universo30

SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Universo JUNE 2011

Sounds sensational ISSUE 30 – JUNE 2011

LURING TOURISTS: OLDEST ALLY: how Luanda’s visitor appeal is widening

why Brazil enjoys such close links with Angola

FIGURES OF POWER:

Paris bows to the force of Angolan art

INSIDE: oil and gas news

Universo is the international magazine of Sonangol 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, José Mota, Beatriz Silva, Paula Almeida, Sandra Teixeira, Marta Sousa

Publisher Sheila O’Callaghan

Editor John Kolodziejski

Art Director Tony Hill

Sub Editor Ron Gribble

Circulation Manager Matthew Alexander

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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ur June edition throws light on different aspects of life in Angola, reflecting its increasingly dynamic economy and reconstruction process.

Improvements in the quality of Luanda’s hotels along with the attractions of the capital’s short-break tourism options are examined in our Luring Tourists feature.

We follow this with an X-ray of Brazil’s long-standing connections with Angola, relations that continue to expand, especially in the buoyant services sector.

Angolan music in its multiple and infectious forms is the theme of our third feature. Angola has not only inspired Brazilian samba but newer genres, such as kuduro, which are wowing audiences worldwide.

Their sensationally elastic dance moves make Michael Jackson’s routines appear almost wooden in comparison.

Paris, the birthplace of Cubism, is the fitting venue for our fourth story, where Angolan art is on show. Universo reviews the exhibition of Angolan artefacts of a kind that served as inspiration for this giant step towards modern abstract art.

Project Consultants

John Kolodziejski, Editor

Nathalie MacCarthy Mauro Perillo

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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Museée Dapper & Hughes Dubois

John Charles Gasser

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Davenport House 16 Pepper Street, London E14 9RP Tel + 44 20 7510 9595 Fax +44 20 7510 9596 sonangol@impact-media.com Cover: Chris Saunders

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Kimesso Kissoka

The Universo team while in Luanda stay at: www.hotelrouxinol.com

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AngolA news briefing Angola’s giant dinosaur named; China’s Vice-Premier visits Luanda; Russian credit boosts Angola satellite project; Namibe-Lubango railroad on track; Luanda sea terminals plan; Angola gets World Bank anti-poverty loan; Luanda clampdown on traffic crime; Angola’s largest import; Angolan census date set

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AngolA’s HeArtbeAt An A-Z of Angola’s music with a panorama of the current scene in Luanda

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sonAngol news briefing Sonangol pens 30-year São Tomé port and airport concession; El Paso Mississippi plant on schedule to

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receive Angolan LNG; Sonangol invests in accident

figured out

prevention; Sonangol plans new office in Venezuela;

A brief look at Angola in numbers

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programme; Sonangol backs Saurimo schools;

luring tourists Luanda’s hotel sector is rising fast in quantity and quality, helping provide growing visitor numbers for the embryonic local tourism industry which is also enjoying easier access to beaches, mountains and wildlife

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Sonangol rally team wins Desert Challenge race; Sonangol petrol stations boom; go-ahead for more subsalt wells; Sonangol drilling in Iraq begins

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leAder role in refining Sonangol vice-president Anabela Fonseca takes the chair of the African Refiners Association, which aims to attract greater investment to the sector

oldest strAtegiC AllY Brazil and Angola’s relationship dates back to the 16th century but only fully-flowered in a mutuallybeneficial way after Angola’s independence. Today, both countries are not only trading but investing heavily in each other’s assets

PlAnet suite suCCess Sonangol names its latest floating production storage and offloading vessel, PVSM, after four planets, each letter representing an oilfield off Angola’s coast

AngolAn Art A look at inspirational Angolan art, traditional and modern, in Paris’ Dapper Museum

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Girassol Clinic starts paediatric heart surgery

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AngolA CountrY inforMAtion The key facts and figures JUNE 2011 3

BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd.

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Odebrecht

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PMP Global

CONTENTS

Angola news briefing

Angola’s giant

The first dinosaur found in Angola has been named the Angolatitan adamastor.

Angolatitan means ‘Angolan giant’ and adamastor refers to the mythical sea giant of the South Atlantic feared by Portuguese sailors.

The long-necked sauropod was uncovered in 2005 about 70km north of Luanda by Portuguese paleontologist Octávio Mateus from Portugal’s Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Museum of Lourinhã.

Remains of the large plant-eating dinosaur, which was believed to have been 13 metres long and lived 90 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period, were found in marine sediments.

“These and other fossils tell us an amazing story about the climate and climate change in this part of the world,” says Louis Jacobs from the Southern Methodist University, who is a member of the Mateus PaleoAngola Project team. “In an oilproducing country like Angola, this project helps us to understand the geology of the region and the implications for its richness.”

The detailed description, in which the Angolatitan adamastor officially received its scientific name, was presented in the publication Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences).

As well as discovering Angola’s first dinosaur, the PaleoAngola team has uncovered mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, turtles and other cretaceous marine animals.

The long-term goal of the project is to create a strong and lasting institutional and scientific collaboration with Angolan academia.

Set for liftoff Angola has been granted a loan worth $278.5 million from Russia’s Export and Import Bank to fund a new satellite project.

Placing the satellite, planned since 2008, will make it possible to provide international access, support and expansion of broadband internet services, transmission to telecommunications operators and access to support for television and radio network services.

The financing agreement for the Angosat project was signed by Angola’s Finance Minister Carlos Lopes and the chairman of Russia’s Eximbank, Nikolai Gavrilov, representing a syndicate of Russian banks including the Development and Foreign Trade Bank, Roseximbank and VPD. The satellite is expected to be sent into orbit by a Russian operator in 2012.

Desert line on track The Moçâmedes train line (CFM) from Namibe to Lubango is due to relaunch in 2011. It will be followed by the Benguela Railway (CFB), which links the port town of Lobito with the eastern border with Zambia via Huambo in the heart of the country.

The Caminhos de Ferro de Luanda (CFL) opened for service in late December 2010 linking the capital Luanda with Malange.

Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan visited Luanda on a two-day visit to promote relations between China and Angola.

The two countries established a strategic partnership in 2010, and Wang Qishan said China was ready to increase its co-operation with Angola. New areas in the partnership, he said, could include trade, energy, mining and the agricultural sectors.

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Kamene M Traça

China raises co-operation

Figured out

Sea terminals plan

Mario Pacote

Angola is to get eight maritime passenger terminals along the coast of Luanda, Transport Minister Augusto da Silva Tomás told parliament.

The sites will be at the slave museum (near Luanda golf course), Panguila, Samba and Benfica with longer-term plans to extend the scheme to Cabinda, Zaire, Benguela and Namibe – and to rivers in Kuando Kubango.

Last year a private water-taxi service began commuter services between Futungo, Luanda Sul, Sonils and Ilha do Cabo in the centre of Luanda.

World Bank loan The World Bank has lent Angola $81.7 million to fund development projects. The money will be spent on local schemes run by the government’s anti-poverty agency, the Social Action Fund. It includes developing infrastructure, strengthening institutions and improving local economic opportunities.

Red light for traffic crime The provincial government of Luanda has created a special unit to combat traffic problems and reduce congestion in the city. Plans include cracking down on trafficlaw violations by using cameras to record them, and having extra traffic signalling in order to promote freer flow of vehicles. There are also plans for increased public transport services, particularly to outlying areas.

Cement leads imports

Census date set

Cement is Angola’s largest import item. Figures from the Conselho Nacional de Carregadores (CNC) show that Angola imported more than 14 million tonnes of goods in 2010 with cement making up 19 per cent of that total.

Beer was the second biggest import, followed by sugar and sugar products, wine and meat. China was the largest source of Angolan imports (with almost 25 per cent), followed by Portugal, Brazil, Belgium, Spain and South Africa.

A full population census is to be carried out in Angola in 2013.

The long-awaited study will collect data on all aspects of Angolans’ lifestyles including occupation, income, living conditions and access to water and electricity.

More than 40,000 people will be involved in collecting and analysing the data. It will be the first full population census to be carried out since 1970, before Angola gained independence from Portugal.

Five .55 new hospitals are being built in Luanda during 2011

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million carats of diamonds produced

by Angola in 2010

399,469 expatriates living in Angola

10.5

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GDP growth prediction for 2012 by IMF

Amount to be spent on preserving the Palanca Negra giant antelope:

$6 million

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HOTELS & TOURISM View from the Hotel Skyna

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LURING

TOURISTS

Courtesy Hotel Skyna

Luanda’s expanding hotel sector, sparked by Angola’s economic boom, is clearly in evidence as new tower blocks sprout along the city’s skyline. Universo examines what they offer and takes a look at tourist options within reach of the ocean side capital ➔

JUNE 2011 7

New blocks ease accommodation shortage Hotel Skyna dining room

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uanda’s story in recent decades has been one of crushing demand for accommodation as the population has swollen to over 4 million.

The city’s hotel sector has developed at a somewhat slower pace than residential developments but hotels are now the reason for a raft of excitingly prominent projects, especially at sites with easy access to Luanda’s business district.

Luanda’s historic room shortages are reflected in sky-high prices. The comfortable but modest family-run Rouxinol Guesthouse, at the lower end, charges $270 a night, while a room at the top-of-the-range Hotel Talatona in the upmarket Luanda Sul district on the city’s southern fringes costs around $600.

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New outlook A recent addition to Luanda’s accommodation portfolio is the swish fourstar Hotel Skyna. This bright, modern hotel was completed in time for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, hosted by Angola.

“We took a long time planning the hotel and opened in time for the soccer tournament, showing we can deliver,” said Danilo Cruz, marketing director at Sociedade Comercial de Investimentos Gerais Lda, Socinger.

The Skyna is the first hotel project developed by the Socinger investment firm.

“Socinger goes where the opportunities are,” said Cruz. The company has an eclectic approach to investment in Angola, which includes a glass factory, magazine and further-education publication sales.

Brazuk Ltd.

HOTELS & TOURISM

Cruz formerly held down top jobs in product planning and customer analysis for Honda in Europe and is one of a new breed of experienced, highly-qualified managers and specialists entering Angola’s hotel sector.

