SONANGOL UNIVERSO

UISSUE 46 | JUNEn 2015 iverso www.universo-magazine.com

Angolan oil drilling at 100

INTERNATIONAL UPSTREAM CULTURE ISSUE 46 – CUBA: ANGOLA’S BP’S OPERATIONS IMAGES OF THE

JUNE 2015 ENDURING ALLY IN ANGOLA ANGOLAN PEOPLE Angop

OVERVIEW

Universo is the international magazine of Sonangol President Francisco de Lemos José Maria

Executive administrators: Anabela Soares de Brito da Fonseca, Ana Joaquina Van-Dúnem Alves da Costa, Fernandes Gaspar Bernardo Mateus, Fernando Joaquim Roberto, Mateus Sebastião Francisco Neto, Paulino Fernando Carvalho Jerónimo Non-executive administrators: Albina Assis Africano, José Gime, André Lelo, José Paiva

Sonangol Department for Communication & Image Director Mateus Cristóvão Benza Shutterstock Corporate Communications Assistants Nadiejda Santos, Paula Almeida, Hélder Sirgado, Kimesso Kissoka STEP CHANGE IN

Publisher: Sheila O’Callaghan DEVELOPMENT Editor: John Kolodziejski Managing Editor: Mauro Perillo Art Director: Tony Hill ngola’s thirteenth year of peace, celebrated on April 4, Sub Editor: Brian MacReamoinn marks a step change in the nation’s development. The Proofreading: Gail Nelson-Bonebrake A previous dozen years were a period of reconstruction, Circulation & Production Manager: Matthew Alexander of putting the country’s infrastructure to rights: renovating port Production Assistant: Sebnem Brown facilities; completing, in February, a total rebuild of its three east– Project Consultant: Nathalie MacCarthy west railways; modernising all airports; and, most importantly, Group President: John Charles Gasser reconnecting the capital city, Luanda, by highway to its provincial capitals spread across a huge territory. Now, the foundations of economic development have been laid, and the next step is to use them to provide the exchange of Universo is produced by Impact Media Custom Publishing. The views expressed in the publication are not necessarily goods and services that can enhance Angolans’ standard of living those of Sonangol or the publishers. Reproduction in whole and quality of life. or in part without prior permission is prohibited. An excellent example of this is the inauguration of Luanda’s This magazine is distributed to a closed circulation. first modern purpose-built long-distance national bus terminal To receive a free copy: by Macon Transportes in May. [email protected] Circulation: 15,000 The new terminal operates 80 outbound journeys and has the capacity to receive 7,000 passengers coming and going each day Davenport House, 16 Pepper Street, London E14 9RP United Kingdom to all but one of Angola’s 18 provinces. The buses also operate a Tel + 44 20 7510 9595 | Fax +44 20 7510 9596 much-needed nationwide parcel delivery service. [email protected] www.universo-magazine.com The fruits of development, long dreamed of through many www.sonangol.co.ao difficult decades, are now becoming a much-appreciated reality. [email protected] Front cover: Hulton Archive/Getty Images John Kolodziejski Universo is printed on FSC approved stock Editor

2 SONANGOL UNIVERSO CONTENTS Malocha

4 3 NEWS BRIEFING

A roundup of national and international news concerning Sonangol and Angola. 14

10 3 THOUGHT FOR FOOD: ANGOLA AT MILAN EXPO

Angolan cuisine in the spotlight.

14 3 SPECIAL AWARD FOR SPECIAL ZONE Luanda-Bengo industrial scheme gains recognition for quality. 18 Shutterstock 18 3 FACES OF A NATION

Exhibition shows the variety of Angola’s indigenous peoples.

24 3 SOUTHERN ANGOLA: GREAT EXPECTATIONS 24

The tremendous economic potential of Namibe, Huíla, Cunene BP and Cuando Cubango provinces.

32 3 BLOSSOMING PARTNERSHIP

The special relationship between Sonangol and BP Angola. 32

42 3 A CENTURY OF OIL DRILLING 1915–2015 Shutterstock

The remarkable progress of Angolan oil exploration.

44 3 CUBA: ANGOLA’S ENDURING ALLY

Education and health underpin four decades of 44 bilateral co-operation.

