolidated the support given to all internal operations, and we looked to strengthen Sonangol Holdings which handles all the social shares that Sonangol EP has in other businesses.

Since we are doing the balance, it is important to highlight that there are fundamental indicators that influence our performance.

The operational performance was highly influenced by the adjustment of Opec production quotas imposed on Angola, which meant that the quota for Sonangol fell overall by 15.67 per cent. Lower prices also affected our income. These events led to a reduction in receipts and foreign exchange sales of 51 per cent.

We worked last year with oil priced at an average of $61.74 a barrel. The quota for Sonangol was 684,000 barrels per day and the average exchange rate was more or less 89 kwanzas to the dollar. In terms of financial performance, we had sales valued at $13.2 billion, costs of about $1 billion and a net operating profit of $2.4 billion. I want to underline that these are only provisional results; we are in the phase of finalising them for publication.

Profitability of assets was 10.84 per cent, profitability of our own capital 20.24 per cent and profitability of invested capital 19.76 per cent, leaving a liquidity index of 1.6.

Despite the crisis and its effects and impacts on the financial and operational activity, Sonangol continues to be strong, based on its profits, which are above $2 billion. It has a debt which we can consider moderate of just half of its equity capital. It has strong, solid and growing net petty-cash funds and a desirable liquidity.

In terms of obligations of taxation to the national treasury, we paid taxes last year of $936 million and we paid to the state in terms of dividends for operations during 2007/08 $436 million.

In general, these are the outcomes of our financial performance, but I would like to highlight the challenges ahead: it is our vision to transform Sonangol P&P and Sonangol Gás Natural (Sonagás) into outstanding operators for oil and gas production. Another big task is the management of the decline of the largest fields. As you are aware, there are oil fields almost 30 years old; they are nearing the end of their production and others are on the way.

Another challenge will be the replacement of these reservoirs.

We have to be more aggressive in terms of our exploration campaigns in future. We are going to continue with the amplification and modernisation of the refinery of Luanda; proceed at a faster speed with the construction of the refinery of Lobito; and introduce significant improvements in the distribution segment to expand the network. This is now more justified with the opening up of the market.

We are also looking to enter the petrochemical sector and still have in mind the listing of Sonangol on the principal financial markets.

Statement

by Manuel Vicente

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Questions to Manuel Vicente The 2008 bidding round was put on hold for the elections but still there is no set date for the auction – can you say when this might be?

Manuel Vicente: In relation to when there might be an auction for new blocks, I told the press during the Opec meeting in December that this activity was continuing to be delayed. This is to do with structural changes happening in the country. We have been busy creating our new constitution and only after the consolidation of this new government will we return to this process. We are not saying that the auction has been cancelled, but that it will continue to be delayed until we take a new decision on this.

What is happening about Sonangol joining a stock exchange after it was put on hold last year during the financial crisis?

This is a challenge which remains ahead of us. The idea is to start with Johannesburg and then go into other markets. It is important that we do this to improve our accountability with our international patrons. It is taking more time than we had envisaged, but the objective remains and it will be achieved.

What happened in Block 32 with Marathon?

”

Manuel Vicente

Sonangol then exercised its right of refusal. After the first warning, Marathon then tried to sell the company which was title-holder of this 30 per cent share of Block 32. This would automatically have meant disposing of the assets. Sonangol informed Marathon that if it went ahead with the sale it would take legal action, not only in Angola but also in the United States. As concessionaire, Sonangol also told Marathon that it would use its right to acquire the 20 per cent share available.

Companies have the right to explore these resources, but when they are no longer interested they have to return them to the owner, the government of Angola, and cannot commercialise them publicly. Consequently, earlier this month Sonangol paid Marathon $1,000,300,000 for its 20 per cent share. We will add this share in Block 32 to a joint venture we have with the Chinese called China-Sonangol.

What is happening with the refinery in Lobito? The project seems to have slowed down. Has it stopped?