He recognises staff training as the key ingredient in running a successful hotel, but points out that the concept of customer service is a relatively new one in Angola and needs developing. “Hotel service is our number one priority, and it’s equally important to use Angolan staff,” he said.

Skyna treasures good local workers and wants them to stay with the hotel and make their careers with it, said Cruz.

“Eagerness and willingness to learn are more important than having experience because someone with a good curriculum may not have good work habits.

“We teach everyone the basics and assume they know nothing. We then offer staff a clear career path, keep on training them and aim to keep them happy.”

Service rewards Skyna rewards good service and also runs an Employee of the Month scheme where staff can nominate other colleagues.

Its methods appear to be working as staff turnover rates are low.

Cruz believes that the secret of keeping good staff and avoiding poaching by rivals is not just about salary, but in making employees feel excited by their own development, learning experience and job security.

Growing competition As the supply of hotel rooms expands, finding a place to stay is slowly easing in Luanda and is kindling competition. One hotel manager noted that at least one hotel,

which historically had been booked up months in advance, now had vacancies.

Hotels with a service ethos are now challenging the previous take-it-or-leaveit mindset that resulted from chronic room shortages.

Clients are not only being wooed by new hotels but also by the growing supply of accommodation in residential blocks, often built by multinational companies with longterm business interests in the country.

Although new rival hotels can be seen from the Skyna’s own doorstep, Cruz remains unfazed by competition. “New hotels are good for Luanda as they offer synergies and help advertise the location.

Corporate customers also open doors to tourism,” he said.

“Hotel service is our number one priority and it’s equally important to use Angolan staff” – Danilo Cruz

Brazuk Ltd.

Skyna

Hotel Talatona

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HOTELS & TOURISM

Cruz said he saw signs of his running costs coming down. All the Skyna’s salads, vegetables and some fruits are now locally supplied and delivered, he said. The suppliers themselves are also facing more competition from greater rural production because of improvements to Angola’s roads and bridges.

However, Luanda’s current high costs are justified, said Cruz, listing hefty bills for maintenance, reserve generators, high land prices, fuel and technicians in order to provide air-conditioning and other services.

A travel company specialising in adventure tourism noted that prices for flights to Angola and hotels had been falling slightly since the beginning of the year, while prices to competitor destinations have been rising.

The Rouxinol Guesthouse provides arguably the best regarded lodgings in Luanda, recording the highest customer satisfaction in online reviews.

Administrator Shervin Naimi, the 22-

year-old son of owners Farah and Foad Naimi, enthusiastically embraces his parents’ philosophy of personalised, dependable service and hospitality.

Our differential “Our differential is a clear identity and knowing our clients,” said Shervin Naimi.

His claim is backed by an impressive record of customer loyalty with good numbers of repeat bookings, which include aid specialists working with foreign embassies in the nearby Miramar diplomatic quarter.

“You know what you’re getting at the Rouxinol; good quality and personal service in a family environment with homely hospitality,” Naimi added.

Rouxinol ensures reliable facilities for guests. Two generators guarantee energy when there are network problems, reflecting the belt-and-braces approach of owner Foad, an electrical engineer.

Backup water supplies come from huge reserve tanks, and advanced

microfiltration equipment means ice and food-preparation water is free from harmful bacteria.

Rouxinol also provides cable TV and dependable Wi-Fi communications with six high-speed routers, giving net coverage to all corners of the hotel.

Cleanliness and effective, silent airconditioning complete the Rouxinol guest experience in a quiet corner of a cul-de-sac.

Rouxinol’s assiduous service also pays off in customer loyalty. When the guesthouse has faced unavoidable disruptions, guests have been more supportive, and during recent dusty and noisy extension work they stayed on rather than sought alternative accommodation.

The newest addition to Luanda’s range of top-line hotels is the 288-room Epic SANA. This 5-star hotel, conference and leisure complex is very near completion with opening on track for late 2011.

The venture is part of a wellestablished chain already boasting nine

Location, location, location Epic SANA Hotel (left) InterContinental (extreme right)

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A key consideration for new hotel projects is location. Luanda’s basic geographical division is between the lower and upper city. The lower city, the Baixa, is home to the busy port, offshore services, banks, oil and diamond companies and some government ministries.

The upper city hosts the international airport and diplomatic representations, as well as government offices and commercial establishments.

Physical proximity is important because Luanda’s roads are notoriously clogged with traffic and short journeys are as well done on foot.

Several major hotel projects are halfway up the hill between the two levels: the well-established Hotel Trópico, newcomer 4-star Skyna and two new much larger hotel complexes – Epic SANA and InterContinental – both currently under construction.

Brazuk Ltd. Brazuk Ltd.

Hot property

hotels in the Lisbon area and one in Berlin.

SANA is part of the Azinor Group trading company that has a strong presence in Portugal and Africa.

“Africa, especially Portuguesespeaking countries, is a strategic market for SANA. Angola isn’t an unknown market for us,” said Diana Sequeira Nunes, SANA’s marketing and communications director. “We can be a reference for excellence in Angola as we are in Portugal.

SANA has lots of experience, so adds value to the Angola market.”

A range of luxury services planned for its Luanda hotel supports SANA’s bid for excellence. Apart from panoramic views, the hotel will host five international eating places that include Italian and Japanese cuisine, as well as five bars.

Rouxinol is fortunate to have attracted the versatile João Pedro Kasseca Muaxianu, who really understands customer service.

João Pedro has experience of managing hotels, restaurants and bars, including the upmarket Cais de Quatro and Espaço Bahia, Luanda bayside leisure points.

He not only can turn his hand to room equipment repairs but also works as chef, and has been known to bake cakes for the guests in between his supervisory duties at the hotel.

Weekend tourism options

“You know what you’re getting at the Rouxinol; good quality and personal service” – Shervin Naimi

Leisure complex The hotel also boasts a conference centre, swimming pools, sauna, Turkish baths and gyms. The Epic SANA includes 50 suites for long-term residential guests, a key segment in Luanda where many visitors are ex-pat workers on long contracts.

The fact that SANA is part of a chain gives the company a competitive edge and access to a pool of trained staff.

SANA has a department focused on training through its academia scheme.

“One of the main characteristics of SANA hotels is the care and attention to the quality of personal service,” said Nunes.

Angola is blessed with many of the natural resources that have proved magnets for tourism in other parts of the world. These include a tropical climate, hundreds of kilometres of unspoilt beaches and varied landscapes ranging from humid rainforests to highland plateaux. There are also exotic flora and fauna and an ocean teeming with fish, and potential for nautical sports.

Heavily-populated Luanda has a good number of these attractions within striking distance, especially for a weekend trip, thanks to much improved highways.

While some excellent beaches are within walking distance of the downtown area, on the long protective spit of the Ilha sheltering Luanda’s harbour, the tourist need not go too far to enjoy almost deserted beaches.

Just south of the city is another long strip of less-visited beaches on the island of Mussulo. Access by boat restricts large migrations to the beaches even at weekends.

Good quality beaches also abound, especially south of Luanda en route to Kissama National Park and beyond. Here, turtles lay their eggs largely undisturbed.

Angola’s new investment law has made tourism a priority area, and Rosa Cruz, director general of Infotur, the government’s tourism-promotion agency, is keen to help the sector grow. “Tourism

JUNE 2011 11

Brazuk Ltd.

The largest hotel and leisure-complex project under way in Luanda is the giant 389-room InterContinental. The complex will give the city more specialty restaurants and extensive conference facilities.

The wide frame of the 25-storey unfinished building dominates the hillside leading up to the desirable Miramar diplomatic district, a likely source of visiting guests. Construction of the steel-framed hotel slowed to a snail’s pace in 2010 during the global economic downturn, but by April 2011 work appeared to be picking up speed again. InterContinental says completion is set for late 2014.

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Brazuk Ltd.

New giant on the block

Paul Wesson

Jai Imagens

HOTELS & TOURISM

Good-quality beaches also abound, especially south of Luanda en route to Kissama National Park will add to Angola’s economy and help diversify it from mainly oil and mining,” she said.

She has been active in raising Angola’s international profile in recent months by leading a mission of domestic tour operators and hoteliers to industry fairs in Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, Durban and Beijing. Future plans include attending similar events in the United States and Brazil.

Skyna’s Danilo Cruz agrees. “We think Angola has huge tourism potential, and this translates into future investment in developing Angola as a destination. I believe we won’t have enough hotels here.”

He sees tourism opening up a new

facet to Angola’s oil-dependent economy with good, long-term prospects.

Special packages Currently, however, the Skyna though busy during the workweek, is almost deserted on Saturday and Sunday, so the hotel offers special packages to encourage weekend occupancy. Skyna’s clients can also make use of local tourism options provided by specialist companies such as Eco-Tur. Angola’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism will complete an inventory of tourism resources by July 2011, on which to base its master plan for developing the sector.

Angola’s tourist sector created almost

32,000 jobs in 2009, making a total of 134,600 employees in the area, according to the Angolan Hotel and Tourism Market Statistical Bulletin.

Most of the new jobs were made available in the restaurant subsector, which rose to a total of 54,300. Luanda accounted for the lion’s share of jobs growth during the year.

Nearly 366,000 people visited Angola in 2009, 55 per cent more than in 2008.

Europeans made up the bulk of the tourists with 130,000 visitors, followed by Americans with 76,000.

“I believe tourism will be one of Angola’s top five industries by 2016,” predicted Infotur’s Rosa Cruz.■

JUNE 2011 13

HOTELS & TOURISM

Brazuk Ltd.

Brazuk Ltd.

Brazuk Ltd.

Short break options from Luanda

One day: Kwanza River and Kissama game tour One day: Massango (16th-century colonial fort on the Kwanza) Two day: Dondo – N’dalatando-Malange – Pedras Negras (mammoth black rocks on a plain) – Kalandula falls and Capanda Dam Two day: Benga Waterfalls – Cada – River Queve – Sumbe – Porto Amboim (seaside town) Two day: Dondo – Calulo – Cabuta (highland coffee farm) Two day: Calulo- Quibala – Waku Kungo

PMP Global

PMP Global

Source: Eco-Tur

Hotel contacts A comprehensive one-stop shop for hotels in Angola is available at the www.hoteisangola.com website. www.tripadvisor.com is a review site indicating clients’ perceptions of hotels.

