Download - UNIVERSO - sonangol.co.ao32.pdf · António Agostinho Neto, whose story is inextricably entwined with the key years of the struggle for independence. We also report on how the former

Another Angolan beauty…SO

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ISSUE 32 – D

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DECEMBER 2011

Universo

INSIDE: oil and gas news

www.universo-magazine.com

Kalandula Falls

Miss Universe

LIQUID ASSETSAngola’s water

AGOSTINHO NETONational hero

REEL LIVESFilming Angola

DECEMBER 2011 6 5 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

INSIDE THIS ISSUE CONTENTS

4 �ANGOLA�NEWS�BRIEFING Election date set; new airport plans; Brazil’s president

visits; border reserve; independence celebrated; new

mining plans

5 FIGURED�OUT A rundown of Angola’s big numbers

6 LIQUID�ASSETS How Angola’s generous water potential is

being funnelled to promote social and

economic improvement

14 NATIONAL�HERO President António Agostinho Neto played a lead

role in forging Angola’s future, but he also made an

important contribution to its poetry. We examine this

productively reflective side to his character

22 REEL�LIVES A sneak preview of the latest projects of Angola’s

industrious film-makers

30 SPORTING�SUCCESS�Angola’s female basketball team provided a welcome

boost to national pride with their gold medal-winning

performance in the African championship, beating

rivals Senegal in a hard-fought final. Meanwhile, the

Palancas Negras, the national soccer side, booked their

place in Africa’s CAN finals next year

32 LEILA’S�UNIVERSE

Leila Lopes, the mild-mannered Benguela-born

business student, was a popular winner of this year’s

Miss Universe competition. We hear the story of her

journey to worldwide success that has put Angola

firmly on the beauty queen map

40 SONANGOL�NEWS�BRIEFING Pazflor comes on-stream; Sonangol’s latest tanker

launched; Block 31 discovery; Liberia co-operation;

desert rally win; ZEE road show kicks off

42 �SPREADING�THE�BENEFITS Sonangol leads its block partners towards investing

widely in social projects. We visit a number of

these enterprises to see the work being done and

their achievements

50 CHRISTMAS�CHEER:�5,000�NEW�HOMES A new residential development with thousands

of homes has been inaugurated by President José

Eduardo dos Santos at Cacuaco near Luanda. This

is a huge step towards solving Angola’s chronic

housing shortage

We open our December issue with a panorama of one of Angola’s lesser celebrated natural resources: water. Universo looks at the range of challenges and potential opportunities harnessing

it presents to the fast-expanding economy.Our second feature is dedicated to modern Angola’s founding father,

António Agostinho Neto, whose story is inextricably entwined with the key years of the struggle for independence. We also report on how the former president’s poetic prowess is now attracting greater attention and recognition both within and outside the country.

Angola’s film-makers are ploughing less lonely furrows these days with their numbers rising as equipment prices plummet. Consequently, a wider range of film subjects is being addressed. Universo looks at the work of contemporary film-makers and the trails they are blazing.

Sonangol’s community social responsibility projects are an important ingredient of its work and help to spread Angola’s wealth and expertise more evenly. We examine the nature of some of these varied and extremely worthwhile initiatives.

Universo also adds our cheer to local celebrations with stories on Angola’s historic winning of both the Miss Universe competition and Africa’s female basketball championship.

6

Universo is the international magazine of Sonangol

Board MembersManuel Vicente (President),

Anabela Fonseca, Mateus de Brito, Fernando Roberto, Francisco de Lemos,

Baptista Sumbe, Sebastião Gaspar Martins

Sonangol Department for Communication & Image

DirectorJoão 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 DirectorTony Hill

Sub Editor Ron Gribble

Circulation Manager Matthew Alexander

Project Consultants Nathalie MacCarthy

Mauro Perillo

Group President John Charles Gasser

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:

[email protected]

Circulation: 17,000

Davenport House16 Pepper Street,London E14 9RP

Tel + 44 20 7510 9595Fax +44 20 7510 9596

[email protected]

Cover: © Miss Universe L.P., LLLP.Back Cover: Jan Vranken

John Kolodziejski, Editor

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Angola news briefing

4 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Figured out

Mining ventureAngola plans to start mining copper in Kuando Kubango province at the beginning of 2012. Angolan company Geomineira has been prospecting in an area of about 22 square kilometres. The company is also carrying out copper prospecting work in the areas of Caiúndo and Luassenha.

There are proposals to start producing iron, manganese and gold by 2013. Mining projects for iron and manganese are planned at Kassinga, Huíla province and Kassala Kitungo in Kwanza-Norte and Malange provinces. Gold will be mined in Chipendo, Huíla.

Angola’s main iron ore reserves are concentrated in five areas, in the south at Kassinga and Cunene, in the centre at Lucala and Huambo and in the east at Alto Zambeze.

11.8 % growth of geology and

mining sector since 2008

6 million children under five have

received polio vaccination

$17 billion to be spent on electricity projects in next five years

15 million a year capacity at Luanda’s new international airport

16.1% increase in tourist visits during 2010

12 % GDP growth forecast for 2012

Neighbourly reserveAngola has joined forces with Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe to create the world’s largest nature reserve area, measuring a massive 450,000 sq km.

The Okavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area is made up of 36 national parks across the five countries, creating a reserve 15 times the size of Tanzania’s Serengeti. The idea is not only to protect the wildlife within the conservation area but also to boost tourism between the neighbouring countries.

Brazilian visit

Independence celebrationAngola celebrated 36 years of independence from Portugal on November 11. The event was marked with a range of ceremonies and parties to remember those who were lost in the liberation struggle and also to celebrate the achievements of the country since it won independence in 1975.

Fly awayWork is underway to build a new international airport near Luanda. The facility at Bom Jesus, Viana, 40km from the city centre, is on course for completion by early 2015.

The airport will have two double runways with sufficient space to accommodate the giant Airbus A380, and more than 40 plane-docking gates.

Covering 10,000 hectares, the airport will have 12 departure tunnels as well as restaurants, offices, a hotel and a rail link to Luanda and possibly Malange.

Annual passenger volume is expected to exceed 15 million and there are plans to move 600,000 tonnes of cargo each year. The new airport is being built by China International Fund Airport Construction and Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff visited Luanda during her first official trip to Africa. As well as meeting President dos Santos privately, President Rousseff also made a speech to deputies at the National Assembly, where she praised Angola for its post-war reconstruction, describing it as a “paradigm” of social and economic development for the continent.

The Brazilian head of state said Angola was like a “brother” to Brazil and said she hoped the two

countries would continue to work closely together both culturally and economically. Over the past six years, Brazil has extended more than $3 billion in credit lines to Angola, most of which has been spent on construction projects such as new roads, dams and bridges.

Angola is the third-largest destination for Brazilian exports in Africa, while Angola is the fourth-biggest exporter from the continent to Brazil. Several Brazilian companies have major operations in Angola.

DECEMBER 2011 5

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Election dateIn his October annual State of the Nation address, President José Eduardo dos Santos announced that parliamentary elections would be held in the third quarter of 2012.

Electoral registration is currently underway throughout Angola to ensure that all eligible voters have their details lodged. Votes will be cast for different political parties, and the one with the most votes nominates the president. Following a 2010 change to the constitution, there are no longer direct presidential elections.

6 SONANGOL UNIVERSO DECEMBER 2011 7

LIQUID ASSETS

Besides huge oil deposits and mineral wealth such as diamonds, Angola is blessed with ample water resources. Universo examines the challenges to accessing these supplies and the benefits to be reaped k

ANGOLA’S WATER

LIQUIDASSETS

The Cambambe Dam

DECEMBER 2011 9

V isitors to grey, dusty Luanda, the scorched scrublands of the coast and the desert south may be forgiven for thinking that

Angola is a dry country.In fact, Angola is a mostly verdant

land receiving regular rainfall, which replenishes many large river systems and aquifers, easily providing for its drinking, energy and farming needs. However, harnessing this powerful and life-giving resource to meet the country’s current requirements in these three areas represents a huge challenge.

The government’s main priority is making water available to an increasingly urban population. Angola is home to an estimated 21 million people. Around a quarter of the population live in and around Luanda, while another

1.5 million are concentrated in the Benguela-Lobito region.

Angola’s Ministry of Energy and Water estimates that $4 billion is needed to supply all of the country with treated water by 2016. Mass migration to towns and cities in the past three decades has put heavy pressure on domestic water supplies.

The distribution network is clearly in need of upgrading and expanding. This is the task of Luanda’s water company Empresa Pública de Águas de Luanda (EPAL), led by chief executive Leonildo Seitas.

According to Seitas, treated water output is currently 700,000 cubic metres a day but demand stands at two million cubic metres.

Domestic water consumer numbers have grown much faster than EPAL’s

capacity to deliver. The city’s distribution network was designed for around 400,000 people but the conurbation now holds well over 4 million people, with some estimates reaching as high as 6 million.

As part of a $650 million government investment plan to improve services, EPAL is building two huge water treatment plants (WTPs): one at Bita, near Kilamba Kiaxi, to serve southern Luanda, and a second at Quilonga Grande on the River Kwanza, adding to three existing plants.

The new WTPs will more than triple the current water supply to Luanda to about 17 cubic metres a second but are not expected to enter service until after 2013. Then, areas presently receiving water irregularly will have flows round the clock.

EPAL currently extracts water at five intake stations on the Kwanza and Bengo rivers, sending it to WTPs where it is treated to drinking (potable) standard and piped into the public distribution network.

If pumping water from rivers to treatment plants is the heart of the system, then the water mains and distribution pipelines are the arteries and veins that take the liquid into homes and workplaces.

Extending pipeline networks to all potential domestic users is an expensive and time-consuming process which involves digging large numbers of trenches. This is even more challenging in precarious hillside shantytowns where infrastructure has to be installed without the benefit of space and access via clearly identifiable roadways.

Water solutionsNew large-scale government-backed

residential developments in the Luanda area such as Zango, Kilamba Kiaxi and Cacuaco point to a longer-term solution to distribution problems where piped water, sewerage and associated infrastructure are put in place before homes are occupied. Private urban developments such as Luanda Sul also benefit from having this infrastructure in place ahead of construction. New housing developments help in the collection of water charges as clients have easily-accessible meters. Efficient bill payments provide EPAL with the revenue needed for further infrastructure investment.