The preliminary work continues. The studies for the engineering

Kamene M Traça

Marathon Oil, the previous holder of 30 per cent of Block 32, tried to commercialise part of its share on the international market without consulting us, the national concessionary, breaking promises made under legal arrangements, and Sonangol intervened.

There was an agreement, made outside of Angola, which involved a consortium of two large Chinese companies and Marathon for the sale of 20 per cent of its share in the block.

“

We are also looking to enter the petrochemical sector, and still have in mind the listing of Sonangol in the principal financial markets

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Kenneth Gerhardt

Photolibrary

André Vieira

André Vieira

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NEWS

“

The costs for this work are much higher than the government had initially approved, so we are seeking approval for our new budgetary estimations Mateus de Brito

”

and the environment have been done. The costs for this work are much higher than the government had initially approved, so we are seeking approval for our new budgetary estimations. Only after the government validates this can we carry on, but I would like to stress that this project has not stopped. The extra investment is $8 billion, whereas the first request made was for an estimated $2 billion.

Kamene M Traça

Kamene M Traça

Manuel Vicente

Manuel Vicente

Questions to Mateus de Brito

What about the chance of a third refinery in Soyo?

This is a private initiative; it’s not coming from Sonangol’s purse.

Just two weeks ago, a meeting took place between the ministry of petroleum and a group of investors. So this refinery is not dead, it is going to happen.

Is Sonangol going to continue to invest in areas which are not core business?

We made it clear last year that we are doing these investments on the instructions of the government. It was not Sonangol’s will to pull out from its core business. We are doing it on the orders of the state. I have also said that as foreseen by the law, as soon as the state creates a proper way to transfer the shares, it will do so. The whole of last year was spent trying to create a sovereign wealth fund which will bring together all these shares and continue to invest in them.

Unfortunately this fund is not yet in place.

What is happening with Sonangol in Iraq?

We were given two concessions costing $200 million and we have been approached by a number of big international companies interested to share the risk with us. But no decision has been made yet. We are registering this intention. There will be an evaluation and we will make an announcement when a consortium has been established.

Can you tell us about Sonangol’s interest in São Tomé and Príncipe?

Mateus de Brito: We have been in São Tomé for many years. There are signed agreements. We are engaged not only in the oil sector but also in other areas.

Last year, we signed an agreement to hold the customs-free area and the exploration of the airport and port. As for the oil issue, we have carried out consulting activities for the government of São Tomé for a better legal structure of its oil activity and a suitable strategy for oil exploration.

What about Sonangol’s other international interests?

We have been in the Mexican Gulf since 2008. We have a partnership with Cobalt and Total. We have already drilled the first well up to a certain objective and are carrying out studies for the conclusion of this well. Sonangol International Exploration and Production, an enterprise which was created in the US, is monitoring these activities.

We are also in Cuba, in the Exclusive Economic Zone, where we have two blocks. At the moment we are working on legal and technical issues and hope to start our activities, mainly seismic studies, this year.

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NEWS

Francisco de Lemos

“

In the refinery sector, the Luanda refinery will continue to be protected. In the sub-sector of logistics, Sonangol is currently the sole operator and it is almost assured that some subsidy will continue Francisco de Lemos

Questions to Francisco de Lemos Is Angola sticking to its Opec quota?

Francisco de Lemos: We are doing our best to meet a certain percentage as required by Opec. This means that in the coming years we will also have the same production rate as 2009, which will be 1.8 or 1.9. However, technically there are oscillations in production as other new fields start. We found new fields last year and we need a long-term test to check how productive these reservoirs will be. This is the differential that exists and Opec is aware of this issue.

What is the situation with reliance on imported oil products at the moment?

Anabela Fonseca

What is happening with the Caixa Geral de Depósitos?

The Bank of Promotion and Development, a joint-venture by Sonangol and Caixa Geral de Depósitos, is a partnership between Angola and Portugal. We had approval from the Conselho de Ministros in December for the Banco Nacional de Angola to issue a licence. There is currently an ongoing legal and logistics process in order to start up the bank. Let’s hope that on the conclusion of this process the bank will be operating sometime this year.