Local tourism service providers: www.eco-tur.com www.aasafaris.com

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Kissama National Park

Brazuk Ltd.

Brazuk Ltd.

Brazuk Ltd.

Mohamed Abdo, a Saudi national and senior technical account manager with Microsoft, took advantage of his weekend break while working in Luanda, by joining Eco-Tur’s daylong safari jeep tour combined with a Kwanza River trip.

“I really enjoyed every second of our safari tour. The boat trip and the welcoming experience by Mário [an Eco-Tur guide] impressed me the most. I would absolutely recommend it,” he said.

Abdo believes Luanda has great potential in developing its tourist industry. “It’s got the natural gifts to be a very good tourist country: the ocean, green land, weather, animal reserves and mountains.

“But more 5-star hotels have to be built and the visa process and requirements need to be eased a little,” he said, to improve the tourist experience.

JUNE 2011 15

ART

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FIGURES OF

POWER

By Bill Hinchberger

Angolan art is currently the subject of a dedicated exhibition at the Dapper Museum in Paris. Interestingly, the show is in the very district where Picasso saw an African art exhibition in 1907 and was inspired to embark on his Cubist period âž” JUNE 2011 17

A FURNITURE FACTORY’S REVIVAL ART

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The museum is opposite the former residence of Paul Valéry (on a street named after the poet) and within walking distance of the Arc de Triomphe. It is located in the same district as the now long-demolished Palais du Trocadéro, where Pablo Picasso visited an exhibition of African art in 1907.

That experience changed the history of Western art in the 20th century by inspiring Picasso, in tandem with Georges Braque, to create Cubism.

southwest of the southernmost point of the territory now occupied by the Chokwe, the well-preserved but weathered object represents an animal head.

Before the better-known histories of colonialism, independence, civil war and reconstruction, the territory that is now Angola was populated by a number of robust native civilisations. For a time after the first Portuguese expedition arrived in 1482, commerce defined the relations between the Europeans and the main tribal groups such as the Kongo. But the growth of the slave trade and colonisation took their tolls. Africans fled the coastal regions, and a whole way of life was disrupted. This exhibition highlights the surviving links between the pre-colonial civilisations and today’s society.

Press praise Only time will tell whether any budding Picassos have visited Figures of Power, but the exhibition has caught the attention of the French press. “Astonishing artistic creativity,” said Le Figaro. “A fascinating universe, a rare artistic ensemble,” added La Tribune. One of France’s leading art critics, Philippe Dagen, wrote in Le Monde: “Unlike most exhibitions on Africa, this one is not exclusively ethnographic in its approach.

Among the 140 works on show, many can only be understood in the context of political or economic history.”

In that respect, the exhibition catalogue comes in handy – assuming that you read French, as Portuguese versions are provided only for a preface by Manzambi Vuvu Fernando, the national director of museums in Angola, and in the ambassador’s introduction.

The catalogue describes, for instance, the background story of the oldest item on display. Dating from 750 to 850 AD, it is considered the longest-surviving wooden sculpture from central Africa. Discovered in 1928 by an engineer named Camille Turlot in the bed of the Liavela River, about 270 km

Mythic hero Perhaps nothing better symbolises this link to the past than the story of the mythic hero Chibinda Ilunga, represented in the exhibition by his own wooden (Opening spread) Chihongo mask, Chokwe, Angola Olivier Gallaud Mbenza ya ngana throne Songo, Angola

Bill Hinchberger

Rui Tavares

aris likes to think of itself as the world’s cultural capital. Whether or not it deserves that designation is open to debate, but it has helped to solidify its position by hosting the city’s first comprehensive show of Angolan art.

The 140 pieces in the exhibition, entitled Angola: Figures de Pouvoir (Figures of Power), come from ten European institutions and the National Museum of Anthropology in Luanda, as well as from private collections. For some of the pieces, this is the first time they have left Africa.

The works include sundry styles of masks, carved statues of chiefs evoking the mythic hunter hero Chibinda Ilunga, stunning magical-religious figures, and much more from the Chokwe, Kongo, Lwena, Lwimbi, Mwila, Ovimbundu and other tribal groups.

As Miguel da Costa, the Angolan ambassador in Paris, says in his introduction to the exhibition catalogue: “French society and especially Parisians, along with art lovers and students of African art, have the opportunity to see together, as never before, artistic and cultural artefacts that give witness to the creative genius of the peoples and cultures of Angola.”

The show is curated by Christiane Falgayrettes-Leveau, director of the Dapper Museum, with Boris Wastiau, director of the Geneva Museum of Ethnography, serving as a scientific consultant. Figures of Power opened in November 2010 and runs until July 10, 2011. The Dapper Museum, which specialises in African culture, is named after Olfert Dapper, a Dutch humanist who in 1668 wrote a seminal book called Description of Africa.

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Mythic hero, Chibinda Ilunga – Chokwe, Angola Nkisi phemba – Cabinda, Angola

Sceptre – Ovimbundu, Angola

With its broad shoulders, oversized feet, oversized hands and somewhat oversized genitalia, the Chibinda Ilunga statuette bristles with virility

Hughes Dubois

statuette, an imposing, if small (only 40cm high), sculpture of Chokwe origin, and by similar pieces representing different chiefs in his likeness.

With its broad shoulders, oversized feet, oversized hands – one holding what could be a club or a spear and the other a rifle, and somewhat oversized genitalia, the Chibinda Ilunga statuette bristles with virility. His animal-like ears and dilated nostrils show that he is in a state of alert.

Chibinda Ilunga’s story is said to date back to around 1600, when the hunter and descendent of Luba kings married Lueji, the Lunda queen and granddaughter of the serpent king Chinawezi. After their marriage, she named him king. Resentful, her brothers stomped off into the hinterland, each with his own partisans, to found new tribes. Unfortunately Lueji was unable to have children, so she allowed Chibinda Ilunga to take a second wife. The son of this liaison ultimately engendered a line of Lunda rulers.

The statuettes of Chibinda Ilunga and the chiefs in his image represent the first of the three “powers” presented in the exhibition – the political. Indeed, one of the details common in these statuettes is the Mutwa wa kayanda (high hat-style head ornament), a symbol of sovereigns in Chokwe culture. Other symbols of power on show include ceremonial knives, swords and axes.

Among the most interesting are stools that can be understood as symbolic thrones, sometimes very ornately decorated. One of the most remarkable is a Songo wooden stool, 74 cm high, called the mbenza ya

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A FURNITURE FACTORY’S REVIVAL ART

Chikunza mask, Chokwe, Angola

Joe Pessoa

Kongo/Ambaquista Funeral urn, Angola

Olivier Gallaud

Pwo mask, Chokwe, Angola

Hughes Dubois

Nkisi Nkondi

Roger Assel Berghs

Thierry Olivier and Michel Urtado

Caryatid seat, Chokwe, Angola

Panel detail Nkanum, Angola / Democratic Republic of Congo

Johnathan Watts

Altar, Hamba wa mwim

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humanesque wooden forms. Some carry knives, and one wears a soldier’s helmet.

These figures are used by healers to bridge the spiritual and physical worlds, and thus as tools to help sick and troubled individuals recover from illness or solve their personal problems.

The exhibition features a myriad of cultural objects. Indeed, in a strict sense, everything in the exhibition symbolises or represents a facet of the culture of one or more of the tribal groups that inhabit Angola.

One important universe is that of women, which the exhibition makes a serious effort to display. The mask of Pwo (mentioned earlier) is the most memorable female image in the show. Also noteworthy is a Kongo/Ambaquista terracotta funeral urn, rounded into a feminine shape and depicting arms, breasts and genitals. There is also a small showcase of items used for female adornment by the Himba, Herero and Kwanyane.

When the show closes, many items will make their way back to their respective ethnographic institutions. But as Picasso recognised, one person’s ethnography is another person’s art. So, for a few months in Paris, the world has been able to see the richness of the traditional art of the people of Angola. n­ ­ A former correspondent in Brazil for ARTnews magazine, Bill Hinchberger is a freelance journalist based in Paris

Before they reach the main exhibition, visitors to Angola: Figures of Power traverse an anteroom that features seven works by one of Angola’s top contemporary artists, António Ole. This multitalented artist has worked in painting, sculpture, installation art, film and photography. Though he has been active for decades, this is his first solo exhibition in Paris.

The works, dating from 1994 to 2009, often make use of found or recycled objects, notably modern ones – for example, an old steering wheel. So at one level they appear distant from the traditional objects that follow. Yet, especially in their spirit and also in the way the works are shaped and presented, they provide the perfect introduction to the larger exhibition.

Indeed, most if not all of Ole’s works seem to draw directly from the nkisi (medicine sculpture) tradition, bridging the spiritual and physical worlds in a seemingly crude, almost aggressive way, creating an emotion that takes its effect before the mind can catch up and figure out what is going on.

António Ole’s work is pervaded by his doubts and intentions, his hopes but also his sorrows. Sculptures and large-scale assemblages in the main, the seven works displayed here bear the traces of the country’s collective memory, much of it scarred by war.

Ole’s further reminiscences embrace systems of signs that reflect the artist’s interest in the beliefs of several Angolan populations, in particular the magical-religious practices of the Chokwe and Kongo.

MARCH JUNE 2011 2011 21 27

António Ole

António Ole

Olivier Galland

ngana throne. It depicts a sitting figure, holding up the seat with its hands and chest, its head sticking up slightly like a backrest.

Most of the other artefacts can be divided into two broad categories: cultural and spiritual, the latter sometimes rooted in magic, sometimes in religion.

The spirits of ancestors can be invoked at various times, including for the coronation of a chief, but they are always present at the initiation rites of adolescent boys, carried out in bush camps distant from the main villages.