Seitas told Universo that EPAL currently has 150,000 registered customers

with only 10 per cent paying irregularly. EPAL plans to raise its paying clientele to one million in 2013.

Meanwhile, until more planned housing becomes available, emergency measures are needed to deal with the lack of domestic connections. One stop-gap solution to distribution problems has been the construction of hundreds of communal treated-water supply points.

These facilities, strategically placed in peri-urban areas, have brought immense improvements in people’s quality of life by cutting the distances walked by water-carriers and by freeing consumers from the grip of expensive water tanker supplies sold by middlemen. The communal wells have been received with great joy, as they have solved a chronic problem and hugely improved everyday life while also improving public health.

Since 2000, more than 55 per cent of Luanda has had access to potable water, 30 per cent via the domestic distribution network and 25 per cent from communal fountains. The aim is to reach 95 per cent of the population by 2025.

EPAL is also renovating 10,000

kilometres of distribution network pipelines, having so far delivered more than 400km of new pipelines and refurbished 300km in Luanda.

Angola’s second major concentration of people in the Benguela-Lobito area has also benefited from large-scale water projects begun in 2003. Benguela’s governor General Armando da Cruz Neto aims to provide 95 per cent of the population in the metropolitan area with access to treated water by 2012.

Using extremely modern treatment systems installed by Brazil’s Odebrecht, water is extracted from the River Catumbela. The Luongo WTP near Catumbela is furnished with state-of-the-art laboratories to ensure water quality and an innovative treatment process which enables fine silts removed from the water to be used for high-quality building materials.

As in the case of EPAL, local water company Águas de Benguela has established a network of communal standpipes, which has led to a dramatic fall in cholera cases. In 2009–10 about 400 cases were reported in the area compared to over 5,000 some five years earlier.

The government’s main priority is making water available to an increasingly urban population

LIQUID ASSETS

8 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

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Kwanza water intake near Viana Benguela Province’s Luongo waterworks Top: Luongo water quality controlBelow: EPAL’s chief executive Leonildo Seitas


While there is plenty of scope for large state and private companies to provide domestic water supply infrastructure, there is also room for local grass-roots initiatives. Development Workshop (DW), Angola’s longest-serving NGO, has blazed this particular trail. DW encourages the setting up of locally-elected neighbourhood water committees to manage access, maintain and finance communal water facilities.

The aim is to give consumers ownership of projects and stimulate other communities to emulate them. The committees decide where and when water is to be available and collect payment. “Community management is an essential component to the sustainability of water systems,” says DW.

Community self-helpUsing community knowledge and later

Geographical Information Services (GIS), DW’s communal wells are intelligently mapped and located. They are positioned to best serve the optimum number of people within a certain radius by cutting down on the length of journeys walked by the water-carriers, who are usually female. Areas identified with higher rates of waterborne diseases can also be targeted as locations for treated water.

The consequences of DW’s work are the promotion of community self-help and healthcare. Consciousness is also raised about the nature of health problems and future prevention through hygiene.

These water initiatives have the spin-off of offering consumers training in basic construction techniques such as bricklaying, pumping equipment maintenance, management, user-fee collection and book-keeping, equipment caretaking as well as generally widening the local skills base. The projects give the community a stake in looking after their own water facilities and help to safeguard against vandalism.

With the main exception of the southern borderlands, Angola is a well-watered land. Although rainfall is uneven, the country is well-served with water resources. More than 15 rivers make up parts of Angola’s borders. Tributaries

of famous major river systems outside the country such as the Zambezi and the mighty Congo originate in Angola’s interior.

Tremendous potentialMany rivers have their source in

Angola’s cool central highlands and flow into the Atlantic. The Kwanza, after which the currency is named, is Angola’s main river. It rises in the central highlands and reaches full maturity totally within the country’s territory. Flowing in a north-westerly direction, it reaches the ocean 40 miles south of Luanda.

The country’s water supply is capable of meeting the needs of human consumption, farming and also, very importantly, Angola’s energy industry for the foreseeable future.

Power dams are located on several of the rivers, with the Kwanza home to the largest dams, Capanda and Cambambe, which supply Luanda and the north, while the Catumbela River’s Biópio and Lomaum dams supply Lobito and Benguela.

Angola’s 1,050km River Cunene, rising near Huambo, is harnessed first by a dam at Gove and then downstream at Matala. The Cunene has tremendous potential to supply water for irrigation as well as energy to Angola and Namibia. As far back as 1969 a grand plan of 27 dams for irrigation and power was agreed upon by the bordering countries. The river is southern Angola’s only perennial river, hence its value to agriculture.

Energy bonanzaAngola’s water-generated energy

potential is a boon for the country’s ambitions for industrial and agribusiness development, with the added bonus that it is environmentally sustainable.

The country’s hydroelectric potential from its seven major rivers is put at over 18,000MW, compared to current generation capacity of under 800MW. The middle course of its main river, the mighty Kwanza, has already borne fruit in the shape of the 520MW Capanda Dam, the country’s principal power source.

A 137km section of the Kwanza

Sources: Minea, Westcor

RIVER DANDE

Mabubas 26.8 Restart 2012

RIVER CATUMBELA

Lomaum 50 Restart 2012

Cacombo 24 Project

Biópio 14.4 Operating

RIVER CUNENE

Jamba-ya-Mina 180 Project

Jamba-ya-Oma 75 Project

Matala 40 Operating

Baynes 200 Project

Gove 60 Restart 2012

Capanda 520 Operating

Cambambe 180

Lauca 2,067 Project

Caculo Cabaça 2,000 Project

Nhangue 450 Project

Zenzo 1 450 Project

Zenzo 2 450 Project

450 Project

Luime 330 Project

RIVER KWANZA

Angola’s power dams Angola: Well-watered land

upgrading to 960MW

Túmulo do Caçador

LIQUID ASSETS

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between the Capanda and Cambambe dams has the potential to generate a massive 6,700MW at a cost of $7.3 billion, according to preliminary studies.

Angola’s energy suffers from similar problems to those for water supplies in reaching the final consumer, and rationing is common. It only partially meets burgeoning demand, rising by 12 per cent a year.

Luanda needs 400MW but currently gets around 280MW. The electricity grid and distribution network is the main bottleneck. The Ministry of Energy and Water estimates $17 billion is needed to recover Angola’s electrical energy system. Meanwhile, Angola is meeting some of the demand by diesel generation.

Relief on wayBut relief is on the way. President José

Eduardo dos Santos has said that updating the dams at Gove, Mabubas, Lomaum and Cambambe would add 296MW to the grid in 2012, and there are plans to start building three large new dams in the next few years.

Industrial concerns such as diamond mines and processing units are heavy energy users. In order to address their electricity needs, some of them, such as Alrosa, operate their own power dams to serve remote locations.

Water supply depends not only on the availability of bulk water resources from perennial rivers and aquifers, but also on constant energy supplies to pump the water from these locations, treat it and transport it to the consumers in the cities and within homes and buildings.

EPAL’s Leonildo Seitas says there are problems related to how water supply and energy supplies affect each other. Power cuts disrupt water-system maintenance, interrupting water capture and pumping into the distribution network. So EPAL is co-ordinating with electricity companies ENE and EDEL on repairs and maintenance times so as not to lose supplies unnecessarily.

Looking ahead, the Angolan government is investing $50 million in mapping 47 major hydrographical basins

with the aim of making more rational and efficient use of its water resources. Detailed maps of the first 22 basins will be ready in 2016.

The work will be supervised by the newly-formed National Water Resources Institute (INRH), which began activities in 2011.

The first basin maps are nearing completion for the Zambezi and Kuvango. The next detailed maps in line for tender are for the Kwanza, Longa, Keve and Corporolo rivers.

Manuel Quintino, the national director for water resources, said recruitment and

training of specialists will begin in 2012 to make up for the lack of hydrologists, civil engineers, map-makers, designers and chemical and biological engineers.

Mapping the future The University of Porto in Portugal

has offered to train Angolan students in these areas in both Luanda and Porto. Angola needs 24 specialists for mapping projects but currently has only six. The INRH also aims to refurbish 32 hydrometric stations.

In the south of Angola, INRH plans to exploit underground water where

surface water is insufficient. It is also contemplating transferring water from river basins such as those along the coast in the region of Dombe Grande (Benguela) to the dry Namibe and Cunene areas.

Angola’s energy and water-supply challenges are gradually being overcome. Giant new housing schemes, equipped with modern installations, now occupied on the periphery of Luanda will go some way to alleviating shortages in older central areas. Heavy public investment in new power generation and water treatment capacity throughout the country is poised to make itself felt. p

Heavy public investment in new power generation and water treatment capacity throughout the country is

poised to make itself felt

DECEMBER 2011 13

LIQUID ASSETS

The Kwanza at Muxima

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Building another new waterworks for Luanda

NETOAGOSTINHO

NATIONAL

HEROPresident, poet, revolutionary, doctor, husband and father – António Agostinho Neto played many roles during his lifetime. Universo looks at his remarkable achievements k


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A ntónio Agostinho Neto is the talisman for Angolans – the man who led the country to Independence after decades

of colonial repression. His image and name are everywhere, from statues and signposts to street names and airports, and not just in Angola, but elsewhere on the African continent.

The networks the young Neto helped form in Lisbon in the 1950s sowed the seeds for Angola’s liberation, and the friendships he developed with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara proved critical when the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) defended the country against attack by South Africa’s apartheid regime.

But as well as displaying this unquestionable political prowess, and enduring years behind bars and under surveillance, Neto was also a formidable poet.

D u r i n g h i s l i f e t i m e h e published several renowned poetry collections, including A Renúncia Impossível (Resignation Impossible), Sagrada Esperança (Sacred Hope) and Amanhecer (Dawn).

His work was celebrated by his contemporaries and he won a number of prestigious literary awards, not to mention the respect of literary luminaries such as Jean-Paul Sartre.

Today, Neto’s work is celebrated and taught not just in schools in Angola, but in universities around the world. There have been several critically-acclaimed studies of his writing and his poems have been widely translated.

Brazilian academic Nelson Cerqueira, who is to publish a new book about Neto, said he first came across his work in the 1980s while studying for his doctorate in comparative literature at the University of Indiana in the United States.

“There was a symposium hosted by the Portuguese department on African literature and one of the poets

being discussed was Agostinho Neto,” Dr Cerqueira recalls.