40 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Kamene M Traça

Will the government continue to subsidise oil sold domestically?

Current subsidies will be adjusted and reduced gradually. We do not believe that they will be completely removed. While some products will continue to be subsidised, others will not. It will depend on the tariff system according to the framework of fuel distribution.

In the refinery sector, the Luanda refinery will continue to be pro-

”

tected. In the sub-sector of logistics, Sonangol is currently the sole operator and it is almost assured that some subsidy will continue.

In the sub-sector of distribution, the government wants more competition. Some subsidy, however, will continue in geographic areas. Because the state needs to give incentives in order to stimulate investment in remote areas, it will do so through an appropriate tax system.

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Sarah Monaghan

NEWS

Of the main products that Angola consumes, 70 per cent are currently from the external market. Having new refinery facilities will significantly improve the distribution. We have the Lobito refinery, capable of processing 200,000 barrels of oil a day, and Luanda, which may increase eventually to 100,000 barrels a day.

São Tomé and Príncipe

for the construction of large, medium and small capacity supply posts.

Question to Anabela Fonseca

What is being done to improve distribution?

We are seriously investing in the construction and rehabilitation of supply posts. By the first half of this year we will have between 10 and 12 in Luanda town, with the possibility of 20 to 25 by the end of 2010. But this will not solve the problem immediately, due to the traffic congestion in Luanda. For this reason we are also improving the logistic operations and warehousing in Luanda’s surroundings, in order not to rely solely on supplies from the Boavista area.

Driving from Boavista to the nearest post at Marginal takes two to three hours to travel two or three kilometres, so you can imagine what the distribution to other areas is like. We are also strengthening warehouse facilities in the outskirts of Luanda and have plans

Why is the Luanda refinery shutting down for a short time this year?

Anabela Fonseca: Refining facilities stop once every four years or so for maintenance. There is a certain type of inspection that must be carried out on the refinery that cannot be done while it is in operation. That is why there will be a complete shutdown for four to six weeks in order to revise and assess all the hardware and equipment there.

The Luanda refinery is likely to shut at the beginning of May and everything is scheduled for the arrival of the necessary equipment and replacement spare parts.

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NEW HEIGHTS Tômbua Lândana, the tallest structure in Angolan waters, is an engineering marvel ➔

321m Burj Al Arab hotel, Dubai

42 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

324m Eiffel Tower, Paris

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509m Taipei Financial Center

474m T么mbua L芒ndana tower

Richard Duckett/nbillustration.co.uk

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Tower Base Section made in Texas

Tower Base Template and foundation piles shipped from the Netherlands Tower Base Section towed to Angola

Subsea manifold completed in Lobito Platform topsides installed offshore Angola

Pictures: Chevron

Subsea flowlines assembled in Luanda harbour

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I

t’s one of the world’s largest structures and it’s helping Angola maintain its position as Africa’s biggest crude oil producer.

The Tômbua Lândana tower in Angolan waters is an incredible 474m high (1554ft). That makes it more than a third higher than the Eiffel Tower and almost as high as the Taipei Financial Center in Taiwan, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world.

Tômbua Lândana is a compliant piled tower located in deepwater offshore Cabinda in Block 14 and came on stream in August 2009. It aims to reach peak production of 100,000 barrels of oil per day by 2011. But it’s not just the size of Tômbua Lândana that sets it apart, it’s also the project’s global dimension.

Global source Chevron’s Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC) sourced installation components from four continents from different suppliers in Scotland, the United States, Korea and Angola: ● Drilling templates were built at Sonamet’s facility in Lobito, in Angola. ● The Topside modules were made at Daewoo’s yard in Okpo, Korea. ● The tower foundations and templates were done by Heerema in Vlissingen in Holland. ● The export pipelines are from Acergy in Paris, France. ● The Subsea equipment came from Subsea 7 and VetcoGray in Aberdeen, Scotland. ● The bottom of the tower section came from Gulf Marine Fabricators at Ingleside, Texas, and the living quarters section from Channelview, also in Texas. ● The top of the tower section was put together in Houma, Louisiana, by Gulf Island Fabrication.