Dancers who wear stylised masks represent the ancestors. The most colourful item in the exhibition is probably the red, black and white mask of Chihongo, the ancestral male archetype (see picture p.16).

Chihongo’s female counterpart is Pwo, represented by a wooden mask with intricate carvings adorning her face, said to represent the ideal of female beauty.

Alongside is Chikunza, an aggressive figure whose job is to keep evil spirits at bay from the camp of initiates. Black and white, with red highlights around his eyes and mouth and on his nose, and sporting a dunce caplike pointy head, Chikunza could be a scary clown out of a Stephen King novel.

Perhaps the most striking, and the most unsettling, items in the exhibit are the minkisi (plural term for the nkisi – sacred medicine sculptures). Some of these tortured figures of between 35 and 70 cm high have dozens of nails spiked into their

BRAZIL ANGOLA

BRAZIL: BLOOD BROTHER AND OLDEST ALLY

South America’s leading economy has had a major business friendship with Angola for over 30 years, its influence visible throughout the country. Universo looks at how those links developed and how they go far beyond just trade ➔

22 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

JUNE 2011 23

BRAZIL ANGOLA

Cultural affinities However, natural resources have had nothing to do with the broader, positive attitude of the Brazilian people towards Angola. Brazil’s repressed domestic political opposition, led by artists and intellectuals, warmly supported Angola’s independence for what it meant for the Angolans.

Brazil’s cultural affinities with Angola in terms of race, language, music, dance, cuisine and religion long predate independence. As part of the Portuguese empire, Angola was a major source of the several million slaves shipped to Brazil.

Brazil’s greater presence in Angola after 1975 provided a welcome boost to the

24 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Brazuk Ltd

“A

Practical exercises

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Brazillian instructors

Brazuk Ltd

ngolans don’t forget that Brazil was the first country to recognise independence, a Angola’s courageous gesture which upset important sectors.... Its example conferred immediate diplomatic legitimacy on the new country,” said Angola’s President José Eduardo dos Santos.

Brazil’s modern-day partnership with Angola began with that “courageous gesture” in 1975 when its Ministry of Foreign Affairs determined it should pursue a pragmatic, strategic approach to international relations, regardless of the Cold War politics of the time.

Recognising Angola, an ally of Cuba and the Soviet Union, was opposed by elements in the right-wing military dictatorship then in power in Brazil. But the president at the time, General Ernesto Geisel, was very slowly clearing the path back to democracy and favoured the foreign ministry’s long-term strategic aims.

Access to Africa’s oil resources undoubtedly played a part in the decision.

At the time, Brazil was supplying only a small part of its own needs when the 1973 oil crisis put the brakes on its “economic miracle” years of double-digit growth.

Indeed, state oil company Petrobras was one of the first Brazilian companies to deal with the new Angolan government and has had a long and mutually beneficial relationship ever since, especially in technology, now that Brazil is self-sufficient in oil.

country’s morale. A Brazilian supermarket chain set up the country’s first postindependence hypermarket while Brazilian soap operas distracted a population racked by shortages and hardship.

Brazilian companies, at that time accustomed to a chaotic domestic economic scenario, proved more adaptable and less risk-averse than rivals from more stable economies. They were more willing to look seriously at business opportunities in Angola.

Brazilians working in Angola, with their effortless sociability and skill in improvising solutions, especially when facing obstructive bureaucracy – the so-called jeitinho, adapted well to the local environment and endeared themselves to their Angolan hosts.

“It’s unnecessary to stress the shared blood, closeness of behaviour and affection

Training simulators

between our two brother peoples,” President dos Santos has said.

Dijalma Mariano da Silva, the trade secretary at the Brazilian Embassy in Luanda, agrees. “Brazil’s relations with Angola are much wider than purely commercial interests, much more than just trade,” he said.

However, that trading partnership is doing rather well. The general trend of Angola’s economic exchanges with Brazil is one of growth. It more than quadrupled from $520 million in 2005 to peak at $4.2 billion in 2008 before declining with the global economic downturn.

While Brazil exports a wide variety of goods to Angola, over half of them processed farm products such as sugar, meat, poultry and other foodstuffs, Angola’s return cargo is almost all crude oil.

Brazil’s role in Angola’s postindependence economy has been largely led and performed by multinational company the Odebrecht Group. The company has not only offered a variety of solutions to Angola’s reconstruction needs but has proved resilient in implementing them in often extremely tough conditions.

Odebrecht, Angola’s second-largest employer after Sonangol with over 20,000 staff, developed the civil engineering work of perhaps the most significant project since independence, the 520-megawatt Capanda Dam. Capanda, located near Malange, 450km from Luanda currently supplies nearly all Angola’s electricity. The deal was signed in 1982 and the first generator turned in 2004.

The Brazilian company won the

respect of the Angolan government by executing the project throughout the long period of conflict, enduring complicated logistics and at one stage witnessssed the wrecking of the company’s installations.

Regardless of the dangers, Odebrecht fully completed the dam in 2007.

Despite the difficulties, the Brazilians delivered Angola’s main power project.

President dos Santos said Capanda “consolidated in practice a relationship based on dialogue, which a common language favours, on mutual trust and respect, and above all on friendship”.

Just as Brazil’s relationship with Angola is not one of mere commerce, Odebrecht’s links with the countries it works in are not limited to individual projects. It has a philosophy of serving the communities where it acts.

Education and development have been a bonus coming with its Angolan projects. At Capanda, technicians have been trained to operate the dam, while schools and farming in the region have been supported. This has given locals a stake, directly or indirectly, in the enterprise and has raised living and health standards.

As a result of the confidence and trust earned with the government, Odebrecht has been a key player in Angola’s reconstruction.

Since Capanda, the multinational has been tasked with developing water supplies not only for Luanda as its population swelled to over 4 million, but for Benguela and Lobito as well.

The company has also been responsible for major highway projects that have been praised for their quality. There

Angola - Brazil Trade Year

Brazil Exports

Angola Exports

Total Bilateral Trade

$ millions

$ millions

$ millions

2002

199.6

11.6

211.2

2003

235.5

7.5

243.0

2004

357.2

3.6

360.7

2005

521.3

0.1

521.4

2006

837.8

459.5

1,297.3

2007

1,218.0

946.3

2,164.6

2008

1,974.5

2,236.4

4,211.0

2009

1,333.0

137.8

1,470.8

2010

947.1

500.1

1,447.9

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Odebrecht

Recently graduated mechanics student João Kafino

Hands-on experience

Source: Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretariat - Secex JUNE 2011 25

BRAZIL ANGOLA

was a time when Brazilian companies struggled to compete on the world stage.

No more.

Odebrecht has itself proved a worldclass operator, winning tenders in environments demanding the very highest standards such as an airport in Florida in the United States.

The company is also completing another airport at Catumbela to serve Benguela and Lobito.

The South American conglomerate began building residential condominiums in the city’s southern suburbs, Luanda Sul, in 1997 and has since developed large-scale housing projects to meet priorities set by the Angolan government. It built Angola’s first shopping centre and a high-class business park where it has its own headquarters.

Developing major projects providing Angola with basic infrastructure in electricity, highways, water and housing were the first steps by the Brazilian heavyweight, which has since expanded into a wide range of additional economic activities.

Two major farming projects have been established by Odebrecht near to and benefiting from Capanda’s power supplies. The aim of the giant farms is to

promote Angolan food self-sufficiency and replace imports.

The Pungo Andongo farm consists of a massive 90,440 acres and produces corn and manioc flour, Angola’s staple food.

Odebrecht developed this huge farm and storage complex and then transferred it to Angolan control.

Fuel development A second major agribusiness project, still under development, is Biocom, which will produce sugar and, in future, ethanol.

The Brazilians are drawing on the experience of its highly-efficient commercial farming sector, where the company processes around 40 million tons a year of sugar.

Angola currently imports around 260,000 tons of sugar annually, largely from Brazil. However, in 2012, Biocom will have the planned capacity to supply all that is needed. Angolan staff have been trained in all aspects of the business on Odebrecht plantations in Brazil.

Given Africa’s limited domestic oilrefining capacity, locally-produced ethanol could be a cheaper way to run vehicles, either as a petrol additive or as pure fuel.

This would be especially attractive in rural

areas a long way from petrol supplies.

The Brazilian major is also responsible for developing the industrial park in the Special Economic Zone (ZEE) in Viana, in Luanda’s eastern suburbs, where enterprises dealing with auto parts, glass panels, electronics, irrigation equipment, hospital drips, paints and varnishes have been established.

Odebrecht also brought its logistic skills to the founding of the Nosso Super supermarket chain, which has over 20 branches throughout Angola. Furthermore, Odebrecht also has stakes in Angola’s leading industries; drilling for oil and gas, and diamond mining, The Brazilian company’s presence in Angola has had a multiplier effect. It has attracted to the country its own huge supply chain. Of Odebrecht’s 2,817 suppliers, nearly all of them have set up in Angola to do business. Other Brazilian companies and institutions have also followed in its wake and are growing in number.

Brazil’s assistance in the education and training of Angolans is also apparent.

A shared language facilitates teaching and training. Angolans can almost seamlessly be sent to train in similar functions in Brazil without the need for a special course in a

There was a time when Brazilian companies struggled to compete on the world stage.

No more

Odebrecht

26 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Odebrecht

Sugar cane project – Biocom

completely different language – this is an experience many Angolans had previously had in very different places such as the Soviet Union, Algeria and Bulgaria.

Odebrecht prides itself in its development of local workforces and ‘Angolanisation’, the training-up of local personnel to replace ex-pat workers.

Belief programme An excellent example of Brazil’s contribution to Angolan development is Odebrecht’s Acreditar (Belief) programme where personnel undergo training close to its construction sites.

Acreditar gives vocational training to truck drivers, digger operators and also mechanics.

The project was first developed in Brazil and was implemented in Angola in September 2010. So far, 530 Angolans have been trained and a further 1,500 are on the waiting list for courses.

The growing presence of other Brazilian companies in Angola has been marked since 2002.