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 3 NEWS BRIEFING

WEALTH FUND INVESTS $1.4 BILLION

3 Angola’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSDEA) is making investments totalling $1.4 billion available at home and elsewhere in Africa. The mining, forestry and agriculture sectors will receive $250 million each, while a healthcare fund will benefit from a $400 million injection. The fund is also setting aside a further $250 million to provide credit for entrepreneurs who do not have access to traditional debt funding. FSDEA chief José Filomeno dos Santos said the financial help aims to ease Angola’s fiscal dependence on oil revenues at a time of weak energy markets. “Given the current difficult fiscal context, these investments are extremely opportune because they can support the economic development required to reduce state reliance on crude oil revenues,” he pointed out.

THIRD LARGEST Angolan GDP BRIDGE BUILT 3 Angola opened its third largest bridge in Namibe province in April. set to rise Local governor Rui Falcão recently inaugurated the bridge, spanning the River Curoca. 3 Angola’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to It connects the city of Namibe, the provincial capital, to the major grow this year at a rate of 4.5 per cent and then slow fishing industry town of Tômbua, 97km away. to 3.9 per cent in 2016, according to the International Construction of the 800-metre-long, 11-metre-wide bridge took Monetary Fund’s (IMF) recent World Economic 20 months, and can bear loads of up to 100 tonnes. Outlook. Last year Angola’s GDP grew 4.2 per cent, the

report said. Angop The IMF also noted that inflation in the country could increase from 7.3 per cent in 2014 to 8.4 per cent this year as a result of falling world oil prices.

4 SONANGOL UNIVERSO NEWS BRIEFING

WEALTH FUND INVESTS CINGUVU FIELD ON STREAM

3 Sonangol operating partner, Italy’s Eni, has begun oil output at of oil. Further discoveries there will be hooked up to the existing $1.4 BILLION the second field in the West Hub Development Project. Cinguvu production infrastructures. started production two weeks ahead of schedule and is located in “This is another important step within the innovative hub- Block 15/06, about 350km northwest of Luanda and 130km west of building strategy at the base of our success in Block 15/06 in Soyo. The first field on stream was Sangos last November. Sangos Angola,” said Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi. The Cinguvu field came and Cinguvu together currently produce 60,000 bpd and are on stream on time and on budget, he added, and confirmed scheduled to be joined by a third field, Mpungi, by the end of 2015. the company’s “excellent track record in terms of efficiency, West Hub comprises the Sangos, Cinguvu, Mpungi, Mpungi technology and innovation.” North and Vandumbu fields situated in water depths between Eni operates Block 15/06 with a 35 per cent stake, and 1,000 and 1,500 metres. The wells are connected to FPSO N’Goma Sonangol EP is the concessionaire. Sonangol P&P also owns which has a processing capacity of 100,000 bpd. a 35 per cent share, while Angola-based SSI Fifteen Ltd has a Eni has estimated Block 15/06 holds over 3 billion barrels 25 per cent stake and Falcon Oil Holding Angola 5 per cent.

FPSO N’Goma fitting out at Sumbe SBM Offshore

Vice president Manuel Vicente with his Zambian Angop VP at Bandung summit counterpart Inonge Wina

3 Angola’s vice president, Manuel Domingos Vicente, representing President dos Santos, attended the ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the signing of the ‘Bandung Declaration’ in Indonesia. Bandung, 150 km from the capital, Jakarta, hosted world leaders at the commemoration after they attended the Asia/Africa Summit held April 22-23. Attendees included prominent African and Asian leaders such as the president of China, Xi Jinping and Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani.

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 5 Puma Energy’s new mooring system

NEWS BRIEFING

Angola’s big buoy Puma Energy

3 Puma Energy opened one of the world’s largest more environmentally-friendly tanker loading and berthing. conventional buoy mooring systems (CBMs) in Luanda Bay on Pierre Eladari, CEO of Puma Energy, said that this CBM April 21. The fuel-loading buoy anchored offshore serves as a facility in Luanda would provide security of supply to and strategic mooring point for Africa and allows a wide range of from Angola as well as the rest of Africa. carriers to berth while loading or offloading oil products. The The new system is part of the government’s long-term CBM is located next to Puma Energy’s Fishing Port Terminal strategic objective to improve the country’s infrastructure. in the bay, which Puma is currently extending and when Puma Energy first came to Angola in 2004 as a partner completed will have a total storage capacity of 276,000 m3. for Sonangol, and today operates four businesses there: The CBM can accommodate vessels up to 225,000 Pumangol Retail, a petrol station network; Pumangol tonnes and drafts of 19.3 metres. It has a product transfer B2B, a fuel wholesaler; Pumangol Bunkering, supplying rate of 4,000 m3 per hour. The mooring buoys are fitted with fuel for vessels, and AngoBetumes, for bitumen storage navigational aids to assist with more effective, safer and and distribution.