“The global extent of the project has definitely been the largest challenge,” said Jeff Brubaker, Tômbua Lândana project manager. “People were designing and fabricating all over the world, so we had this large team spread out geographically around the world all working in different

“

The main tower, a four-leg configuration, is secured to the sea floor by 12 foundation piles and the platform will provide a drill-deck for access to 38 well slots

time zones. Maintaining communications and alignment between all those groups, that’s a challenge,” he added.

Global as it is however, like all CABGOC projects in Angola there has been a strong focus on “local content” in terms of training and human capacity and local contracts. As well as Sonamet in Lobito, CABGOC used a number of Angolan companies for the project and these Angolan contracts are worth more than $260 million in direct value to the country’s economy.

Training-wise, 23 Angolans from the Tômbua Lândana project spent between three to 10 months at Chevron’s Employee Resource Training Center in Lafayette, Louisiana, learning about Gulf of Mexico operations, which like Angola are in offshore deepwater environment.

The training included 16 months of on-the-job training, skills fine-tuning and working on various offshore production platforms.

“We strive for a 90 per cent Angolan workforce so this training is one of the strategies we use to achieve that goal,” said Brubaker, who works in both Houston and Angola.

Proficient “We recognised that there were not enough experienced operators in Angola to operate the facility, so very early on we hired local labour and started the training that was necessary to get them proficient offshore.

Then we took them over to the US to our training facility in Louisiana, and gave them very intensive and hands on training onshore and offshore.”

Tômbua Lândana is actually two separate fields, named after two towns in

”

Angola, Tômbua in the south of the country and Lândana just north of Cabinda.

The Tômbua field was discovered in 1997 and Lândana in 2001 and development of the reservoirs began in 2006.

Difficult

Brubaker said it made economic and commercial sense to operate the two fields together – which so far have “booked” oil reserves of more than one billion barrels. It is Chevron’s third deepwater development in Angola and uses similar technology to an earlier project in Block 14, Benguela Belize, making it Angola’s second compliant piled tower and only the fourth in the world.

Brubaker explained: “Block 14 is deepwater, so the first thing is we need to keep everything out of the water. We looked at a number of alternative development concepts, and basically the ones you can have are ones which float on the surface and those that are fixed to the seabed.

“At this particular water depth it’s a very difficult decision. In this case – because we had 30 wells we had to drill – the decision was made that we would use a tower construction like we had done with Benguela Belize.”

The tower is fixed to the seabed but has been designed to be flexible to resist the forces of the water. “It flexes with the forces,” Brubaker said, who has been involved with Tômbua Lândana since 2004 and the initial technology development stage. “It’s like the old analogy of the oak tree and the willow in the storm, where the oak tree snaps with the force of the wind, but the willow tree bends.”

The 35,300-short-ton Tômbua Lândana platform is composed of a large integrated deck with production facilities JUNE 2010 45

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An illustrated view of the subsea infrastructure required to produce oil from the Tômbua Lândana field. The subsea trees (well heads) are connected via a network of manifolds and pipelines back to the compliant piled tower structure.

Chevron’s Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC) operates Tômbua Lândana with a 31% interest. Other shareholders in Block 14 are Sonangol, Italy’s ENI, Total of France and Galp of Portugal

”

and a 120-person accommodation building supported by a 56,400-short-ton compliant piled tower. The main tower, a four-leg configuration, is secured to the seafloor by twelve foundation piles and the platform will provide a drill deck for access to 38 well slots.

The project, expected to run for up to 25 years, has also been designed for zero routing gas flaring and zero discharge of produced water. Associated gas will be processed and stored in Block 0 for later use by the Angola Liquefied Natural Gas facility currently being built in Soyo in northern Angola by Chevron, Sonangol and partners.