At the top end of Brazilian technology sales to Angola is the highly successful aircraft manufacturer Embraer that recently delivered executive jets to the

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Odebrecht Luanda offices

JUNE 2011 27

Courtesy Embraer

BRAZIL ANGOLA

Brazilian Embraer-supplied jet for Angola’s Air Force

country. The company has an impressive sales portfolio that includes passenger jets for China and training planes for Britain’s Royal Air Force.

Brazil’s prestigious agricultural research institute Embrapa also enjoys a close relationship with Angola’s farm sector.

Embrapa has developed crop strains especially suited for the local environment and has wide experience in tropical farming.

This role is likely to develop as Angola has the potential to produce many crops in which Brazil leads world supplies, such as coffee, sugar, oranges, cocoa and soya.

Brazil’s world-class media, public relations and publicity companies are also doing well in Angola. Brazilian PR played a pivotal role in Angola’s election campaign.

Angolan TV shows a strong Brazilian influence in its programme format and content. A live appearance in Luanda of Brazil’s Xuxa, a children’s TV presenter, attracted bumper crowds.

Brazilian writers, singers and musicians have enthusiastic followings in Angola and frequently visit the country.

Angola is now reciprocating in this area more fully with an eye to a larger audience.

Brazilian soap operas have been popular in Angola for more than three decades, helping raise Brazil’s profile and reinforce its positive image with the public.

One area of Luanda, once home to a giant open market, was even named after the long-running 1980s Brazilian soap opera Roque Santeiro.

The Association of Brazilian Businessmen in Angola, Aebran, has members in the following sectors: Oil and Gas

Petrochemicals

Diamonds

Power supply

Logistics

Agribusiness

Fish farming

Cold storage

Trucks

Textiles

Catering

Educational services

Construction

Health

Property developers

PR and Marketing

Estate agencies

Domestic electronics

Satellite TV

Informatics

Telecoms

Source: Aebran

28 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Services sector Brazil’s service sector is finding a profitable niche in Angola’s fast-expanding economy. Specialist doctors and dentists from São Paulo find it worthwhile to practice part of the year in Luanda’s inflated market, while Angolans may undergo relatively cheap medical treatment in Brazil while enjoying a vacation.

The country is Angola’s largest service provider, the Brazilian Embassy says, with over 25,000 visas a year granted. These include those for Angolan students at Brazilian universities where they are better able to assimilate courses and can save on the expense of language courses needed in other foreign countries. A total of 130

Christian Kostner

São Paulo, Brazil’s powerhouse

Brazil is also in a period of accelerated economic expansion Angolan graduates are currently on postgraduate courses in Brazil. Brazil also trains Angolan teachers from highereducational institutes.

Angola’s economy is also internationalising through Sonangol’s businesses abroad. One project involves drilling for oil in Brazil via local company Starfish Oil & Gas S.A. Brazil’s deep-sea subsalt layer is expected to yield a bonanza of between 10 and 20 billion barrels of oil.

Angola, which shares similar geology to Brazil, is likely to also make such rich finds.

A strategic partnership in this area with Brazil, which has developed leadingedge drilling technology and holds records

for deep-sea oil exploration, would be a perfect match.

Brazil’s Petrobras has been helping Sonangol study its subsalt region and has also trained Sonangol specialists in Brazil.

It has been training Angolan oil technicians since the 1980s. In Angola, Petrobras participates in six offshore blocks. In Block 34 it partners Sonangol in drilling in ultradeep waters down to 2,500 metres.

The relationship between Angola and Brazil has flourished, and both countries have changed in so many ways since the 1970s. Angola is now at peace and in a period of sustained growth as it reconstructs its economy.

Brazil is also in a period of accelerated economic expansion and has also been enjoying the benefits of a stable economy since 1994. It is self-sufficient in oil and has a booming export market based on burgeoning world demand for its huge commodity output – commodities that Angola, with a similar climate, is also capable of producing on a large scale.

Furthermore, Brazil’s technological advances and the success of its world-class companies, such as Odebrecht and Petrobras, mean Angola’s old strategic partner has even more to offer as it diversifies and develops its economic potential. ■

JUNE 2011 29

Chris Saunders

ANGOLA’S HEART

Angola’s varied musical heritage draws upon deeplyrich roots that have inspired not only major styles such as Brazilian samba, but also continuously absorbs influences from many parts of the world.

Universo surveys the current sound scene ➔

30 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

ANGOLAN MUSIC A–Z

JUNE 2011 31

Chris Saunders

I

t’s Sunday evening. The day’s stifling heat is finally fading, as is the light, and a dusty glow hangs over the unpaved street outside the CAN club in Luanda’s Cassequel district.

The insistent boom of the bassline beat from behind the metal door is making it reverberate against its slightly crooked concrete frame, but the pulse is inviting and we go in.

Down the corridor and inside, the music is so loud that I can feel my internal organs bouncing from within, and the smoke pumped out of a machine next to the DJ booth tickles my throat.

Pink and green disco lights alternate with seriously powerful strobes, flashing onto a small hexagonal dance floor where a group of “kuduristas” (singers / musicians/ dancers) stand, assembled like a suspect line-up in an American police movie.

Kuduro is slang for “hard ass” and is the name of a uniquely Angolan type of

32 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

street music which since its inception in the late 1990s is continuing to win global acclaim. In a typical performance, lyrics are shouted into a microphone over the top of a high-paced techno-style beat.

It is hardly melodic, but the draw of kuduro, I have always been told is the dancing, and before my eyes in that tiny club, I realise why. After a small break in the music to allow the MC to shout the names of the 12 contestants, the bass comes back.

This time it seems even louder, and the show begins.

Twisting, jumping, bouncing and even shaking, these kuduristas move their bodies in ways I have previously thought impossible, somehow keeping in time with the frenetic beat, and even occasionally pausing for cheers when their lyrics strike a chord with the assembled crowd.

“It’s about the dancing,” part-time waiter and aspiring kudurista Estevão Chaves tells me. “It’s about involving your

whole body in the movement and really feeling the rhythm.”

Twenty-two-year-old Chaves laughs at my aversion to the volume and bass levels.

“Yes, it’s noisy, but kuduro is a youth thing, and young people like loud music and lots of rhythm and above all they like dancing,” he says.

The kudurista uniform seems to be as wacky as possible although it is usually shaped around a fashion label T-shirt, skinny jeans and big trainers. Sunglasses help, as does a peaked cap, preferably with some sort of gold or silver emblem emblazoned on the front.

According to CAN club owner and kuduro promoter Carlos Araújo, the style, sound and dancing of kuduro is uniquely Angolan. “It’s an Angolan invention that’s come about through Angolan creativity,” he explains, adding that despite its tough street image it is in fact an important vehicle for keeping young people out of trouble.

ANGOLAN MUSIC A–Z

Chris Saunders

“When it started, Angola was going through its conflict and civil war, and kuduro helped a lot of young people who were feeling marginalised – those who were getting involved in crime and things – to stay right.

“It used to be very much a freestyle thing, where you’d sing whatever came into your head at that moment,” says Araújo.

“Of course, that was often about the conflict and difficulties people were going through, but now it has evolved and it’s important to have good written lyrics and a strong message throughout.”

The messages, he says, are by young people for young people, warning about the dangers of getting involved in drugs and crime, and encouraging them to stick to their studies to make sure they get a good job.

Although there are still controversial kuduristas whose lyrics you would not play to your grandmother, in many ways

“Yes, it’s noisy, but kuduro is a youth thing” – Estevão Chaves

kuduro’s evolution mirrors Angola’s own, from its long preoccupation with war and struggle, to its new focus on a better future.

“A lot of children listen to this type of music and the older ones have a responsibility to make sure that they don’t make material that is offensive, immoral or negative,” adds Chaves the waiter.

One dreadlocked performer, dressed in what can only be described as an

anarchic outfit of luminous yellow T-shirt, black and white floral plus-twos, knee-high white socks tied with rainbow laces and a chessboard-checked peaked cap, backed this up.

Expecting him to be advocating some sort of world revolution, General da China (as he calls himself ) informs me politely: “My kuduro has one very simple message.

And that right now is advising everyone to stick to their career goals. When we are fighting for something, we mustn’t give up.”

According to club owner Araújo there are more than 5,000 kuduristas in Angola, all striving for a lucrative record deal which will give them fame like idols such as the genre’s creator Tony Amado or more recent success stories Bruno M, Os Lambas and Cabo Snoop.

The wide-appeal of kuduro is undisputable, certainly in Luanda where most weekends you will see kids as young as five body-popping on a street corner,

JUNE 2011 33

some to music blaring out from a neighbour’s house, others just following a remembered rhythm inside their heads.

Kuduro is popular well beyond Angola, filling dance floors in Lisbon, Paris, Amsterdam, São Paulo and New York with bands such as Buraka Som Sistema winning critical acclaim.

But if you thought all Angolan music was loud and urban, you would be wrong.

In fact, Angola boasts a rich heritage of music formed by a variety of Atlantic influences from Brazil, the Caribbean and even Cuba, but, like kuduro, shaped to the Angolan context.

Semba is widely acknowledged as the traditional Angolan sound, although it only began to be commercialised from the 1950s.

Its roots go back to the 17th-century dance known as massemba or umbigada, which comes from the term “belly-bumping”, giving you a clue to the fast-paced and sensuous style of movement.

Samba’s sister Originally played on tarola drums and dilonga basins, but more recently on more formal instruments such as guitars, semba is widely believed to be the precursor to its more famous Brazilian sister samba, having travelled there across the Atlantic on the slave ships.

Just as kuduro grew out of its unique Angolan context, so did semba, according to Marissa Moorman, author of Intonations: A Social History Of Music And Nation In Luanda, Angola, From 1945 To Recent Times.

Dr Moorman, an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, believes the political and social context in the 1960s and 1970s led to a real growth in semba.

“At this time there was an explosion in radio stations which play an important part in spreading music,” she says. “And there was also a deliberate tactic by the Portuguese colonial administration in wanting to encourage local music over imports from neighbouring Congo which was already independent and seen as a bad influence.”