ANGOLA–DRC JOINT VENTURE 3 Angola and the Democratic Republic of a deep-sea oil exploration area covering The project has an estimated cost of the Congo’s (DRC) joint oil project in Block 700 sq km centred on the Lianzi field, which $2 billion. 14 is set to start up this year and is expected straddles their maritime border. It has The consortium is operated by Chevron US to reach 36,000 bpd, said Angolan oil estimated reserves of 70 million barrels. (15.75 per cent) and includes Total E&P Congo minister José Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos “There is oil on the Angolan side, as well (26.75 per cent), Cabinda Gulf Oil Company during a visit by Congolese President Denis as on the Congo side, and a decision was Ltd (15.5 per cent), Sonangol (10 per cent), Sassou Nguesso to its neighbour at the end made for a joint operation in which funding TotalFinaElf (10 per cent), Eni (10 per cent), of March. will be split 50-50,” Botelho de Vasconcelos Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (7.5 The two countries are jointly developing said. The agreement dates back to 2011. per cent) and Galp Energia (4.5 per cent).

6 SONANGOL UNIVERSO NEWS BRIEFING

SONANGOL WINS Huge diamond found BENGUELA FAIR PRIZE 3 Sonangol won the prize for best Angolan participant in Angola at the 2015 Benguela International Fair held May 13-17. Subsidiaries Sonangol Distribuidora, SonAir, 3 An exceptional diamond weighing 63.05 carats has been found at the Sonagás and SIIND represented the company at the Lulo mine in Angola. The mine is located in Lunda Norte province and fifth edition of the fair at the Ombaka National Stadium. is a joint venture between Australian company Lucapa Diamond and The fair was attended by 200 exhibitors from Angola and the Angolan government. abroad, with 10 companies coming fom Portugal alone. The Lulo concession is a source of Type IIa diamonds, which Lupaca says are “the world’s rarest and most valuable gems”. This category of precious stone accounts for less than 1 per cent of total supply and contains the world’s most famous large, white, flawless diamonds. Angola is the world’s fourth largest diamond producer by value and sixth by volume. Lucapa

ANGOLA AND ECUADOR MOVE CLOSER

3 Angola’s foreign minister, Georges Rebelo Chikoti, and his Ecuadoran counterpart, Ricardo Armando Patinõ Sonangol signs quality Aroca, signed three agreements paving the way to greater cooperation on May 19. During the South American foreign minister’s two deal with Total day visit to Angola, he sealed agreements that could 3 Sonangol Academia, the educational arm of Sonangol EP, has signed facilitate cooperation in the oil sector, and also university a cooperation agreement with Total E&P aimed at improving technical training for Angolan students, especially in information training and certification in its School of Safety. The school, based at technology, in the South American country. Cacuaco just north of Luanda, provides training in health, safety and the Minister Aroca also held working visits with Angola’s environment for workers operating in the oil sector. oil minister Botelho de Vasconcelos, Sonangol board Baltazar Miguel, Sonangol Academia’s board president, and Jean- president Francisco de Lemos Maria, Environment Michel Lavergne, head of Total E&P Angola, signed the agreement on minister Maria de Fátima Monteiro Jardim and the behalf of the two organisations on May 16. Governor of Luanda, Francisco Graciano Domingos.