A few years later he found himself teaching liberation literature from Portuguese Africa to a class of undergraduates, and Neto was, of course, central to the discussion.

For Dr Cerqueira, part of Neto’s success lay in his simplicity and ability to condense complex feelings into everyday words and images that were relevant to his audiences at the time. “His use of language, his understanding of the Angolan situation at the time, the way he described it and the images he created, were very appealing to people,” the academic explains.

Dr Cerqueira, who now teaches at the Faculty Zacarias de Góes (FAZAG) in Brazil’s Bahia State, says Neto challenged the thinking of the time that the most effective political writing was fiction because that medium gave you the space to create characters and empathy.

“If you look at where political revolutions were happening in the 1950s and ‘60s, it was mostly in developing countries where there weren’t high levels of education or literacy,” he says.

“For most of these people, it wasn’t possible to read large volumes of political writing and understand theories and memorise extracts. But with poetry, ideas became accessible because you could convey a lot in three stanzas and people could identify with these shorter and simpler versions.”

Keeping the flame burningFor 27-year-old Angolan Wilson da

Silva, it was what Neto wrote about that captured the people’s imagination. Da Silva is an engineer who also co-ordinates Luanda-based arts group Lev’Arte. “Neto had a strong message for the people. He was telling us why we were fighting against the Portuguese and what we stood for. Everyone in Angola has a connection to Neto in some way,” he says.

In many ways Lev’Arte is a continuation of Neto’s vision of bringing Angolans together with literary expression. The name combines the Portuguese words levar and arte (‘take’ and ‘art’) and is precisely about “taking art to the people,” says da Silva.

The group organises poetry, music, theatre recitals and workshops, and runs sessions in schools and orphanages.

To celebrate the anniversary of Neto’s birth on September 17, National Hero Day, Lev’Arte dedicated a special event to his poetry.

“It was very well attended,” says da Silva. “And our groups are growing all the time because people are realising that through art and literature, as Neto showed, we can find our human selves, develop more and love more.”

He adds that it was important that the new generation of Angolans who might not have too much interest in the history of the liberation struggle be exposed to Neto’s poetry for its beauty and its messages.

Another body helping to keep Neto’s literary flame alive is the Dr António Agostinho Neto Foundation (FAAN). Chaired by Neto’s widow Maria Eugénia and with his daughter Irene a board member, FAAN aims to promote Neto’s literary work through workshops and events.

As well as maintaining a well-resourced website, the foundation organises talks and events for Angolan and visiting academics and dignitaries. This year, to mark National Hero Day, FAAN staged FestiNeto 2011 which was a week-long series of events celebrating the first president’s poetry and life.

Da Silva says that ‘We Must Return’ is his favourite Neto poem. “It remains relevant today. We are still a growing country, we are still building for the future, and this poem is very beautiful because it reminds us of what we are dreaming of.” p

NATIONAL HERO

Today, Neto’s work is celebrated and taught not just in schools in Angola, but in universities around the world


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President António Agostinho Neto

Neto’s poetry – an appreciation

By�Agostinho�Neto By�Júlia�Talaia,�author�of�Neo-Realism in the Poetry of Agostinho Neto


NATIONAL HERO

Reading List

Agostinho�Neto’s�poetryQuatro Poemas de Agostinho Neto (1957)

Poemas (1961)

Sagrada Esperança (1974)

A Renúncia Impossível (1982) published posthumously

Further�readingVoices from an Empire: A History of Afro-Portuguese Literature

By Russell Hamilton, (1975)

Fire: Six writers from Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde

By Donald Burness (1977)

Neo-Realism in the Poetry of Agostinho Neto

By Júlia Talaia (2009)

Forthcoming: Aesthetic Reception of Agostinho Neto’s Poetry in American Universities

By Nelson Cerqueira (2011)

To�find�out�more:Go to the website of the Fundação Dr António Agostinho Neto (FAAN - António Agostinho Neto Foundation)

www.agostinhoneto.org

Visit the Centro Cultural António Agostinho Neto in Catete

Check out the União dos Escritores Angolanos (UEA – Angolan Writers’ Association)

www.ueangola.com

Lev’Arte - levarteangola.blogspot.com

To�the�houses,�to�our�farmsto�the�beaches,�to�our�fieldswe�must�return

To�our�landsred�with�coffeewhite�with�cottongreen�with�maize�we�must�return

To�our�mines�of�diamondsgold,�copper,�our�oilwe�must�return

To�our�rivers,�our�lakesto�the�mountains,�to�the�forestswe�must�return

To�the�cool�of�the�mulemba�treeto�our�traditionsto�the�rhythms�and�to�the�bonfireswe�must�return

To�the�marimba*�and�to�the�quissangue*to�our�carnivalwe�must�return

To�the�beautiful�Angolan�homelandour�land,�our�motherwe�must�return

We�must�returnto�liberated�Angolaindependent�Angola

*��Musical�instruments

Translation:�John�Kolodziejski

We must return(Havemos de voltar)

The poetry of Agostinho Neto has become a legacy of Angola’s history in the way that it encapsulates not just Neto’s personal traits, but the essence of the ‘sacred hope’ of a people; the dream of achieving the country’s independence and realising all of its other dreams.

Used to hearing about Neto’s poetry only in the political context, I had no idea that alongside this there was such beauty in his marriage of words and an aesthetic presence which was ignored in his books.

After this discovery, I started to read the poetry with a clearer mind and saw that anyone could demystify the messages transmitted and make their own judgments.

Poetry is subjective. There are countless poets who have unpublished works, valued according to the time when they wrote their poems. Nevertheless, not everyone who reads them manages to reach the soul of those who wrote them nor understands what they wanted to say.

In Neto’s poetry you don’t need to make much effort to understand the arrangement of words because they move fluidly through the landmarks of history, of a revolt, of a desire, and a certainty is continually in evidence: Here in prison / anger restrained within my breast / I wait patiently / the clouds gather / the breath of history / no one can stop the rain.

It is likely that the events he was living through when the poems were written required the poet to be as clear as possible so that the message could reach everyone and ease their anxieties.

Accordingly, the poetry of Agostinho Neto is of extreme relevance to all Angolan citizens, and not only because it represents a part of Angolan history but also because it is an instrument of Angolan literature which could be made better use of in the education system to instill values in young people.

Such as believing in and fighting for your ideals, despite the obstacles, of being persistent and humble, showing solidarity and, above all, not letting yourself be intimidated by those who assume superiority through their race, politics or financial means.

November 11 is the fruit of all these values, the day on which Angolans achieved what they had dreamed of and fought for – the independence of their country.

With independence other dreams have become reality. Today in 2011, we have witnessed many things, on the one hand, predicted in Neto’s poems, on the other hand, fruits of our dreams and the persistence and work of Angolans.

For example, the gains we have made socially, politically and economically. And even the most recent and no less important achievements, the titles of Women’s African Basketball Champions and Miss Universe, among others.

To sum up, the poetry of Agostinho Neto allows me to penetrate and to know more deeply the world of words and see that they are not only arranged to make judgments but also to make us reflect deeply on why and in what circumstances they are written.

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1922�...... �September� 17.� Agostinho� Neto� is� born� at�Kaxicane�near�Catete

1937�...... �Neto’s� family� moves� to� Luanda,� where� he�studies�at�the�Lyceum�Salvador�Correia

1944�...... �Neto�moves�to�Portugal�to�study�at�the�Faculty�of�Medicine�of�Coimbra

1948��...... �Transfers� to� the� Faculty� of� Medicine� of�Lisbon.� Helps� form� the� Movement� of�Young� Intellectuals� of� Angola� (MJIA).�Collaborates� in� setting� up Revista Momento�(Moment Magazine)�which�carries�his�earliest�published�works

1950�...... �Neto�publishes�articles�in�Luanda�in�Mensagem (Message)�magazine

1951�...... �Neto� made� youth� representative� for� the�Portuguese� colonies� in� the� youth� wing� of�the� Movement� for� Democratic� Unity� (MUD).�Works�alongside�Amílcar�Cabral�(Cape�Verde),�Marcelino� dos� Santos� (Mozambique)� and�Francisco�José�Tenreiro�(São�Tomé).�Founds�Centre�for�African�Studies

1952�...... �Neto� arrested� in� Lisbon� by� the� Portuguese�secret�police�(PIDE)�and�held�for�three�months

1953�...... �Formation�of�the�Party�for�the�United�Struggle�of�Africans�in�Angola�(PLUA)

1954�...... �Portuguese�authorities�close�down�the�Centre�for�African�Studies

1955�...... �February.�Neto�arrested�again�and�sentenced�to�18�months

1955�...... �Mário�Pinto�de�Andrade�and�his�brother�Joaquim�(a� priest)� found� the� Angolan� Communist��Party�(PCA)�and�recruit�members�from�Catete�and�Malange

1956�...... �International�petition�for�Neto’s�release�started�by� a� group� of� mainly� French� intellectuals,�including� Simone� de� Beauvoir,� François�Mauriac,�Jean-Paul�Sartre�and�the�Cuban�poet�Nicolás�Guillén

1956�...... �December.� People’s� Movement� for� the�Liberation�of�Angola�(MPLA)�is�created�out�of�the�merger�of�the�PLUA�and�the�PCA

1957�...... �July.�Neto�released�from�custody.�In�October�he�graduates�in�Medicine�from�the�University�of�Lisbon�and�on�the�same�day�marries�Maria�Eugénia�da�Silva

1958�...... �Neto,�along�with�Lúcio�Lara,�sets�up�the�Anti-Colonialist� Movement� (MAC)� which� unites�these� forces� in�Angola,�Guinea�Bissau,�Cape�Verde,�Mozambique�and�São�Tomé

1959�...... �March� and� July.� Police� arrest� nationalists� in�Angola.�Several�MPLA�figures�are�given� long�prison�sentences.�Neto�starts�work�in�Lisbon�as�a�gynaecologist

1959�...... �December.�Neto�and�his�family�travel�to�Luanda�where�he�opens�a�surgery�specialising�in�the�treatment�of�women�who�are�poor

1960�...... �June.�Neto�arrested�in�Luanda,�sparking�a�major�protest� by� people� who� march� on� the� prison�where�he�is�being�held.�Police�overreact,�killing�30� protestors� and� wounding� more� than� 200.�Neto� is� later� transferred� to� prison� in� Cape�Verde,�where�he�stays�for�two�years,�working�as�a�doctor�helping�other�inmates�and�island�residents� before� being� transferred� to� Aljube�Prison,�Lisbon