Dr Moorman explains that as the

34 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Cecile de Comarmond

ANGOLAN MUSIC A–Z

The term ‘belly-bumping’, gives you a clue to the fast-paced and sensuous style of movement economy started to open up, with more Angolans in work and with free time and some money to spare, they started investing in music, particularly semba.

“Also, you started having local cultural producers who would take live music shows from place to place at the weekends,” she says.

And while there had generally been only formal music venues in the Portuguese part of Luanda known as the Baixa, by the late 1960s clubs started opening up in the townships or musseques where the Angolans lived and the demand for music and performances grew.

This home-grown music, Dr Moorman says, offered Angolans who were otherwise heavily repressed by the colonial powers an outlet to be themselves and enjoy their Angolanidade (Angolan identity).

“People said they spent their day at work speaking Portuguese and being as their Portuguese bosses wanted, but at night they could go home and become Angolan again, wearing their own clothes,

speaking in their own language, eating their own food and listening to their own music.”

One of the bands that helped Angolans find their identity was Ngola Ritmos (Angolan Rhythms) who were famous for singing in the national dialect of Kimbundu, rather than Portuguese.

They formed in 1947, led by Liceu Vieira Dias who went on to be a founding member of the MPLA (People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola), which is now in government, and continued playing into the late 1960s.

Inspired by natural rhythms and using several layers of guitars, some almost like percussion, Ngola Ritmos are widely regarded as the fathers of Angolan music and their work has been described as “not only a music genre but a state of mind, an attitude”, says music historian Dr Moorman.

Unfortunately, few recordings still exist, but among their most well-known songs are Mbiri, Kolonia, Palamé and their arrangement of the much-covered Muxima, which tells the story of a man who

Kamene M Traça

Some key Angolan artists – and two to watch Bonga

Puto Português

José Adelino Barceló de Carvalho – better known as Bonga – began his career as an athlete, representing Portugal in the 400 metres.

Carvalho was forced into exile in Rotterdam in 1972 after a warrant was issued for his arrest in Luanda over allegations that he passed messages between freedom fighters in the diaspora. He recorded his first album, Angola 72, in Holland and changed his name to Bonga.

Forty years later, with nearly three dozen albums to his name and still recording, the critically-acclaimed Bonga is known as the “ambassador of semba” and his music continues to be popular around the Lusophone world.

Puto Português (real name Lino Serqueira Fialho) is the new kid on the semba block. Known for his sharp outfits and crowd-pleasing performances, the 23-year-old started out playing kuduro but switched to semba last year, releasing his first album Geração de Semba in December 2010.

Winner of the Rádio Nacional de Angola record of the year in 2010, he looks set to get even bigger in the near future.

Paulo Flores Paulo Flores is seen as the modern innovator of Angolan music, as comfortable singing semba and kizomba as he is performing blues, jazz and bossa nova.

His music combines a rich mix of different rhythms and styles, from lighthearted dance tracks to deeply melodic ballads with thoughtful lyrics.

Flores spent part of his childhood in Lisbon and is as well known in Portugal as in Angola. He tours regularly at home and abroad, performing both stadium-style concerts and more intimate acoustic sessions.

His first album Kapuete was released in 1988 and he has recorded ten more since then, his latest being the eclectic three-disc box set Ex-Combatentes.

Buraka Som Sistema

Afrologia

Buraka Som Sistema put Angolan kuduro firmly on the global map.

Although based in Lisbon, the group claims Angolanidade (Angolan identity) and has taken the unique sound of Luanda’s streets to dance floors in Paris, Tokyo, Amsterdam, São Paulo, London and New York, winning much critical acclaim along the way.

Afrologia is a new Angolan electronic outfit made up of regular Elinga DJ Soulbreakxtra (Carlos Cunha) and his brother Coca o Faray Sem Mobile (or Coca F.S.M. for short).

They offer a fresh Luandan sound, mixing jazz, soft piano, chilled electronic and, of course, plenty of Afro-beat. Catch them at Elinga Teatro.

Yuri da Cunha Yuri da Cunha is a true showman who has opened for Italian pop legend Eros Ramazzotti. Hugely popular in Luanda and the rest of the Lusophone world, including Brazil, Yuri mixes playful semba, rumba and kizomba with great dancing and plenty of fun.

Born in Sumbe, Kwanza Sul, in 1980, he got his big break aged 13 when he won a singing competition for youngsters organised by Rádio Nacional de Angola.

He was voted best male singer in Angola several times, and Sony will be producing his next album.

JUNE 2011 35

ANGOLAN MUSIC A–Z

Today, kizomba and its sensuous dance moves remain central to the Angolan music scene with its poppy electronic top and bass-heavy beat taking many a wedding and party into the early hours, sometimes to the extreme displeasure of the rest of the neighbourhood which is trying to sleep.

Today’s popular singers such as Yuri da Cunha, Anselmo Ralph, Matías Damásio, Yola Semedo and Ary fill football stadiums on a weekly basis with their mix of catchy kizomba tunes and crooning love ballads.

Kamene M Traça

has been accused of witchcraft going to the Muxima Sanctuary near Luanda to prove his innocence.

Overlapping with Ngola Ritmos but playing on into the 1970s, Os Kiezos are another seminal Angolan band whose highly rhythmic music is still heard regularly on the radio and widely respected by people of all ages.

Artists such as Ngola Ritmos, Os Kiezos, Carlos Lamartine and Jovens da Prenda were all part of that formative era of Angolan music which is now enjoying a revival through new compilations such as Angola Soundtrack: The Unique Sound of Luanda (1968 – 1976) released late last year by the Analog Africa label.

Through the 1970s, as Angola became independent from Portugal, semba remained the mainstay of Angolan music, with artists such as Alberto Teta Lando, Banda Maravilha and many others all leaving their mark on musical and social history.

Danny L

Heady mix Claudio Silva, the creator of the Caipirinha Lounge blog dedicated to the Lusophone music scene, says Angolan music is unique.

New York-based Silva refers to a “powerful confluence of traditional rhythms from Luanda’s nearby islands of Ilha and Mussulo, psychedelic guitar sounds imported from neighbouring Congo, Latin grooves, old school Caribbean merengue and the hard beat of the Angolan carnival bands”.

This heady mix, he told Universo, creates the “unique Angolan sound” which is starting to catch people’s attention and driving a new interest in Angolan music from overseas.

“It’s hard to know how this resurgence started,” he says, “but it seems that as the country has opened up, so its music has got out.

“I suppose it only takes one person to play it for it to be heard, and because it’s so good people are then saying they want to hear more!”

Because of that, as well as a revival of older songs, there have also been several interesting new 21st-century takes on traditional Angolan sounds.

Two albums of note, says Silva, are Comfusões, which saw Brazilian producer

“It only takes one person to play for it to be heard, and because it's so good people are saying they want to hear more”

Kizomba’s arrival

36 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

– Claudio Silva

C4 Pedro

Kamene M Traça

But then in the 1980s came kizomba, semba’s cheeky modern nephew, which also has the power to fill a dance floor in seconds and is famed for its sensuous moves.

Kizomba was born through a fusion of semba and the at-the-time popular sound of Caribbean zouk, which was brought to Angola by the Martinique/Guadeloupian outfit Kassav.

Based on a mixture of carnival, folk and calypso-style music, using keyboards and electronics and with influences from as far afield as Haiti and Jamaica, zouk was all the rage across Africa and the Frenchspeaking diaspora in the 1980s and it struck a similar chord in Angola.

Not content with just copying zouk, artists such as Eduardo Paim decided to fuse its tropical sound with their Angolan semba and so created kizomba.

Pérola

Suggestions for further listening…

Recordings by individual artists and bands Ex-Combatentes – Paulo Flores Eclectic, jazzy and refreshing. A brilliant collection Memórias 1968-1990 – Teta Lando Catalogue of the late Teta Lando’s most celebrated work

Kamene M Traça

Best of Bonga – Bonga Greatest hits compilation of Angola’s ambassador of semba Kuma Kwa Kié – Yuri da Cunha Catchy fun pop performed by this talented semba showman

Maurício Pacheco raid the vaults of the Rádio Nacional de Angola and mix up old tracks with new beats, and similarly, Luanda-based Semba Comunicações’ Angolan Sound Experience.

This had the likes of Yola Semedo, Matías Damásio and Sandra Cordeiro performing modern twists on classic Angolan ballads by respected songwriters Felipe Mukenga and Ruy Mingas.

Silva says he believes that part of the growing appetite for Angolan music is coming from the many twentysomethings who have spent time abroad studying but are now returning to Luanda to live and work, bringing with them eclectic tastes combined with a hunger for the traditional sounds of their homeland.

Also informed by their study spells

Própria Lixa

abroad is a new generation of sometimes controversial rappers such as Luaty Beirão, MC Kappa and O Conjunto Ngonguenha, whom Silva says are using the medium of music to register their many views on modern society.

And just like in the 1960s, when Angolans wanted their own venues in which to listen to and play their music, so the pattern is repeating itself with a renewed emphasis on live music events, particularly in Luanda.

Every weekend you will find an artist signing copies of his or her new CD in the Praça da Independência and at large open-air venues such as Cine Atlântico and Cine Karl Marx, along with the Cidadela and Coqueiros football stadiums where packed crowds watch the band or singer of the moment.

Kamene M Traça

Yola Semedo

Kamene M Traça

Black Diamond – Buraka Som Sistema Second album of this global kuduro electro sensation Nós os do Conjunto – Conjunto Ngonguenha Gritty Angolan rap that tells it how it is but not without some humour Minha Alma – Yola Semedo Angola’s queen of soulful kizomba is in fine form in this powerful solo album, sung in a mixture of English and Portuguese Tata Nzambi – Sandra Cordeiro Afro-jazz at its best, fused with Angolan rhythm and soul

Compilations Angolan Sound Experience – Various Artists Modernist twist on Angolan classics written by Felipe Mukenga and Ruy Mingas and produced by Luandabased Semba Produções.