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 7 NEWS BRIEFING

President awards Shutterstock best cities Brazuk Ltd

Luanda’s new InterContinental Hotel SURGE IN HOTEL Panoramic view of Accra 3 The winners of President José Eduardo dos Santos’ first African ACCOMMODATION Mayor Awards for excellence in leadership and achievements in urban development have been announced. 3 Angola will have another 2,000 hotel rooms by the end The cities chosen were Accra, Ghana (a $200,000 prize in the ‘Best of 2015, promised the State Secretary for Hotels and Large City’ category), Kinondoni, Tanzania ($100,000 for best medium city) Tourism Paulino Baptista Domingos while speaking in and Praia, Cape Verde ($50,000 for best small city). Luena, Moxico province, during the inauguration of the The presentation took place during the Second Africa Urban Hotel Kawissa. Infrastructure Investment Forum held on March 29-30, 2015, in Luanda. The extra capacity will arise from the opening of 25 Speaking at the ceremony, the organiser and publisher of African new hotels, including the 390-room InterContinental Business magazine, Omar Ben Yedder, said that the African Mayor Awards Hotel under construction in Luanda and the Hotel recognise, celebrate and reward city leaders or governors who are helping Palanca Negra in Malange, with 146 rooms. transform Africa’s growing metropolises. Domingos said the new hotel units would make it “The winning cities tonight are being led by individuals who are showing possible to create thousands of new jobs in a sector that essential leadership qualities as they help build cities that work,” he said. already employs more than 202,000 people. The Ministry “And we will need more exemplary leadership, good governance and of Hotels and Tourism currently has 14,000 rooms innovative thinking, while paying close attention to our culture and way of registered, spread over 185 hotels, 88 tourist villages, living when dreaming of the cities of tomorrow. Our leaders need to be close 14 apartment hotels and six inns. to the people, and our winners tonight are demonstrating these qualities.”

NEW TERMINAL COMPLEX OPENS Angop 3 President José Eduardo dos Santos has inaugurated a commuter boat and tourist terminal located alongside the new Slavery Museum complex in the Benfica district of Luanda. The opening ceremony formed part of the April 4 Peace and National Reconciliation Day celebrations. The terminal has a floating dock which can accommodate two catamarans, each capable of carrying 136 people. The new facility can handle over 200 passengers and will help to reduce commuter traffic jams from Luanda’s southern suburbs.

8 SONANGOL UNIVERSO NEWS BRIEFING

Shutterstock KIZOMBA PHASE 2 STARTS UP

3 Sonangol and Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) commenced Phase 2 of the Kizomba Satellites project on May 4. The new oil production area consists of the Kakocha, Bavuka and Mondo Sul fields in Block 15. Initial oil output began at Mondo Sul at a rate of 10,000 barrels per day (bpd). This will rise to 70,000 bpd when Kakocha and Bavuka come on stream. The three new operational fields are located in deepwater at depths between 750 and 1,100 metres and contain reserves totalling around 190 billion barrels. The project features a substantial amount of locally-manufactured equipment. Nearly all the deck modules and subsea assembly took place at construction yards in Soyo, Dande, Luanda and Lobito. Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Ltd is the block’s operator with a 40 per cent stake. Its partners are BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd (26.67 per cent), Eni Angola Exploration BV (20 per cent) and Statoil Angola Block 15 AS (13.33 per cent), while Sonangol is the concessionaire. FPSO Kizomba

FIGURED OUT ANGOLA IN NUMBERS 4.5% 63.05 latest IMF forecast of carats Angolan GDP growth size of giant diamond $1.4 for this year found at Lulo mine billion investment by Angola’s 100 sovereign wealth fund years 2,000 at home and in the of oil drilling extra new hotel rooms in 2015 rest of Africa in Angola

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 9 CULTURE THOUGHT FOR FOOD: ANGOLA AT MILAN EXPO

10 SONANGOL UNIVERSO The striking three-storey Angola he Angola Pavilion at the Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 international exhibition Expo TMilano 2015 was officially opened by the general commissioner of the country’s delegation, Albina Assis Africano, a non-executive Sonangol EP board member. Angola’s Secretary of State for Co-operation, Ângela Bragança, cut the ribbon, and Angola’s ambassadors to Italy, Greece and Switzerland were also present. Representatives of 145 countries and 50 heads of state and government attended the opening ceremony of the expo on May 1, hosted by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The event is expected to receive more than 29 million visitors by the time it ends on October 31. The theme of Expo Milano 2015 is ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’. The organisers have described the showcase as a means to reflect upon and seek solutions to the contradictions of the world, in which some 870 million people suffered from undernourishment in 2010-12, while around 2.8 million died from obesity-related diseases in the same period. Angola’s participation in this important debate is titled ‘Food and Culture: Education for Innovation’. The pavilion is stimulating a wider examination of Angolan culture through its varied culinary riches as well as the rituals and traditions associated with them. It has engaged visitors and revealed different aspects of the country’s culture with all its indigenous and assimilated influences. The exhibition showcases and explains which foods provide Angola’s nutrition and how people currently use them. It also looks at their future use and the development of a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. “It’s an opportunity to educate our