1961�...... �January.� Inspired� by� news� of� the� Congo’s�independence,� cotton� workers� at� Baixa� de�Cassange�in�Malange�go�on�strike,�taking�up�arms� against� their� colonial� employers.� The�Portuguese� army� is� called� in� and� several�thousand�people�die

1961�...... �February� 4.� Armed� uprising� against� the�Portuguese�with�attacks�launched�on�a�prison,�army�bases�and�other�strategic�locations

1961�...... �Agostinho�Neto�meanwhile�remains�in�prison�but�an�international�campaign�is�launched�to�free�him�

1963�...... �March.�Neto�released�from�Aljube�Prison�but�forced�to�live�in�Lisbon

1963�...... �June.� Neto� escapes� to� Congo-Léopoldville�where�the�MPLA�has�its�main�overseas�office.�Elected� Honorary� President� of� the� MPLA�but� the� party� is� forced� out� of� the� country�to� neighbouring� Congo� Brazzaville� –� the�government� having� switched� its� support�to� rival� Angolan� liberation� movement,�the� National� Front� for� the� Liberation� of��Angola�(FNLA)�

1965�...... �January.�Neto�receives�visit�from�Che�Guevara�whom� he� asks� for� Cuban� aid.� Receives�six� instructors� to� train� and� fight� with� the�MPLA� guerrilla� forces� on� the� newly-created��Cabinda�Front

1966�...... �Neto�travels�to�Havana�to�meet�Fidel�Castro�to�ask�for�more�assistance

1966�...... �July.�Elite�unit�of�100�men�enters�Angola�via�Congo-Léopoldville,� launching� the� first� of�a� series� of� successful� missions� to� acquire�strategic�territory

1968�...... �Neto� travels� widely� to� lobby� support� for� the�MPLA�from�African�and�other�governments

1974�...... �April.� Bloodless� coup,� ‘the� Carnation�Revolution’� in� Portugal.� President� Marcelo�Caetano� replaced� by� General� António� de�Spínola.� Portugal� cedes� to� pressure� and�agrees�to�give� independence�to� its�colonies:�Portuguese� Guinea,� now� Guinea� Bissau,� in�September�1974;�Mozambique� in�June�1975;�Cape� Verde� in� the� July� and� then� Angola� in�November�of�that�year

1975�...... �January.� Representatives� from� Angola’s�three�main� liberation�movements,�the�MPLA,��the� FNLA� and� the� National� Union� for� the��Total� Independence�of�Angola� (UNITA)�meet�to� sign� the� Alvor� Agreement� creating� a�transitional�government�

1975�...... �March.� The� arrangement� starts� to� crumble,�leading�to�widespread�street�fighting,�mainly�between� the� MPLA� and� the� FNLA.� Neto�leads� resistance� against� the� FNLA� who�are� eventually� pushed� out� of� the� capital.�On� November� 11� Agostinho� Neto� declares�Angola�independent�and�himself�president�and�head�of�the�armed�forces

1979�...... �September�10.�Angola’s�first�president�dies�in�Moscow�during�cancer�surgery

ANGOLA INDEPENDENCE TIMELINE


NATIONAL HERO

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ANGOLA’S FILM-MAKERSREEL LIVES

Luanda’s fourth International Cinema Festival (FIC) in November is a timely reminder for Universo to focus on Angola’s highly-motivated band

of film-makers, whose industry is on the brink of a boom kBy Lula Ahrens

DECEMBER 2011 2322 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

ANGOLAN FILM

Kalunga Lima: scientific niche

A ngolan-Canadian Kalunga Lima manages the company LS Filmes. He started his cinematic career in institutional films

for the oil industry, making his jump to producing wildlife documentaries when he accompanied biologist Dr Pedro Vaz Pinto during his search for the giant sable antelope or Palanca Negra Gigante.

“Because I was in Angola and had high-definition gear, I was in an ideal situation to make a film about the quest to save our national symbol,” Lima says in his modest office in the centre of Luanda. “Luckily, this was the year Pedro actually captured the giant sable. The documentary is more about his six-year, often solitary, quest than about the animal itself.”

Once Lima had the footage of the giant sable, Angola’s national symbol, he was able to get sponsorship to finish the documentary. The funds also allowed him to start a second science-related documentary, this time on dinosaur research in Angola.

Attending a presentation by US palaeontologist Professor Louis Jacobs, Lima was surprised and fascinated to learn that Angola is extremely rich in dinosaur fossils.

“Nobody seemed to know about this! The PaleoAngola group had no money to continue their research, so I asked them, ‘If I find a sponsor, can I make a documentary?’”

LS Filmes gained funding from the Vida Foundation of Angola for two expeditions and a full-size dinosaur replica, while Esso Angola supported a project-related children’s book and a brochure.

“The PaleoAngola project opened my eyes to the possibility of doing science-related projects more systematically,” says Lima. “Combining academic research, documentary films for the general public and children’s books is where I’ve found my niche. I want to use the same three-level formula for other wildlife projects.”

LS Filmes is still looking for sponsors for its current production, a documentary on the African manatee. “The manatee is a bizarre, very rare, walrus-like mammal

that lives in the Kwanza River,” explains Lima. “Manatees in Angola have never been photographed or filmed. They are almost completely unknown to the general Angolan public and the scientific community.”

His documentary about the Giant Sable was shown at Expo 2010 in China. Lima is now producing several films for the Angolan Pavilion at Expo 2012 in Korea.

The wildlife-documentary maker has suggested bringing the material LS Filmes produced for Expo 2012 back to Angola.

“If you do that at every Expo, you’ll be constantly enriching Angola’s museums and schools,” he says. “A start has already been made. We also have a strong link with the Angolan Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology. That’s why the PaleoAngola dinosaur replica will soon be seen at the new Museum of Science and Technology in Luanda.”

Lima always produces work with a young Angolan audience in mind. “We must bring science to young people in Angola if we want to have scientists in the


ANGOLAN FILM

‘I can bring science to a larger Angolan public. That’s what I can do to make

Angola a better place’ – Kalunga Lima

future,” he says. “Growing up in Canada, I was a big fan of scientific film-makers Jacques Cousteau and David Suzuki. I don’t think I would be making science documentaries had I not watched their programmes as a child.”

Lima feels he can inspire children the same way scientists like these inspired him. “In Africa, we are still struggling with basic literacy, so science is seen as a luxury. Still, African intellectuals have been talking about an African renaissance for decades. But how can we ever have a true African renaissance without science?”

Lima has also started a PhD in Science Communication. “By making documentaries and children’s books, I can bring science to a larger Angolan public. That’s what I can do to make Angola a better place. I’m trying to do it at an international level, because to get international attention and sponsorship you need a high level of quality. It’s a challenge, but I don’t see it as work. I love what I do, that’s the beauty of it.”

Paulo Azevedo: discovering new values

After completing degrees in Film Studies in Cape Town and English

and Contemporary Dance in the UK, Paulo Azevedo worked as a professional dancer for seven years before he went back to filmmaking.

He has made two short video-art documentaries, Estação dos Musseques (Shanty-town Train) and Next Station Kubal, which were shown during Luanda’s Triennial in 2010.

In Next Station Kubal, Azevedo films his journey and fellow passengers on the Benguela railway line, up to what used to be the last station during the Angolan Civil War, Kubal.

Estação dos Musseques is about Azevedo’s chaotic train journey from Luanda’s outskirts to the nearby industrial town of Viana. “It represents an important part of Angolan society, including the omnipresent but unrecognised post-traumatic

disorder that plagues many Angolans,” Azevedo explains in a soft voice from behind a desk in one of the Elinga Theatre’s beautiful but derelict rooms in Luanda.

He will start producing his first low-budget fiction movie The Diary of a Musician at the end of 2011. It’s about a young man from Luanda’s slums who wants to record an album.

“It’s a metaphor for Luanda’s big, materialistic, rich world versus its poor outskirts. At the same time, it’s about the need to put Angolan music down on paper, so that it can be read and played all over the world,” he says.

French film producer Gregory Bernard donated half of the film’s $250,000 budget. Azevedo is still looking for sponsors for the second half.

Kalunga Lima

Paulo Azevedo

Angola’s emblematic giant sable antelope

Lima and his dinosaur replica

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ANGOLAN FILM

Azevedo is also working on a second fiction film called The Next Day. His documentary Between Horizons, which he has been producing over the past six years with Miguel Hurst, director of the Instituto Angolano de Cinema, Audiovisual e Multimédia (Iacam), is due to come out at the end of 2011. The documentary’s budget is a mere $20,000 provided by the Goethe Institute. Between Horizons is a tribute to 75-year-old theatre director Rogério de Carvalho. “He’s my great example. Almost everything I know as a film director I’ve learnt from him. I want to show his value to Angolan society.

“People in Angola are not yet susceptible to art,” says Azevedo. “Trying to change that is like taking people from one planet to another. But we Angolans must discover other values outside our materialism.”

Making films in Angola is still difficult, he says. “There is a lack of structure, laws and funding. I’m struggling to improve that. Otherwise Angola’s oil boom will become a mask, an outside without an inside.”

Jorge António: seduced by Angola

Portuguese film-maker Jorge António finished cinema school in Lisbon

in 1988 and then specialised in film production. Angolan and Portuguese TV

broadcasters and private investors fund his films. They are shown at Angolan cinemas, international film festivals and on Angolan and international television.

António first visited Angola in 1988. “I fell in love with Angola and the Angolan people who, despite their poverty and misery, were able to find some joy in their daily lives,” he remembers.

In 1991, he produced his first short film The Funeral. He followed this with O Miradouro da Lua (Viewpoint on the Moon) in 1992, the first Angolan-Portuguese co-production after Independence. The film tells the story of a Portuguese boy who travels to Angola to find his unknown father. When he sees Angola’s beautiful, bizarre piece of dry, lunar-like landscape near Luanda, Viewpoint on the Moon, he decides to stay.