An excellent collection of classic Angolan songs from the golden era of semba including Os Kiezos, Jovens da Prenda and David Zé

JUNE 2011 37

ANGOLAN MUSIC A–Z

Launched in 2009, Luanda now has its own International Jazz Festival which showcases local and other African jazz talent, along with big-name stars such as George Benson.

Partly run by the organisers of the world-renowned Cape Town International Jazz Festival, the event filled the Cine Atlântico for three consecutive days and is likely to become a much-loved fixture on the city’s entertainment calendar.

At the end of May, US rap star Snoop Dogg was due to headline the Blue Fest at the Coqueiros football stadium, the concert still boasts top acts such as the new young semba sensation Puto Português, kids’ kuduro favourite Cabo Snoop and Lisbonbased Buraka Som Sistema, playing their first gig in Luanda.

This type of top-billing event follows a show at Cidadela in April where the current members of Kassav – of kizomba inspiration fame – drew a crowd of 30,000 to the Festival de Saudades (Nostalgia Concert).

At the other end of the scale, the zany Movimento X group has turned Elinga Teatro near Luanda’s Marginal into an essential destination for the more discerning Angolan music lover who wants to hear something new.

The preferred hang-out for the city’s educated trendsetters, Elinga almost nightly offers a wide range of music, from hard house and hip hop to softer Afro-jazz and acoustic performances, all put on in the inviting outdoor balcony bar with its

38 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

views across the bay.

With Elinga’s’ focus on multicultural inclusivity, there is a relaxed atmosphere with no dress code or formalities such as

Yola Semedo

With Elinga’s’ focus on multicultural inclusivity, there is a relaxed atmosphere

Kamene M Traça

Angola jazz

guest-lists and VIP areas.

The crumbling theatre, long threatened with demolition, is seen as the heartbeat for alternative entertainment in the city, also hosting dance, art and photography exhibitions and theatre.

Caipirinha Lounge’s Silva loves Espaço Bahia, the restaurant-cum-bar-cum-clubcum-acoustic venue located a few hundred metres along the Marginal.“All you need is one guitar and that place comes alive,” he says. “It has a great vibe and there are some excellent performances there.”

Another old theatre, Chá de Caxinde, is an equally trendy music venue and was used extensively during the 2010 Trienal de Luanda which featured a number of live music, dance and theatre shows.

What is most certain is that through Angola’s past and present, music is at the centre of what it is to be Angolan.

Remembering the family lunches of his childhood, Silva says: “Whenever we would get together there would always be music; someone would always play or dance or sing.”

Dr Moorman, from the University of Indiana, adds: “Music is and always will be a very powerful force in everyday life in Angola. It’s very much part of the way people live, communicate and enjoy themselves.

“I have memories of sitting at the public archive office in the late 1990s when the power would go off and we’d be plunged into darkness. But the guy in the barber’s shop across the road always had some batteries for his little radio, and so the music never stopped...” ■

Sonangol news briefing South American ties

Sonangol will open new offices in Venezuela, according to Jesus Alberto Garcia, trade secretary at the Venezuelan embassy in Angola. The offices will be used to oversee a recent 25-year oil and gas exploration agreement signed by the two countries and Cuba.

The trade secretary said the agreement brought Angola and Venezuela, two important members of OPEC, closer together and they could develop a common position on oil prices. Garcia noted that the IMF had said consumer dependence on oil would be even greater over the next 30 years in the wake of the nuclear accident in Japan.

Heart surgery success Luanda’s Girassol Clinic, run by Sonangol, undertook its first paediatric heart surgery in April when children with congenital abnormalities were treated successfully. The operations were part of a programme in partnership with specialists from the Portuguese Red Cross.

There are around 300 children on the waiting list for treatment at Girassol as part of the programme, which aims to reduce the number of children sent abroad for operations. The programme also provides training for local doctors.

JUNE JUNE2011 2011 39

Kamene M Traça

$12m ports deal

Baptista Sumbe

Saurimo school support Esso Angola Limited, in the name of Sonangol and its partners in Block 15, has laid the first stone for a new primary school in Saurimo, Lunda Sul province. Saurimo is 994km east of Angola’s capital, Luanda.

Block 15 is providing over $800,000 for the new 12classroom school in the first phase, rising to $3 million in total. The new educational centre will also contain a refectory, library, theatre and sports fields.

40 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Sonangol has signed a 30-year concession agreement with the São Tomé and Príncipe government to modernise and operate its port and airport. Investment of $5 million will be made in the seaport and $7 million in the São Tomé and Príncipe International Airport.

Sonangol’s administrator Baptista Sumbe signed the deal, following two years of negotiations, with Carlos Manuel Vila Nova, São Tomé’s and Principe Minister for Public Works and Natural Resources.

Sumbe described the concession as “the

start of a great partnership” that he hoped would turn the tiny island nation into a transport hub for the region. “We hope that a year from now, when we return to sit here, it will be to raise a toast with greater joy because the port and airport will be operational and we will by then have started new projects,” he said.

Oil products are the largest items imported

by São Tomé and Príncipe.

Stepping on the gas The Pascagoula liquefied natural gas terminal in Mississippi, US, is on schedule for start-up in October says El Paso Corporation, Sonangol’s partner in the project.

Pascagoula has 1.3 billion cubic feet send-out capacity and will be primed with its first test shipment this summer. The facility will eventually receive natural gas from Sonangol’s LNG plant being built at Soyo.

Being prepared Sonangol’s Quality, Health, Safety and Environment Office has bought 3,000 metres of absorbent barriers to contain any accidental oil spills at sea. The purchase is part of Sonangol’s ongoing efforts to equip its emergency services for pollution risks.

Jacques Guillem

Sonangol news briefing

NEWS

Rally team’s desert win Sonangol Schlesser’s buggy won two stage victories in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in April. The second-round race took place in soaring temperatures, in the heart of the burning sands of magnificent dunes in the United Arab Emirates.

This was in sharp contrast to the wet and muddy first-round venue in Italy.

Driven by veteran Formula 1 driver Jean-Louis Schlesser, the Sonangol-sponsored team won the two-wheel-drive category, putting Sonangol-Schlesser ahead in the Cross Country World Cup for drivers and vehicle manufacturers Schlesser’s co-driver was the Russian, Konstantin Zhiltsov.

JUNE 2011 41

Sonangol news briefing

Piling on the pumps

Sonangol’s fuel arm, Sonangol Distribuidora, plans to build 200 more petrol stations in Angola over the next four years, bringing the total up to 639 units.

Sonangol has given Cobalt International Energy permission to go ahead with plans to drill two subsalt exploratory wells in Block 21. Drilling of the wells, Cameia-1 and Bicuar-1, is expected to start by the end of 2011.

There are great hopes that Angola’s subsalt layer will yield large oil reserves, as the same layer has done on Brazil’s continental shelf. The subsalt layer is a common geological feature of both countries, whose areas formed a single continental mass millions of years ago.

42 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Work starts in Iraq Sonangol started drilling work on two fields in Iraq in April, according to the Iraqi Ministry for Oil. The company won the exploration concessions in an auction in 2009.

The fields are Najmah and Quaiyara in the Nineveh region. Najmah has reserves of 858 million barrels and a production target of 110,000 barrels a day, while Quaiyara holds 807 million barrels and will have an expected output of 120,000 barrels a day.

Al Jazeera

Licensed to drill

BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd

NEWS

PLANET SUITE

SUCCESS Sonangol officially christened Angola’s latest giant floating production vessel at a Singapore shipyard in April. Universo looks at the new addition to the country’s oil-sector fleet ➔

JUNE 2011 43

NEWS

44 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd

S

onangol, along with BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd and the Block 31 partners, took part in the naming ceremony of a new giant floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO).

The vessel is called PSVM, an acronym for Plutão, Saturno, Venus and Marte, the Portuguese spelling of the planet names and also the title of a cluster of deep-sea oil fields in Block 31 off the Angolan coast.

Overall development of the block project will cost a total of approximately $10 billion and is scheduled to produce on average 150,000 barrels a day in 2012.

The FPSO was christened with the traditional bottle of champagne by Dr Ana Maria Martins, wife of Gaspar Martins, administrator of Sonangol EP. The vessel will travel under its own power to the ultra-deep fields in Block 31 located around 400km northeast of Luanda, where it will be moored for its working life of around 20 years.

PSVM will operate in sea depths down to 2,000 metres – serving Africa’s deepest submarine wells – and will be connected to 77,000 tonnes of subsea equipment.

A series of flexible and rigid flowlines will connect the vessel to 48 wells spread over a sea-floor length of 28km.

The double-hulled FPSO was converted from a very large crude carrier (VLCC) called Bourgogne at Singapore’s Jurong Shipyard, a subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine. The Bourgogne was built in the Cadiz shipyards in Spain in 1996.

Sonangol and its partners led by BP subcontracted Modec to undertake the work. The work involved leaving part of the tanker with a storage function but adding production units and an external turret.

The FPSO has a total of 19 modules with functions including oil and gas separation, water and gas injection systems to boost productivity from the reservoir, and water treatment. There are also four gas turbine units capable of generating 100 megawatts of power.

One of the most noticeable changes to the vessel profile is the superstructure, where the new pipe-laden processing modules almost double the height of the tanker.

PSVM will operate in sea depths down to 2,000 metres – serving Africa’s deepest submarine wells

Block 31 partner stakes BP Exploration (Angola) Limited (operator) Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Block 31)

26.67 25

Sonangol P&P 20

StatoilHydro ASA Marathon International Petroleum Angola Block 31 Ltd

13.33

10

China Sonangol International Holding Limited 5

Values as %

JUNE 2011 45 All images: BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd

All images: BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd

NEWS

Gaspar Martins, administrator of Sonangol EP and Dr Ana Maria Martins

The forward turret is the most prominent alteration to the ship’s overall profile. It acts as a giant swivel, allowing the vessel to move in accordance with ocean currents and tides.

To install the external bow-mounted turret, a portion of the tanker’s bow had to be removed.

Local content The turret for PVSM weighed 3,000 tonnes. The huge external tower surrounding the turret and swivel was a source of pride for Sonangol as Angolan engineer Kimi de Sousa was involved in its design.