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 11 Vincenzo Lombardo/Getty Images ExpoAngola CULTURE

“It’s an opportunity to educate our younger generation to have a healthy diet”

– Albina Assis Africano

younger generation to have a healthy third. There are two restaurants on the beer, which was a great success at the diet,” said Albina Assis Africano. top floor; one offering national dishes to previous expo staged in South Korea, has “What we want to do is re-educate the general public and a second smaller once again been popular with the public. from the starting point of what we have, area, which acts as a laboratory to create In addition, there is a bazaar selling show young people that we can make a ‘New Angolan Cuisine’, a fusion of Angolan handicraft, music recordings and good dishes and present them as well as various foods prepared in co-operation merchandising items; part of the area those from Europe,” she explained. with guest chefs and served to visitors. also offers some of the nation’s home- The striking Angola Pavilion covers The idea has been to show the full range grown teas, coffees and dried fruits. three levels and has a giant baobab tree of Angolan gastronomy. At the pavilion, there is also a section reaching from the ground floor to the The country’s very own Cuca reserved for children, where they can paint and play using educational items Record crowds attending the Expo under the care of Angolan TV presenter Alice Berenguel. This year Angola’s exhibition area is larger than at any previous events, covering 300 square metres. Assis

Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images Entertainment Africano – a veteran of international expos with vast experience – said it had taken two years of planning and hard work to organise and complete the structure. The educational aspect of the country’s pavilion has involved creating awareness of what is nourishing, while the innovation dimension has entailed encouraging best practice in preparing indigenous foods. This includes appreciating traditional wisdom and custom regarding foods that modern

12 SONANGOL UNIVERSO (Left) Angola’s ambassador to Italy, Florêncio de Almeida, alongside CULTURE Albina Assis Africano Matteo Valle/Getty Images Entertainment

ANGOLA’S INTERNATIONAL EXPO HISTORY

1. Angola’s first Expo was at the Seville World Exhibition, Spain 1992 2. Lisbon International Exhibition, Portugal 1998 3. Expo Aichi, Japan 2005 4. Expo Zaragoza, Spain 2008 5. Expo Shanghai, China 2010 6. Expo Yeosu, South Korea 2012 7. Expo Milan, Italy 2015

research has subsequently shown to be healthy and sustainable. Innovation has meant utilising new technologies and high- end science for greater holistic development. The Angolan contribution to Expo Milano 2015 has also placed particular emphasis on the role of women in the transmitting of knowledge and in food supply chains. The display pointed out that women play a very important part in the production and preparation of food, and are influential in the cultural processes of maternity, family management, hygiene, health, safety, home economy and education. The pavilion’s theme ‘Food and Culture: Education for Innovation’ conveys the message that the nation is growing and developing its own methods of food safety and control. Visitors have an interactive experience that highlights these efforts and their relevance within the wider context of Angola, giving them a broad idea of the country and its geography, cultural heritage, history and diversity. In addition, attendees can enjoy shows, entertainment and cultural performances by Angolan groups, both within the pavilion and on outdoor expo stages at the Milan site.

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 13 Malocha

INDUSTRY

SPECIAL AWARD FOR SPECIAL ZONE

14 SONANGOL UNIVERSO Luanda-Bengo ZEE at Viana

ngola’s Luanda–Bengo Special Economic Zone (ZEE) received a AGold award at the 17th edition of the Century International Quality ERA convention held in Geneva on March 21–22. It was given in recognition of the quality, innovation and excellence in personnel, resources, equipment and services at the ZEE. The awards ceremony, arranged by the Madrid-based organisation Business Initiative Directions, was attended by companies from the world of business, professionals in economics, the arts and corporate communications, quality experts as well as academics and diplomats. Previous winners have included global retail giant Walmart, steel colossus ArcelorMittal and Angolan diamond company Endiama. Carla Silvestre, quality director of the Angolan ZEE, said that the award would give the project’s clients greater confidence since it came from an international body. It showed that quality played a leading role, she explained, and hence the achievement would serve to boost development of the zone and encourage it to strive for even greater customer satisfaction. The Luanda–Bengo ZEE is a purpose- built industrial condominium, supplied with power, telecommunications, storage, water supply and waste disposal facilities, along