António decided to stay in Angola after meeting his Angolan wife Ana Clara Guerra Marques, founder and director of the Contemporary Dance Company. He has been her dance company producer since 1995. In 2004, he produced the documentary Outras Frases (Other Phrases) about Marques as the pioneer of contemporary

dance in Angola and the company’s history.António’s work is widely recognised

both in and outside Angola. His trilogy on Angolan music, which consists of the documentaries Angola, Histórias da Música Popular (Stories of the People’s Music) 2005, Kuduro, Fogo no Museke (Kuduro, Fire in the Shanty-town) 2007 and O Lendário Tio Liceu e os Ngola Ritmos (The Legendary Uncle Liceu and the Ngola Rhythms) 2009, has earned him three awards for best documentary: the first at Lusofonias in Coimbra (2006), the second at the International Film Festival of Performing Arts (Ficap) in Lisbon (2008) and the third at FIC Luanda (2010).

Within the next two years, António has three new projects coming up. Tchokwe Dance Masks is a documentary based on his wife Ana Clara’s MA thesis. A fictional film Days of Rain tells the story of a former Portuguese soldier in the Angolan colonial war who sees a Kuduro singer in Lisbon and thinks it’s someone he killed during the war.

The third project is an adaptation of late Angolan writer Henrique Abranches’s Lords of the Sand. “Abranches was an

independence fighter, a cartoon pioneer and designer of the Angolan kwanza banknote. His book Lords of the Sand is about a fantasy universe with ghosts – the souls of those who suffered injustice – discussing political themes,” says António.

“I fight against injustice and that shines through in my films. The advantage is that I’m well known in Angola. People believe in my projects, and like to discuss these subjects.” As a consultant for IACAM

between 2007 and 2009, António got to know the young generation of Angolan film-makers. “Most of them copy American video clips and Brazilian soaps, while they could be creating new things on their own, rich and powerful Angolan culture,” he says. “There are, of course, exceptions: young Angolan director Mário Bastos, for instance. He is the future of Angolan cinema.”

António has put his effort into writing books, giving workshops and creating the

first international film festival in Angola. “We also helped create the Cinema Law, which was introduced by the Angolan Ministry of Culture in 2008. The law has not yet been approved,” he says, “but I think the Angolan government should recognise the potential and power of Angolan cinema, and its importance for Angola’s image abroad.”

Fernando Alvim: 25-year project

Fernando Alvim, a world-renowned Angolan artist and director of Luanda’s

Triennial, has been working on his magnum opus since 1988. He promised himself then that it would be finished in 2013, when he reached the age of 50. Alvim’s good friend Rui Costa Reis, owner of RCR Media Group, is the producer and sponsor of the project.

Those who are curious about Alvim’s film-making capacities do not need to wait until 2013. He has already produced two documentaries as part of his Marked Intimate Memories project: Blinding Emotions, about a leg and a prosthesis, and Gela Uanga (War and Art of Elsewhere), in which 14 African artists discuss the culture of conflict in Cuito Cuanavale in 1987.

Alvim’s idea to make his major work originated from when he saw Europe (Brussels) for the very first time. “That was confrontational because I was used

‘People believe in my projects, and like to discuss these subjects’ – Jorge António

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Moonscape seduction

Fernando Alvim

Jorge António

DECEMBER 2011 2928 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Right time for Angolan films

to living in war-torn Angola,” he says. “I soon realised that the European version of Angolan-African news and history is based on pure manipulation and lack of knowledge or interest. At the same time [in 1988], I saw many right-wing governments take over in European countries. I thought: ‘The Second World War mentality is still here.’ That’s when I started deconstructing Nazi icons and the Western perception of Africa, including Angola, through working on my film.”

Alvim’s project is based on 60 paintings, depicting 60 key moments of the story. He uses a mix of archive images of world history, 3D and animation technologies and only one (Angolan) actor. Forty art works have already been completed.

“It’s a film that destroys prejudice by deconstructing Nazi icons through the South-African Ubuntu [humanist] philosophy,” says Alvim.

Mário Bastos: a strong need to tell stories

Mário Bastos was born and raised in Luanda. He became a passionate

photographer at the age of 12. Four years later, he moved to New York to become a filmmaker. He took classes at the New York Film Academy and graduated from the Directing programme with his award-winning short film Kiari in 2006.

He also enrolled at the Motion Pictures and Television programme at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California.

Bastos wrote and directed his first short Angolan film Alambamento (Wedding Deal), which is currently being

shown at international festivals. Kiari was shown at festivals in the United States. All of his projects are funded by sponsors.

Bastos has been hired, together with production company Geração 80, to direct and produce the audiovisual part of the project Angola nos Trilhos da Independência (Angola on the Paths of Independence) due to be finished in 2015. Participants of this Associação Tchiweka de Documentação project collect oral testimonies related to Angola’s anti-colonial struggle, based on which a documentary will be made.

Bastos is also working on his first fiction feature film. “The stories I want to tell at this stage of my life are mostly related to Luanda because now is the time,” he says.

His films feature “urban characters whose high hopes and dreams fall apart due to the society they live in. My interest in film-making grew out of a strong need to tell stories,” he says. “I am passionate about how a good story in one corner of the world can affect a person in another corner of the world. Films can spread cultures and emotions. Stories can bring about change, understanding, belief, hope and dreams.

“It’s extremely expensive and difficult to produce films in Angola, so why do we keep doing it? Because we must. Nobody will ask you to make a movie. You’ve got to love what you do and just do it,” Bastos adds. “My own belief is that film can be an essential industry in every country, including Angola. It can create jobs, and produce revenue. That’s what I fight for – a true Angolan film industry in which film-makers are treated as professionals.” p

Mário Bastos

Scenes from Sunset Trust, directed by Mário Bastos

Documenting Angola’s musical heritage

ANGOLAN FILM

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SPORTING SUCCESS

A ngola’s national soccer team the Palancas Negras added to national prestige by defeating Guinea Bissau away from home 0-2 on October 8 with goals from Manucho and Mateus in each

half. The result confirmed qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations, known as CAN. The CAN 2012 finals will be jointly hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in January and February next year.

The Palancas Negras face tough Group B opponents in the shape of Ivory Coast, FIFA’s top-ranked side and favourite to win CAN 2012. The Angolans’ other Group B rivals are Sudan and Burkina Faso. Their first match is against Burkina Faso on January 22, followed by Sudan on January 26. The challenging encounter with Ivory Coast takes place in the Palancas’ last group match on January 30.

Pedro Neto, head of Angola’s soccer federation, told BBC Sport that he thought Angola’s chances were slim as both the Ivory Coast and Sudan topped their qualifying groups and Sudan was one of the best runners-up, whereas Angola only qualified in their final match.

However, Neto said he was very pleased that the Group B matches will be played in Equatorial Guinea’s capital, Malabo, where stadium facilities are very good.

A ngola’s female basketball team won the African Championship trophy in Mali in October qualifying them for the 2012 London Olympics. It was Angola’s first female continental basketball title and gained them automatic

qualification for the London Olympic Games next year.President José Eduardo dos Santos congratulated the team,

describing the triumph as “a result of collective action and the victorious spirit of the Angolan people.”

The Angolan victory was all the sweeter as it came over Senegal, the reigning and ten-times champions of Afrobasket. On no fewer than five occasions, Angola’s best position in the competition had been third place, a feat repeated in the previous two championships.

Large crowds gathered at Luanda Airport for the team’s home-coming. Team captain Nacissela Maurício, trophy in hand, was first to emerge from the aircraft and led a 20-vehicle celebratory cavalcade in an open-top bus through the city, with hundreds of motorcyclists providing a noisy escort.

Nacissela was voted ‘most valued player’ in the championship and was also named a member of the competition’s dream team, along with Angola’s Sónia Guadalupe, Senegal’s Diouf Diodio and Aya Traore, and Mali’s Djénébou Sissoko.

SOCCER KINGS

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Nacissela Maurício

National team captain, André Macanga

Manucho scores


Two years ago she was a shy business student from Benguela who could barely walk in high heels. Today, the 25-year-old is

officially the most beautiful woman in the Universe, putting Angola on the map for all the right reasons.

Leila Lopes was crowned Miss Universe 2011 in the Brazilian city of São Paulo in September, becoming only the fourth African woman to take the title in the competition’s 60 year history.

Her rise from the girl next door to international beauty queen is a tale of determination, dreams and a winning smile. Those close to Leila say she is the most deserving winner of such a prestigious title and they attribute her success to her humility, manners and gentle personality.

Leila’s journey to stardom started back in 2009 when she signed up with Angolan modelling agent Hadjalmar “Hadja” El Vaim and asked for his help to prepare for the Miss Angola competition.

“She was very, very shy. In fact she was one of the shyest people I’ve ever met,” Hadja said. “But there was something about her smile that told you she could win over that fear, and so that’s what we set about doing.”

Hadja, who is also from Benguela and is a friend of Leila’s family, said the training began with Leila’s walk. “It really was quite bad,” he laughed. “She was getting booked for promotions and photo shoots but she wasn’t doing anything on the catwalk because she just couldn’t walk in high heels.

“So I used to take her out to the Marginal next to Luanda Bay and make her walk up and down the whole length in high heels,” he explained. “You know how Angolans are when they see something a bit different, they always point and comment. Well, she got that a lot, but it was all part of the training. I wanted her to know how to deal with the attention.”

Hadja’s toughness paid off. He said Leila was soon more comfortable wearing heels, so he started to take her to cocktail parties and events to introduce her to people and get her used to interacting with strangers.

The following year Leila, who was by then studying in Britain, entered the UK Miss Angola heat, and won, qualifying her for the Miss Angola final in Luanda in

LEILA CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE

How the shy girl next door charmed the beauty competition judges with her winning smile and put Angola on the world map k

MISS UNIVERSE

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December 2010. In the run-up to the final Hadja, having perfected her walking in high heels and arranged a strict diet and exercise regime, concentrated next on her communication skills.

“There are a lot of things that beauty pageant judges look for,” he explained. “But one of the most important is how you interact with people and whether you make the right gestures.

“When you’re asked a question, you must go straight to the answer, don’t hesitate, and always smile because you look calm when you smile. All these little tricks can make the difference.”

Before the Miss Angola gala final, the contestants spent 20 days together in a house where they were observed and interviewed by a panel of judges.

“I suppose it’s a bit like the TV series Big Brother in a way,” he said. “And it’s also a test of how the girls cope without their families and friends around them, to see how strong they are, because being a Miss Angola is very hard work and you need that inner strength.”