Saleable

Chevron

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This will eliminate huge amounts of harmful CO2 that otherwise would be flared and turns what has previously been a byproduct into a saleable commodity. CABGOC operates Tômbua Lândana with a 31% interest. Other shareholders in Block 14 are Sonangol, Italy’s ENI, Total of France and Galp of Portugal.

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EXTRAORDINARY

EXPLORATION Severino Cardoso, the director of DEX, Sonangol’s exploration directorate, talks to Universo about its role How did you begin your career? How long have you been at Sonangol and how long have you been in your present job?

In 1976, I joined the Algerian Institute Superior of Petroleum with a lot of other Angolans, some of whom are still Sonangol employees. Four years later, I joined Sonangol as a geophysicist. In 1989, I graduated as a petroleum engineer from Agostinho Neto University in Luanda. I have been trained in many things at Sonangol. In 1985, I did a three-month course in seismic processing at CGG University, and in 1989 I trained in seismic acquisition and processing in Brazil with Petrobras. The following year, I spent 12 months at Halliburton Geophysical in Bedford, England, training in exploration geophysics. In 1992, I was appointed head of Sonangol’s Geophysical Department, and in 2005 I was appointed head of Sonangol Exploration Direction (DEX).

What are the main features of your job as exploration director? How many people are in your department and how big is the budget?

I supervise and control all petroleum exploration activities in Angola. I evaluate, divide the blocks and promote the Angolan sedimentary acreages. DEX has a staff of 123 people, divided into six departments. The 2009 budget was $120 million.

What are the main projects your department is involved in?

Our aim is to increase Angolan oil reserves. This strategy can be explained in five points: world oil exploration references; identifying new potential basins; evaluating Angola’s new sedimentary basins; applying new technology; and local content development.

We have planned and budgeted several projects, along with restructuring DEX from three to six departments to face this task.

Consequently, the main projects are the evaluation of oil resources of the onshore and offshore Congo, Kwanza, Benguela, Namibe and interior basins. In the onshore Kwanza Basin, a 2,000km, 2D seismic survey is being done by Sonangol-DEX to support this evaluation.

In the interior basins, a 100km aeromagnetic and gravity survey was completed which will be used to delineate a future seismic programme. A long offset seismic survey is being done to get a better image in the offshore Congo, Kwanza and Namibe deepwater 48 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

basins. This data will be used to calculate the oil resources of the blocks in those basins, mainly in the pre-salt. An aeromagnetic survey is being done by Sonangol to delineate the basement morphology and to plan a new 3D seismic survey in the offshore Kwanza deep open acreage.

What have been Sonangol’s main exploration achievements in the last few years?

In the last few years, we have discovered resources of 7.87 billion barrels in Angola, which represents an annual average of 1.12 billion barrels of oil. We are very confident that this year we will overtake this average. This is the result of exploration activity over many years. Since 1984, Sonangol has been doing non-exclusive seismic surveys in shallow and deepwater sedimentary acreages. Along with these extraordinary oil exploration achievements, we should emphasise the local content development. Five local processing centres and two G&G [geology and geophysics] centres so far have been built in Angola. Those centres along with Sonangol-DEX are supporting the oil industry and the universities by providing final degree training to the students and offering first training and employment after graduation.

What are the main challenges for your department over the next few years?

The main challenges are to maintain the extraordinary performance of DEX over the last few years – in which one billion barrels of oil per year were discovered – and to continue the local content development by implanting G&G centres in Angola to support the industry and the Sonangol exploration objectives. This will be done by looking for unexplored offshore basins, searching for new plays [prospects in the same region that are controlled by the same set of geological circumstances], and providing a new strong insight into the onshore basins.

How important is Angola’s membership of Opec to your department?

Technically speaking, in my opinion as exploration director, I believe it is important to exchange professional experience. The benefit of Opec membership is that we can exchange oil exploration experience with other members.

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Photolibrary

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How do you view the pre-salt discoveries in Brazil in regard to what may be found under Angolan waters?

Angolan and Brazilian margins are genetically correlated as we share the same pre-salt depositional environment and tectonic history. In this context the possibility of making similar discoveries in the Angolan basins is very likely. Right now, Sonangol-DEX is focusing on an exploration challenge in the pre-salt play in Angola.