The achievement would serve to boost development of the zone and encourage it to strive for even greater customer satisfaction

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 15 Carla Silvestre, quality INDUSTRY director of the Angolan ZEE Malocha

with other central support services. Companies established there have the added advantage of having a logistical infrastructure and occupying

key locations. Angop “A step forward on the long road to re-industrialise our country,” was how Malocha President José Eduardo dos Santos described the Luanda–Bengo ZEE at Viana during the official inauguration of the first eight industries there in 2011. President dos Santos said then that the aim of the industrial parks was to replace or reduce imports, stimulate domestic production and increase employment by creating a link between products from the factories and plans for 200,000 homes in Angola. There are now 26 industrial concerns in operation in the zone. Eventually a grand total of 73 outfits will be installed there, providing more than 14,000 jobs and generating several thousand others indirectly. Companies located in the ZEE are able to stimulate production, competitiveness and innovation, as well as create jobs. The zone consists of seven industry reserves, six agricultural reserves and eight mining reserves “It’s a step forward on the located in the towns of Viana, Cacuaco, Dande and Ambriz, close to the capital Luanda. long road to re-industrialise Sonangol’s industrial investments arm, Sonangol Investimentos Industriais (SIIND) was our country” given the mission of fostering the Luanda-Bengo ZEE by promoting, developing and co-ordinating – President José Eduardo dos Santos the management of industrial projects in the area back in October 2010.

16 SONANGOL UNIVERSO Shutterstock INDUSTRY

COMPANIES ESTABLISHED IN THE LUANDA-BENGO ZEE

Angolacabos: Angtor: Betonar: fibre optic cables for taps asphalt telecommunications

BTMT: Bombágua: Galvanang: low-and medium-current water pumps chemicals electrical material

Inducabos: Inducarpin: Indugalv: Shutterstock cables and wires furniture making galvanisation

Indupackage: Indupame: Induplás: packaging metal buildings plastic bags

Induplastic: Indutubos: plastic sanitary and Indutive: high-density kitchen accessories paints and varnishes plastic pipes and paint containers

Mangotal: Matelectrica: Infer: metallic towers, low-voltage metals telecommunications and electrical material electricity pylons

Pipeline: Mecametal: Ninhoflex: PVC and polyethylene metal components mattresses pipes and joints

Shutterstock Pivangola: Telhafal: Transplás: farm irrigation metal roofing plastic packaging equipment

Univitro: Vedatela: construction glass metal fencing

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 17

CULTURE

Ovanyaneca woman

18 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

FACES OF A NATION

A fascinating photographic exhibition sponsored by Sonangol explores the diversity of Angola’s native peoples. Universo admires the striking images

By Lula Ahrens

The Origins team on the road

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 19

(Left) Ovimbundo women CULTURE

“The Angolan woman has considerable weight within Angolan communities. She plays a central role both within the family and at work,” he told Universo. Photographing the women, however, was not straightforward. “It was a process of approximation. We contacted the local administrations and sobas [the villages’ traditional leaders] first before talking with the women themselves. “Next, we had to gain their trust before they opened up about their lives and families. When I finally took their shots, the women were very proud of the results.” Also crucial to the project’s success was investigative journalist ngola’s many native peoples The making of... and translator Carla Prudente, who is remain largely a mystery to The idea of a book about the Origins a specialist in cultural anthropology Athe wider public. In an attempt project came from the Zwela Group, one and speaks various native Angolan to shed more light on their decisive of Africa’s largest media companies. languages, mainly those of the south. role in the development of Angolan Sonangol has generously backed the She is the daughter of an evangelical society, Sonangol has sponsored a publication of the 77-page volume, which pastor and grew up speaking Umbundu major photographic exhibition – Origins: contains some 141 photographs, almost in Angola’s southern region. The Peoples of Angola – as well as an exclusively of women from Angola’s Prudente works as a reporter at accompanying book. indigenous ethnic groups. Rádio Nacional de Angola. A well-known The Origins project is fundamentally Francisco Prata, director of personality, she appears regularly in a tribute to traditional Angolan women. photography at Muxima Filmes, shot all talk shows such as Janela Aberta (Open It aims to explain the anthropological, the images. Prata is Angolan by birth, but Window) and Dia a Dia (Day by Day) on linguistic and geographical significance has lived in Brazil and Portugal, where he Angolan national TV. She was the only of the symbols of their physical identity. worked as a photographer in the fashion female member of the Origins team office. The project covers a great variety of and PR industries. ethno-linguistic groups. He returned to ETHNO-LINGUISTIC GROUPS According to Sonangol, the Angola for a short- IN THE ORIGINS PROJECT enterprise is intended “to preserve term project in