As well as making sure his protégée was clued up on Angolan culture and had a plan about what charities she would like to help if she won, Hadja recalled that his

Leila’s bio

Leila� Lopes� (full� name� Leila� Luliana�da� Costa� Vieira� Lopes)� was� born� in�1986�in�the�southern�city�of�Benguela,�where�she�completed�her�high�school�studies�and�where�her�family�still�lives.

Before� entering� the� Miss�Angola� competition,� Leila� studied�Business� Management� at� University�Campus� Suffolk� in� Ipswich� in� the� �United�Kingdom.

In� 2009� she� signed� up� with� the�Hadja�Models�agency�in�Luanda,�and�a� year� later� she� entered� and� won� �Miss�Angola�UK.�

In� December� last� year� she�was� elected� Miss� Angola� 2011� and�moved� back� to� Angola� to� fulfil� the�responsibilities�of�her�role.

Leila� was� crowned� the� 60th�Miss� Universe� in� São� Paulo,� Brazil,�in� September� 2011,� becoming� only�the�fourth�African�woman�to�win�the�title.�Other�African�winners�have�been�South�Africa�in�1978,�Namibia�in�1992�and�Botswana�in�1999.�

As�well�as�assuming�her�new�duties�as�Miss�Universe,�Leila�has�been�invited��to� be� a� Goodwill� Ambassador� for�the� United� Nations� Convention� to� �Combat�Desertification.

MISS UNIVERSE

advice to Leila during those 20 days in the house was to get on with everyone, but not to be too laid back.

“I said she must always look good and take care of herself, like not letting the other girls see her in flip-flops but always have high heels on, even around the house.”

It worked and, against Hadja’s initial reservations, Leila took the crown.

“I knew that she was prepared and that she’s really, really beautiful, but all those girls are beautiful and they are all prepared because they want to win, so I wasn’t sure she would make it all the way,” he said.

“But she did very well and she was clearly the best in the way she presented herself on the night. She’s very clever and I think she impressed as well because she can speak perfect English.”

After winning Miss Angola, Leila put her studies on hold to return home and set about dedicating herself to the responsibilities of her new job.

As well as making public appearances and lending her face to various advertising campaigns and promotions, during her year Miss Angola also becomes a charity ambassador.

Leila’s chosen focus was on children, and her work took her to various orphanages and schools around the country, running both fun and educational events.

One programme involved taking dental material to classrooms to teach young people about good oral hygiene. Another saw Leila take children who had never flown before on plane trips sponsored by Angola’s national carrier TAAG.

As well as supporting children’s charities, Leila followed in the footsteps of earlier winners and became involved in promotional material for the National Institute for the Fight against Aids (INLS) – Instituto Nacional de Luta contra a Sida.

A giant poster of Leila hangs from the INLS building in Maianga, Luanda, and her famous smile adorns billboards around the country, advising people to use condoms and not take risks.

Her work as Miss Angola appeared to give Leila a new confidence and she took that to Brazil in July ahead of the Miss Universe contest.

As in the Miss Angola final, the contestants (more than 80) were kept together in a house ahead of the big event,

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but this time it was for 40 days, double the time she had spent in the run-up to Miss Angola in Luanda six months earlier.

Hadja, who was unable to travel to São Paulo with Leila due to other commitments including New York Fashion Week, said: “I know she had a tough time there. They were all strangers from so many different cultures and the training was very hard and very intense.

“But because of all the training she was looking amazing. They also arranged extra classes for her from some Brazilians, and you know how Brazilians are very expressive. Well, they helped bring out her personality. And it definitely helped that she could speak English so she could get on with all the girls and speak to the judges with more confidence.”

Former Miss Angola Committee organiser Felipe “Lipe” Dylong watched Leila’s ascent to stardom with pride.

“Leila was unbelievable at Miss Universe. She’s just great, so pretty, so humble, and she really deserved to win,” he told Universo from his office in Luanda where he now runs Dimax, a production and events company.

“I think her beauty is in her simplicity and her wonderful smile. She speaks English from studying in the UK, but at the same time she has been educated mostly

in Angola so is very humble and knows where she comes from.

“Her beauty is from within and that’s why she went so far. The judges aren’t just looking for pretty faces – they are looking for something more, and with Leila they could definitely feel that.”

Lipe, who in the past has worked with a number of Miss Angolas who have gone on to places at Miss World and Miss Universe, said he was thrilled an Angolan girl had finally taken the top spot.

“For Angola to win Miss Universe was unbelievable,” he said. “I have received emails from all over the world from people so happy to hear the news. This is one of the best things to happen to this country since the end of the war.

“Miss Universe definitely needed a black winner and it’s great that an Angolan was that winner.”

He added: “Winning Miss Universe takes Leila right to the top, not for one day or one week but for a whole year, and that is only the beginning. What’s so great is that she can be such a positive ambassador for the country, which is part of what these competitions are all about.”

Paying tribute to First Lady Ana Paula dos Santos, who is known as the godmother of the Miss Angola Committee, and with whom he worked during his tenure at the

organisation, Lipe said: “The First Lady has been the real driver of Miss Angola and it’s down to her that the girls, and now Leila, have been so successful.”

Hadja added that Leila winning Miss Universe would give a new impetus to the Miss Angola competition domestically.

“I think we will see more girls entering Miss Angola now after this because people will be more motivated by Leila’s success.

“In the past I think people have not entered because they didn’t think it was possible to go all the way, but Leila now allows them to dream.”

The news that Leila had been crowned Miss Universe triggered a rapturous response at home in Angola, and her Facebook page was flooded with messages of congratulations.

Leila replied: “If I said thank you a million times it would not be enough, so I will say it every day. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your kind words and support. It means so much to me.”

In another message she wrote: “I am so blessed right now and feeling all the love you send my way. I send the same love back to you, and I remain humble yet overcome with emotions. Thank you everyone, I will make you proud.”

After the flash photography and interviews in São Paulo, Leila was whisked

“Angolan� women� are� beautiful� and�they�like�to�look�after�themselves”,�said�Felipe� “Lipe”� Dylong,� a� former� Miss�Angola�organiser.�“That’s�why�they�do�so�well�in�global�beauty�competitions.”

He� said� the� mix� of� cultural�influences� from� Brazil� and� Portugal�also� make� Angola� stand� out� next�to� its� African� neighbours.� “There’s�something� just� a� bit� different� about�Angolan�girls,”�he�said.

For� modelling� agent� Hadjalmar�“Hadja”� El� Vaim,� there� is� something�about� the� glitz� and� the� glamour� that�was�very�appealing�to�Angolans.

Remembering� one� of� the� first�Miss�Angola�competitions�he�attended�as� a� teenager,� he� said:� “It� was� back�in�1998�and� it�was�a� time�when�we’d�been� through� so� much� as� a� country,�too�much�war�and�politics,� too�many�issues.� Miss� Angola� was� something�that�could�be�a�distraction� from�that,�something�for�us�to�dream�about.

“I�remember�that�event�so�clearly,�it�was�at�the�Alvalade�swimming�pool�in�Luanda�and�they�built�the�stage�over�the� water.� It� was� just� magical� and� a�real�dream�for�us�to�see�something�like�this�in�Angola�where�there�wasn’t�much�

going� on� for� young� people.� “I� think�that� has� stuck� with� girls� today.� They�found�something�with�Miss�Angola�that��they� can� dream� about,� something��very�aspirational.

“It�may�look�trivial�seeing�women�walking� up� and� down� in� bikinis� but�it’s� about� so� much� more� than� that� –��it’s�about�culture�and�communication�and� how� you� can� represent� your�country�abroad.”

Leila� Lopes,� the� current� Miss�Universe,� has� also� hit� back� at� critics�who�describe�beauty�pageants�as�old-fashioned� or� sexist.� She� said� those�people�were�“entitled�to�their�opinions”�but�it�was�not�just�about�looks.

“Aspiration�and�personality�come�first� before� looks.� You� must� have� a�great�personality,”�she�said,�stressing�that�a�lot�of�the�work�was�about�charity�and�supporting�people.

“As�Miss�Angola,�my�main�project�was�working�with�children�in�desperate�need.� Sometimes� I� didn’t� even� have�money�or�clothes�or�medicines�to�give�to�them�when�I�visited�them�in�hospital,�but�they�were�very�happy�to�see�me.�I�don’t�know�why,�but�this�is�the�power�that�the�beauty�pageants�bring.”�

What is it about Angolan women?


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off to New York for more photo shoots and publicity events and then to Singapore, where she attended the Formula One Grand Prix, and afterwards on to Indonesia to present the prizes at Miss Indonesia.

It was some weeks after her win that Leila finally made it back to Angola, where she was greeted by thousands of fans who lined the streets to catch a glimpse of their new princess.

A gala party was hosted in her honour by President José Eduardo dos Santos and his wife Ana Paula. Musicians, VIPS, politicians and models turned out to welcome Leila home and thank her for putting Angola on the map and giving a boost to the country’s women.

Madalena Silvestre, director of the Miss Angola Committee, told the Jornal de Angola: “Leila was always very quiet and only spoke when it was necessary. But when she smiled, it made everyone happy.

“In my opinion, she was chosen as the winner because of being well-mannered, intelligent, having such stage presence through her smile, and overall for her grasp of English which she used to communicate with the other candidates and the organisers.”

Joana Lina, vice-president of Fundação Lwini, the social solidarity fund created by First Lady Ana Paula, added:

“We are very proud of this achievement which proves the strength and confidence of the Angolan woman.

“As well as showing off the beauty of our country, Leila will have the opportunity to project the African continent to new horizons so that it is talked about and becomes better known.”

And Luanda’s vice-governor Juvelina Imperial said Leila had made the country proud. She was “an example to follow” because of her “humility and simplicity”, she said, adding that she was confident future Miss Angolas would also share in similar success.

Angolan sociologist Fátima Viegas, who is also the director of the Office for Citizenship and Civil Society of the ruling MPLA’s Central Committee, said she thought Leila’s win would have a positive impact on Angolan society.

“We take pride in seeing the fruits of our citizenship travelling beyond our country. Just recently I was in Israel and when I was identified as being Angolan, I was associated with Miss Universe. The rise of our beauty in the world ranking is very important because now we have a new image, one of beauty, which is synonymous with development.”

After the glitz and glamour of the presidential gala, it was straight to work for

Leila, who visited a programme run by the Fight Against Aids Institute, made a visit to the Tourism Ministry and also dropped in to see a Fundação Lwini project. There were also private meetings with First Lady Ana Paula and, of course, a visit to her family and friends.