The construction process safety record was another reason for self-congratulation.

46 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Completion of the 8.1 million man-hour task was undertaken without a single Day Away From Work case (DAFWc).

A number of key components used in building the FPSO were manufactured in Angola and shipped to Singapore for fitting, including the pipe-rack structures, module support stools and pressure vessels.

Although a total of 16 countries as far apart as Indonesia and Scotland were involved in supplying equipment for the project, work was done at 12 assembly and manufacturing sites in Angola, including two new facilities for wellhead machining and tree assembly near Luanda and a pipeline multi-jointing and marine supply base at Porto Amboim. ■

FPSO PSVM Key Data In production until

2031 57m 335m width

length

120 22.2m 20,000 tonnes crew

draught

weight

Storage capacity of

Production capacity of

1,800,000 150,000 barrels

barrels per day

Gas processing capacity of

245,000,000 ft

3

JUNE 2011 47

NEWS

LEADER ROLE

IN REFINING Sonangol vice-president Anabela Fonseca has been made president of Africa’s Refiners Association which aims to increase local crude processing and cut imports

S

onangol assumed the presidency of the African Refiners Association (ARA) during its annual conference at Cape Town on March 28-30. Anabela Fonseca, the Sonangol vice-president with responsibility for refining, took over the chair from Algeria’s Abdelkader Benchouia and will preside for a year.

ARA was set up in 2006 with the aim of establishing a forum for the exchange of ideas, and seeks to apply African synergies and solutions to the continent’s oilrefining needs.

Africa currently produces 12 per cent of the world’s crude oil but has only a 3.6 per cent share of global refining capacity, according to a refinery survey conducted

by BP in 2010. The continent is also facing the prospect of importing more refined fuel to meet growing local demand.

Africa, therefore, requires significant funding to upgrade existing refineries and

build new ones. Many of its refineries are in need of investment and modernisation.

Angola is a case in point. The country imports two-thirds of the refined products it uses, Anabela Fonseca reported earlier this year.

development and protection of oil resources and the competition emerging from the Middle East, India and Far East where new refineries are being built.

ARA aims to attract new investors to develop the continent’s refining capacity and also wants its members to support the newly created African Academy of Energy (ACAFE).

This is an institution where best practice may be shared across the continent on refining, technology, environment, human resources and sustainable development.

ARA originated in 2006 as a PanAfrican non-governmental organisation for Africa’s oil supply, refining and distribution industry. It represents 36 of the 44 refineries in Africa as well as many product importers, storage companies and government regulators. ARA’s annual conference is the only meeting place for the downstream oil sector in Africa.

ARA aims to attract new investors to develop the continent’s refining capacity Africa wants the cleaner, higherquality fuels demanded by consumers while aiming to reduce imports, especially poor-quality products.

The keynote speaker at Cape Town was Ian Taylor, chief executive of the Vitol Group, the recent purchasers of Shell’s downstream assets. The conference was also attended by bankers, oilmen, government representatives, energy regulators and international and local oil traders.

Subjects discussed included the

Angola

Egypt

Libya

Zambia

Kenya

South Africa

Nigeria

Morocco

Ivory Coast

Senegal

Algeria

Cameroon

Ghana

Gabon

Sudan

Congo Brazzaville

Democratic Republic of Congo

48 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Kimesso Kissoka

ARA member countries

Kimesso Kissoka

ARA’s new president

Up until 1954 Africa had no refineries.

Small demand before independence and the wider use of road vehicles was met by refined-product deliveries down the east and west coasts from refineries in the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East.

Tankers usually served more than one country on each trip.

The first refineries built were in 1954 in Algeria and South Africa. Angola’s Luanda refinery was Africa’s third facility in 1958.

The bulk of Africa’s refineries were built in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s with only two new refineries added in this century: Khartoum, Sudan, in 2001 and Middle East Oil Refinery (Midor) in Egypt in 2002.

The largest individual oil refineries are found in Algeria (Skikda, 300,000 barrels per day), Libya (Ras Lanuf, 220,000 bpd), Nigeria (Port Harcourt, 210,000 bpd) and South Africa (Durban, 165,000 bpd).

In terms of capacity, Africa’s main refining countries are Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa.

However, many refineries produce well below capacity because of operational problems, often caused by prolonged underinvestment.

Although a total of 48 refineries were built on the continent, at least 11 have been closed, the first being Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe) as a result of UN-imposed sanctions. The more usual reason for closure was that the refineries were uneconomic. ■

Kamene M Traça

Refining history

Anabela Fonseca was born in Huambo in 1961 but was brought up in Kuito. In 1979 she studied chemical engineering at Luanda’s Agostinho Neto University. She is married and lives in Luanda with her husband and three children.

From 1982 to 1995 she worked in Angola’s oil ministry, eventually specialising in the refining department. Fonseca joined Sonangol in 1996, rising to be a vice-president and board member in 2005. Her responsibilities include heading Sonangol’s refining-operations arm, Sonaref.

JUNE 2011 49

ANGOLA COUNTRY INFORMATION Embassies Abroad UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Cabinda

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

www.angola.org 2100-2108 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 Tel: + 1 202 7851156 Consulates general in Houston and New York

UNITED KINGDOM www.angola.org.uk 22 Dorset Street London W1U 6QY Tel: + 44 20 72999850

AFRICA

Luanda

ANGOLA

ANGOLA

PORTUGAL

Consulate general in Porto

FRANCE www.emb-ang.fr 19 avenue Foch Paris 75116 Tel: + 33 1 45015820

BRAzIL

Map originated from GinkgoMaps project

www.embaixadadeangola.org Avenida da República, 68 Lisboa 1050 Tel: + 351 21 7967041 / 7967043

ZAMBIA

NAMIBIA BOTSWANA

www.embaixadadeangola.com.br SHIS - QL 6 - Conjunto 5 - Casa 1 Brasília DF 71620-055l Tel: + 55 61 32484489 / 32482999

Government of Angola: .............................................................................................www.angola.gov.ao

Consulate general in Rio de Janeiro

Banco Nacional de Angola: ..................................................................................................www.bna.ao

Useful websites

ANIP (Investment agency): .............................................................................................www.anip.co.ao Tourism information: .............................................................................................www.minhotur.gov.ao

SOUTH AFRICA

Jornal de Angola: ............................................................................................www.jornaldeangola.com

1030 Schoeman Street Hatfield Pretoria 8685 Tel: + 27 12 3420049 / 3420052

Angola News Agency (Angop):...........................................................................www.portalangop.co.ao

Consulates general in Johannesburg and Cape Town

50 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Angola online: ......................................................................................................www.angola-online.ao RNA (Rádio Nacional de Angola): ..........................................................................................www.rna.ao TPA (Televisão Pública de Angola): .......................................................................................www.tpa.ao Fundação Eduardo dos Santos: ......................................................................................www.fesa.og.ao

Information LOCATION

ETHNIC GROUPS

INDUSTRIES

Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The province of Cabinda is an exclave, separated from the rest of the country by the Democratic Republic of Congo

Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, mestiço (mixed European and native African) 2%, European 1%, other 22%

Oil production, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, quarrying, feldspar, bauxite, uranium and gold, cement, basic metal products, fish processing, food processing, brewing, tobacco products, sugar, textiles, ship repair, glass for construction, offshore services

TIME zONE UTC + 1 (6 hours ahead of Washington DC during standard time)

AREA 1,246,700 sq km (23rd largest country in the world). Slightly less than twice the size of Texas or just over five times the size of the UK

CLIMATE Semi-arid in south and along coast to Luanda; north has cool, dry season (May to October) and hot, rainy season (November to April)

TERRAIN

RELIGIONS Indigenous beliefs 47%, Roman Catholic 38%, Protestant 15% (1998 est.)

$51.65 billion (2010 est.)

LANGUAGES Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages

NATIONAL HOLIDAY Independence Day, 11 November (1975)

NATURAL RESOURCES Oil, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium, ornamental stones

Narrow coastal plain rises abruptly to vast interior plateau. Morro do Moco (2,620 metres – 8,596 feet) is the highest point

GDP

POPULATION

ExPORTS ExPORT PRODUCTS Crude oil, diamonds, refined petroleum products, coffee, sisal, fish and fish products, timber, cotton

MAIN ExPORT PARTNERS China 35.65%, US 25.98%, France 8.83%, South Africa 4.13% (2009)

IMPORTS $18.1 billion (2010 est.)

$114.1 billion (2010 est.)

IMPORT PRODUCTS

GDP PER CAPITA $8,700 (2010 est.)

Machinery and electrical equipment, vehicles and spare parts, medicines, food, textiles, military goods

13,338,541 (70th country in comparison to the world) (July 2011 est.)

GDP COMPOSITION BY SECTOR

MAIN IMPORT PARTNERS

MAJOR CITIES

Agriculture 9.6%, industry 65.8%, services 24.6% (2008 est.)

Luanda (capital) 4.5 million, Huambo, Lubango and Benguela

AGRICULTURE

Portugal 18.71%, China 17.39%, US 8.51%, Brazil 8.22%, South Korea 6.72%, France 4.51%, Italy 4.28%, South Africa 4.02% (2009)

ADMINISTRATIvE DIvISIONS 18 provinces – Bengo, Benguela, Bié, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Kwanza Norte, Kwanza Sul, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malange, Moxico, Namibe, Uíge, zaire

Bananas, sugar cane, coffee, sisal, corn, cotton, manioc (tapioca), tobacco, vegetables, plantains, oranges, livestock, forest products, fish

CURRENCY Kwanza (AOA)

INTERNATIONAL DIALLING CODE + 244

INTERNATIONAL INTERNET CODE .ao

Partly-sourced from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ao.html

Source: CIA, the World Factbook

JUNE 2011 51

Palanca Negra Gigante Giant Sable Antelope

Proudly Angolan Our mission is to promote the sustainable growth of the national oil industry and to guarantee a higher return for Angola by engaging with national companies and the workforce thus ensuring the generated results benefit Angolan society.