An aggressive programme was implemented to evaluate both the onshore and offshore pre-salt potential. For us, Brazil’s experience and results are a very good example of what we may achieve in the very near future.

How do you see the future of the oil industry in Africa?

With the new technology currently being used in the oil industry, the possibility of finding oil in the African sedimentary platform is very good. In Angola, the future looks impressive. Angolan oil production comes only from the Congo Basin, but Angola has 11 sed-

imentary basins, so this means that only 10 per cent of the oil resources have been discovered. The future of the oil industry in Africa is very promising.

What vision do you have for your department?

The administration council objectives are to maintain or increase Angolan oil reserves from the actual plateau. Based on this, Sonangol-DEX is implementing the exploration strategy referred to above. Because of the civil war, the onshore acreages were not very well explored. With the interior now at peace, the vision is to reinforce the exploration activity of the onshore and interior basins. By restructuring DEX, Sonangol has created a field geological department with the objective to improve the studies of those basins. DEX has high-performance activity offshore and will follow this onshore. The aim is to maintain this goal by using new technologies, advanced training of staff, and by implementing joint projects with oil and service companies.

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USA Sonangol USA is responsible for marketing and commercialisation of Sonangol’s oil and gas in the United States.

Cuba Sonangol P&P is starting exploration in Cuba in two blocks, and hopes to start technical activity, principally seismic studies, by the end of 2010.

Houston

Cape Verde Sonangol Cabo Verde

Gulf of Mexico

Havana

Cape Verde

Gulf of Mexico Sonangol P&P, the first African oil company to be operating in the Gulf of Mexico, is working with Cobalt Energy and Total.

São Tomé and Príncipe

Ecuador

Sonangol São Tomé and Príncipe is currently working to develop the islands’ airport and port.

Rio

Ecuador

Brazil

Following the signing of an MOU between Ecuador and Angola in October 2009, Sonangol plans to invest $1.5 billion in blocks 28 and 29 in upstream and exploration activities with Ecuador’s state oil company Petroecuador.

Sonangol plans to invest $1 billion in the next two years, working with Brazilian operator Starfish.

Picture: iStockphoto.com

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SONANGOL:

THE GLOBAL PICTURE UK Sonangol UK is responsible for marketing and commercialisation of Sonangol’s oil and gas in the UK.

London

India

Portugal

Sonangol has signed an MOU with India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) to work together on future exploration activities in Angola, India and other countries.

Sonangol has invested in companies here including Millennium BCP and Amorim Energia.

Lisbon

Iraq

Nigeria

Iraq

Sonangol P&P

Hong Kong

Nigeria

São Tomé Offshore

Hong Kong

India

Sonangol bought exploration rights for the Qayara and Najmah fields in northern Iraq in December 2009 and says it has received many offers from international companies for development of the sites.

Gabon

Gabon

Sonangol P&P is in partnership with Addax Petroleum and Tullow Oil

Soyo Luanda Lobito

China Sonangol engages in oil, gas and minerals investment and exploration, crude oil trading and large-scale national reconstruction projects.

With the headquarter office in Hong Kong, the company also has branch offices in China, Africa and Latin America.

Singapore

Angola Luanda – Sonangol headquarters. Base for Sonangol P&P, SonAir, Sonangol Logística, Sonangol Distribuidora, Sonangol Shipping, MSTelcom and Essa.

Soyo: Sonagás is involved with the Angola LNG project.

Lobito: Sonaref is developing a new refinery.

Offshore: Sonangol P&P has concessions and operational interests in various production and exploration blocks onshore and offshore and in deepwater and ultra deepwater.

Singapore Sonangol Asia is responsible for marketing and commercialisation of Sonangol’s oil and gas in the Asian market.

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Universo JUNE 2010

Net gains Progress in the fight against malaria Superstructure A gigantic deepwater tower

ISSUE 26 – JUNE 2010

Result!

The boom in Angola’s new universities