In a short news conference the delighted Leila told Angolan journalists: “Thanks to all for caring so much and receiving me in this way. I am very proud to have won Miss Universe, but it would never have been possible without all your support. I am very happy to be returning home with this trophy in my hand.”

In another interview Leila described winning Miss Universe has been like a dream, and she pledged to use her title to boost the image of Angola abroad.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: “Until two weeks ago, not many people could locate Angola on a map. Some people even still think that we live in trees and we are always fighting. No, no, no – we have peace, and we have beautiful places. We’ve also got amazing food, great weather; it’s like the best place to be.”

She added: “We were at war for 30 years, but we’ve been at peace for almost nine years. Angola is a fast-growing country, everything is going perfectly now, and this is what I want to show to the world.” p

Other Miss Angolas

‘The rise of our beauty in the world ranking is very important because now we have a new image, one of beauty’


Micaela� Reis� was� crowned� Miss�Angola� in� 2006� and� was� first�runner-up� in� the�2007�Miss�World�contest�in�China�and�became�Miss�World�Africa�in�2007.�She�was�also�a�top-ten�finalist�at�Miss�Universe.�She� is� currently� living� in� Luanda,�modelling�and�studying.

Brigith� dos� Santos� was� the� Miss�Angola�runner-up�in�2008�and�went�on�to�be�a�top-five�finalist�at�Miss�World� in� South� Africa� that� same�year.� She� is� working� as� a� model�and� took� part� in� the� 2011� Africa�Fashion� Week� in� Johannesburg� �in�October.

Stiviandra� Oliveira� was� Miss�Angola� runner-up� in� 2006� and�went�on� to�be�a� top-six� finalist�at�Miss� World� and� was� named� Miss�World� Africa� in� 2006.� She� is� now�understood� to� be� working� as� a�director� of� a� security� company� �in�Luanda.

Lesliana�Pereira�was�named�Miss�Angola� 2008.� She� is� now� working�as�a�television�presenter�for�Brazil’s�TV� Globo,� fronting� music� and�cultural� shows� about� Angola� and�other�African�countries�to�a�global�audience�of�tens�of�millions.

Ana� José� Sebastião� was� Miss�Angola�in�2002�and�a�top-15�semi-finalist�at�Miss�Universe�in�2003.

Telma� de� Jesus� Sonhi� was� Miss�Angola� 2003� and� a� top-15� semi-finalist�at�Miss�Universe�2004.

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NEWSSonangol news briefing


Ship ahoy

Sonangol’s latest oil tanker to join its fleet is the 158,000 ton Stena Superior, which was launched on September 1 at Samsung Heavy Industries’ yard at Geoje, Korea.

Rosa José Marie Sumbe, wife of Baptista Sumbe, executive chairman of Sonangol Holdings Ltd, broke the traditional champagne bottle over the vessel’s bow at the naming ceremony.

The Suezmax (the largest ship measurement able to use the Suez Canal) tanker is of an ultramodern, environmentally-friendly design capable of 15 per cent fuel savings compared to conventional Suezmax tankers. It also has a double hull to help prevent leakage if damaged externally.

The ship is 274 metres long and 48 metres wide. Stena Superior is the first of seven similar vessels expected to be added to Sonangol’s fleet.

Liberia co-operationAngola is to hold talks with Liberia on co-operating in the area of oil exploration, Sonangol’s board president Manuel Vicente has told Angolan radio. The move follows the October visit of Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to Luanda.

There is growing interest in oil exploration in the Liberia area. US company Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has already completed geological studies along the coast of Liberia and neighbouring countries Ghana, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.

Sonangol is likely to share with Liberia its upstream experience gathered by its exploration and production arm Sonangol P&P in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

New Block 31 discoverySonangol and Block 31 partner BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd have discovered a new deepwater oil deposit 390km northwest of Luanda. The deposit has been named ‘Dione-1’ and is found below a sea depth of 1,696 metres and a total depth of 3,272 metres. Initial output is estimated at 5,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Fox’s desert victory ZEE road show

Sonangol, Total E&P and associates in Block 17 started production of Pazflor, one of the world’s largest deep-sea oil developments, weeks ahead of schedule on August 26. Oil output will gradually rise to 220,000 bpd. The suite of fields, containing an estimated 590 million barrels of oil, is located 150km off the coast of Luanda.

The Pazflor adventure started in 2000 when Total’s exploration teams scored another success in Angola’s Block 17, a deep offshore licence in the Gulf of Guinea, with the discovery of the Perpétua reservoir. Acácia and Zinia were uncovered in 2002, followed by Hortensia in 2003. Pazflor encompasses all four reservoirs and covers an area of over 600 sq km – six times larger than Paris – at a water depth of about 1,200 metres.

The Pazflor project consists of a giant network of underwater pipelines covering 180km and taps into 49 wellheads on the seabed.

Pazflor FPSO, the floating production storage and off-loading vessel at the centre of the project, has storage capacity for 1.9 million barrels of oil. All the associated natural gas it extracts is injected back into oil-producing wells to boost output.

An unusual aspect of Pazflor is its capability to produce and treat two types of oil with very different characteristics, from four distinct reservoirs. Sonangol described this feat as “an enormous technical challenge”.

Block 17 is operated by Total E&P, which holds a 40 per cent stake in partnership with Statoil (23.33%), Esso Exploration Angola (20%) and BP Exploration Angola (16.67%).

Pazflor races ahead

Team Sonangol Schlesser won the Pharoahs Rally in the Egyptian desert in October for the fifth time. The Sonangol-sponsored rally team also won the world title in the two-wheel drive category – before the end of the championship.

The car was driven by former veteran of Formula 1, Jean-Louis Schlesser, who was navigated across the tough desert course by Konstantin Zhiltsov.

“This win gives me great pleasure for my team, of course, but for my partners too. I thank them for their trust in me. I am very pleased to offer them this new victory and the 2011 world title in two-wheel drive, even though the season is not quite finished yet,” said Schlesser.

His next challenge is the Africa Eco Race between France and Dakar, to be held over 12 days starting December 27. Schlesser, known as the Desert Fox, has already won this race three times.

Sonangol investment arm Sonangol Investimentos Industriais (SIIND) kicked off the first of a number of international road shows in Luanda on October 19. The aim is to form strategic partnerships with private companies and to tap their technological know-how at Angola’s Special Economic Zones (ZEEs), which are supported by Sonangol investments.

SIIND hopes to establish 73 new factories at the first Angolan ZEE, located at Viana, 28km east of Luanda.

Factories already operating at the Viana site include those manufacturing plastics, fibre-optic cables, irrigation trestles, barbed wire, pylons, paints and electrical materials. Others expected to follow include poultry, food processing, prefabricated homes and waste recycling.

The government hopes to bring about a renaissance of the country’s industry, reduce imports and generate local jobs. Sonangol is particularly keen on developing companies that can add to its domestic supply chain. Angola’s massive home-building programme also hopes to benefit from local suppliers of construction equipment.

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Companies all over the world are investing in community projects often unrelated to their core business with the aim of sharing their

organisational skills and economic success. Sonangol, as Angola’s largest company, performs a leading role in such initiatives k

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“Social responsibility is Sonangol’s continuous commitment to Angola,” says board president

Manuel Vicente. “Through our social solidarity activities in the most diverse areas, from education to health, through sport, culture and the environment, we seek to involve our staff, clients, partners and communities.”

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) may be defined as a company’s commitment to providing extra benefits to the population, often independent from its main activities. CSR is well established in Angola, especially among the country’s numerous oil sector companies. Sonangol, as Angola’s premier oil company, acts alone or leads its partners in supporting a portfolio of socially-valuable initiatives.

In many oil-producing nations where drilling takes place onshore, community projects are usually ‘fence-line’; that is, they benefit populations close to the operator’s perimeter, often as a form of compensation for disrupting local economic and social life.

However, in Angola almost all oil and gas is produced offshore, far out of sight, so its projects have a more decentralised geographic distribution. “We’re proud to help projects and programmes in all the country’s provinces,” says Vicente.

Oil as a process industry uses high levels of automation and technology

and thus employs comparatively few workers. CSR therefore performs a role of stimulating job creation as well as broadcasting wealth.

Education and healthcare are two major areas where Sonangol and its partners have concentrated efforts, often involving its staff. It supports campaigns on HIV/Aids, malaria, polio, sleeping sickness and TB. Sonangol also builds hospitals, clinics and nurses’ homes and provides maternity training.

The company is the main mover behind Luanda’s 300-bed Girassol teaching hospital. In partnership with Esso, Sonangol also supports maternity

clinics in several provinces. Whatever the project, the Angolan oil company always takes into account the local and specific needs of the communities it serves.

Sonangol’s educational projects include the building and equipping of schools from primary to secondary, vocational, university and post-graduate levels. A good example of a Sonangol educational project, in tandem with its partners, is the Block 18–supported Kuito School where a fully-furnished 12-classroom school caters for 3,000 students.

Sonangol projects also extend to wider areas of social concern such as house building and emergency services, for example, in the shape of re-equipping a fire station in Luanda.

Its environmental projects deal with farming issues, material recycling and protection of endangered species, as in the case of Angola’s famous Giant Sable Antelope.

Sonangol plays a leading role in promoting and encouraging sport such as football, basketball, handball and athletics with the aim of promoting national pride. Sonangol also aids cultural expression by sponsoring prizes for literature.

While Sonangol has a direct role in choosing and promoting a number of social projects, it is very much involved in a wide range of enterprises alongside its block partners.

As part of their bids for drilling rights in concession blocks, Sonangol’s partner oil companies have to assign investments to community social projects. Sonangol makes the final decision on which projects to support, but the proposals themselves may originate from the block partner. The Angolan government at central, provincial and local levels may order project priorities.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who in many cases implement projects, may also suggest them, as do the benefiting communities themselves.


School makeover

NEWS NEWS

A�good�example�of�how�a�CSR�originates� is�one�backed�by� Tullow� Oil.� In� 2006,� Tullow� became� operator� of�Block�1/06.�As�part�of�the�block,� it�took�on�a�community��development�obligation.�

Tako� Koning,� a� Canadian� geologist� and� long-time�Angola�resident,�was�then�advising�Tullow�on�social�projects�and�public�relations.�“We�initially�suggested�a�wide-ranging�programme�of�social�projects�including�water�and�sanitation,�malaria�prevention�and�the�removal�of�landmines,”�he�said.�“However,� Sonangol� then� introduced� us� to� the� Mayor� of�Quibala� in� Kwanza� Sul� province� who� was� seeking� help�with� rebuilding�her�war-ravaged� town.� In�agreement�with�Sonangol,�we�decided�to�channel�our�entire�development�funds�into�refurbishing�a�secondary�school’s�dormitories.”�

The�accommodation�for�120�students�serves�boarders�from� surrounding� villages.� The� project� made� use� of�

expertise� in� school� building� and� teacher� training� from�ADPP,� a� Danish� NGO,� while� Luanda� construction� firm�Didosil�did�the�building�work.

�The�project�was�a�classic�example�of�CSR,�with�the�community�benefiting�not�only�from�the�finished�product�but� also� from� the� physical� and� educational� processes�involved�in�the�construction.

Koning� pointed� out� the� importance� of� health� and�safety�instruction�on�the�worksite,�reinforced�by�frequent�inspections.�Due�to�the�emphasis�on�safety,�there�were�no�accidents,�despite�having�up�to�30�workers�on�the�project�during�the�18-month�construction�period.

“The�Quibala�project�worked�out�very�well,�and�I�was�proud�to�be�involved�with�it.�It�is�our�hope�that�these�two�rehabilitated�dormitories�will�serve�the�town�of�Quibala�for�many�years�to�come,”�he�said.

‘ We’re proud to help projects and programmes in all the country’s provinces’ – Manual Vicente

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Manuel Vicente, Sonangol’s board presidentTullow’s safe-working project team (Tako Koning - third from left)

Girassol School Complex


Capacity buildingThe gains of BP-supported projects

also reach Angola’s wider community through ‘capacity building’, the provision of trained personnel to perform key functions in institutions and companies.

A good example of this is the Geographic Information System (GIS) project where Block 18 partners, through the Academy of Educational Development, have created a training centre for these sophisticated satellite-mapping systems at the Faculty of Science at Agostinho Neto University.

GIS is a powerful instrument in deciding where to allocate resources most economically and effectively, such as a school in relation to population numbers, treated water facilities where cholera cases are concentrated, X-ray clinics, pylons for distribution of energy supplies and hotels for tourism.

GIS specialists can thus reinforce the technical capacity and supply important quality data for the ministries of Health and Planning among others, leaving a long-term beneficial legacy for Angola.

GIS is not itself very expensive but its impact can be very large indeed, said Santos.

BP has financed a 12-month project using GIS technology to study the Angolan part of the Cuvelai drainage system (the rest is in Namibia) to help plan flood defences. GIS provides precise information to help decision-makers manage water resources in this often arid but sometimes flooded area.

Promoting wellbeingAnother Block 18 project aims to

promote social wellbeing using much simpler technology.

The San people are an aboriginal hunter-gatherer nomadic people of southern Africa. They are dependent on access to land and natural resources. However, the San have mostly lost control of their habitat and are thus living in poverty on the margin of society.

This Block 18 project aims to support technical improvement in San animal husbandry and farming at a community in

Cunene province so that it can live better and sustainably. A second Block 18 project involves health education for another group of San, this time in Kuando Kubango province. The aim is to combat malaria and TB and benefit 500 people.

BP has also contributed much to Angola as an individual company – as do most of Sonangol’s block partners. Individually BP supports a post-graduate course in Oil & Gas, a course in Oil & Gas journalism, turtle conservation, tree planting (Green Namibe), solar energy supplies and a book on the Cuvelai River.

Many CSR projects are implemented by NGOs which are often charities. Africare, an American NGO, is working to improve the quality of life in Africa by aiding families, communities and countries in farming and food security, health, and water and sanitation.

NEWS

The important point on deciding on the project is that it be aligned with government, community and company aims so that no operational synergies are lost.

Sonangol partner projectsBP Angola works both with Sonangol

and separately on a broad variety of projects. BP says the aim is to bring tangible benefits to the local communities, in line with the priorities of the Angolan government.

The company has embraced community-support programmes in Angola. From 1996 through to 2010, BP Angola spent over $28 million on 66 social

projects. Half the projects were shared through Block 18 and 31 partnerships and the other half undertaken by BP alone.

Beginning with a limited role providing humanitarian aid during Angola’s period of conflict, BP has since developed a wider variety of projects over a larger geographical area, with longer-term goals such as vocational training, further education, institutional capacity building and environmental protection.

“BP’s philosophy is mutual benefits for BP and the country. We’re partners providing finance, but not the owners of the projects”, said Gaspar Santos, director for sustainable development for BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd.

“Our role is not to own the projects. We present it to the community and say it’s your project, the community’s, and you must make it work, but we will give orientation and help where needed.”

BP Angola’s main CSR activities account for 32 projects, followed by 14 health, safety and environment initiatives and 13 poverty and social inclusion issues.

However, BP also helps five projects aimed at stimulating business

development and two in the field of energy. Enterprise projects serve the oil industry’s own needs in the Centre for Business Support implemented by BP management but under the control of Sonangol and Angola’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry since January 2011.

Financed by Blocks 18 and 31, the project aims to build the capacity of Angolan businesses to participate more actively in the oil sector as key suppliers of quality products and services. It also creates jobs and promotes skills transfer and locally-based economic growth, especially benefiting the areas of Luanda, Benguela and Soyo.

“Angola has lots of potential for new business. BP is doing its part to make Angolans its business partners,” said Santos.

BP conducts ‘gap analysis’ whereby Angolan companies are encouraged to fill the gaps in BP’s supply chain and competitively provide products and services locally.

“We aim to narrow the gap between market needs and market supply and are co-ordinating our efforts with the Angola Chamber of Commerce,” said Santos.

‘We are partners providing finance, but not the owners of the projects’ – Gaspar Santos

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Family farming Fruits of microcredit

BP Angola’s Gaspar Santos

Future looks brighter for the San people

DECEMBER 2011 47

The private, non-profit organisation was set up in 1970 and serves 36 nations in Africa. Africare has been in Angola for 21 years and has built a very strong relationship with the Angolan government at national, provincial and municipal levels.

It implements projects on behalf of Sonangol and its partner oil companies ExxonMobil, Chevron and Total, and a host of aid and charitable organisations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“The most rewarding part of my work is knowing that we are dramatically improving the health of Angolans, especially in the prevention of polio and malaria,” said Christian Isely, Africare’s country director.

“The most uplifting result of our work in Angola is seeing increased community ownership. All our projects are actually implemented by the communities themselves. We provide guidance and training but at the end of the day these projects belong to them. It’s this sense of ownership which creates lasting sustainability.”

Sonangol contributes to at least two of Africare’s projects. One is the Cunene solar light distribution scheme, where Sonangol and its Block 15 partner ExxonMobil have helped increase schooling success by

giving 5,000 schoolchildren solar-powered torches. In an area with limited electricity, the torches allow the children to have light to study at home.

Another Africare Sonangol-backed project, this time in partnership with Total, is the eradication of polio in Malange province, where nearly 200,000 people, mainly young children, have been vaccinated. This includes 120,000 under-fives who have been inoculated three times.

“Our most exciting project is the mobilisation of both local and expatriate volunteers in Luanda province for the eradication of polio. Expatriate volunteers come mainly from the oil sector and diplomatic community – they are hardworking people who want to assist their local Angolan counterparts in vaccination activities,” said Isely.

CSR continues to do a great deal for Angola in terms of sustainable development, job creation and promoting good practices and better standards of ethical behaviour.

“Together we know how to contribute to a more prosperous country and fairer society because these are values that we cannot separate from business modernisation and innovation,” said Sonangol board president Manuel Vicente. “Angola’s future is our challenge.” p


NEWS

DECEMBER 2011 49

NEWS

Block 31 Projects (Sonangol, BP, ExxonMobil, Statoil, Marathon Oil)

Literacy12-classroom�Kuito�SchoolStudent�traineesKixiCrédito�(microcredit)Soil�conservationCare�InternationalBié�–�midwivesEducation�and�health�–�LubangoEducation�–�social�educators

Block 18 Projects (Sonangol, SSI, BP)

Geographical�Information�Systems�(GIS)Soccer�club�HuamboFruit�and�vegetable�factorySelf-supporting�orphanage,�Bom�JesusSan�community�–�farming�improvementRoad�accident�prevention�

Block 18/31 ProjectsBusiness�support�for�oil�businessMicrocreditPoverty�relief�and�social�inclusionInfrastructure�–�food�security

‘Sense of community ownership creates lasting sustainability’ – Christian Isely

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Africare’s Christian Isely

Greening the desert

Soil conservation help

Wildlife tracking and conservation


SONIP CACUACO

DECEMBER 2011 51

CHRISTMAS CHEER: 5,000 NEW HOMES

Sonangol’s property arm Sonangol Real Estate and Properties Ltd (Sonip) expects the first phase of its $855 million Cacuaco

residential development to be completed by June 2012, with sales made in four separate periods.

The first phase consists of 10,000 apartments, divided into 12 blocks and containing a total of 426 buildings. It is expected to house around 60,000 people.

During an inspection visit by President José Eduardo dos Santos on September 17, it was announced that the first apartment sales would take place in December 2011. The development was 55 per cent complete at the time of the presidential visit. The President had previously visited the site in June 2010.

Work started on Cacuaco Centralidade, the development’s official title, in early 2008. It is located about 12km from the centre of Cacuaco, a coastal resort town just north of Luanda, and nestles in a huge baobab forest some 5km from Luanda’s beltway, the Via Expresso.

When completed, the development, which occupies an area of 1,718,881 square metres, will have highway access and public services such as crèches, primary and secondary schools, markets, supermarkets, restaurants and local manufacturing.

The head of the Cacuaco developer, Hu Baoecheng of the China Group, assured President dos Santos that the first 5,000 apartments would be ready by the end of 2011. p

The first phase of the $855 million Cacuaco housing complex is on target and will be ready in December k

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Cacuaco viewed from the southiS

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President dos Santos sees Cacuaco delivery is on time

Another Angolan beauty…

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DECEMBER 2011

Universo

INSIDE: oil and gas news

www.universo-magazine.com

Kalandula Falls

Miss Universe

LIQUID ASSETSAngola’s water

AGOSTINHO NETONational hero

REEL LIVESFilming Angola