Angolan culture and to contribute 2006–08. After Zwela Ambundu Besangana Ovahelelo Mukuvale to the development and mutual commissioned Ambundu Kimbundu Ovahelelo Mundimba understanding between Angola’s him for other Bakongo Ovambó Kwanyama various native tribes.” The Origins assignments, Cokwe Ovanyaneca exhibition opened at the Sonangol he decided to Ibinda Ovimbundo headquarters gallery space in the spring permanently return Ovahelelo Muhakavona Vangangela of 2015. Future exhibitions at other to his mother Ovahelelo Muhimba venues are currently being planned. country in 2013.

20 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

CULTURE

Exhibition opening at Sonangol HQ

“The Origins project was a challenge did not speak a language, we hired an and philosophy facilitated the contact- that I embraced,” she said. “I already had interpreter. But in terms of knowledge of making process tremendously. It is all numerous contacts thanks to a calendar the history and origins of the northern about respecting the other’s culture, in Angolan national languages that I had people, I was well-versed.” which is crucial. Respect always has to produced, but I had never before carried The content of the project evolved be the first step.” out a project of such magnitude. The over time. “The initial aim was to calendar focused mainly on southern photograph members of various Angolan Clearer understanding Angola, while for the Origins project we peoples and explain the symbolism of “It has been a great pleasure for me to had to cover the entire country. their clothes and jewellery. We then explain to readers what is behind the “Angola’s interior is like a different progressed towards a deeper perspective: pictures,” Prudente said, “especially in universe,” she said. “Communicating pre-colonial history, religion and cases where general perceptions do not with the people there is not easy, due symbols of power, among other things. match reality. People for instance often to our differences in the perception Africa has a lot of symbolism. Everything confuse the Mukuvale in Namibe with of the world around us. This project has a meaning.” the Mumwila in Huíla. They both herd was a major learning curve for me, Her father’s experience in the cattle, and women from both tribes show especially in the north where I did not Angolan hinterland helped her a great their breasts. But there are important have as much experience. Whenever I deal. “Knowledge of Bantu moral values differences between the two.”

The illustrated book accompanying the Origins exhibition (Origens in Portuguese)

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 21 CULTURE

The look of Cabinda

22 SONANGOL UNIVERSO CULTURE

Ovahelelo Mukuvale mother and child

She concentrated on the jewellery is impossible. First of all, in terms and clothing worn by Angola’s native of distance, when you travel in the women. “Their jewels show whether Angolan interior, people will keep they have passed the initiation ritual, telling you that your destination is whether they are married, single, a ‘close’ when in fact it is 200km away. mother, from which family they are from In addition, our deadline was and so on. The way they dress explains extremely tight. And thirdly, we faced a everything they are, so that they receive huge lack of written scientific material the treatment they deserve.” on Angola’s natives. An important general misconception “We did not cover all the peoples clarified in the book concerns the baring of the north, due to lack of time. We of women’s breasts. would have needed six months, not “Contrary to what is generally 50 days, to fully execute this project. thought, the exposure of their breasts Angola’s tribes are geographically very does not indicate that they are difficult to access, especially in the available. This habit is not meant to rainy season. The people of the south conquer members of the opposite sex. have greater cultural wealth, so we It is a way of demanding respect.” decided to concentrate more on them.” The meaning of the exposure of The team often had to rely on girls’ hips is an even less understood human messengers instead of phones. phenomenon. “Girls who walk “All contacts were established via around with bare hips have not yet local administrations, never directly,” passed the initiation ritual,” Prudente Prudente said. “That is a safety explained. “This ritual symbolises measure, a relic of the civil war. The a girl’s physical transition into a administrations had not been notified woman. If a girl has not yet passed in advance by the project organisers. that ritual, then she cannot yet be That, too, was our responsibility. conquered by a man. If a man tries “At times, due to the tight deadline, to conquer her anyway, he will I was forced to write in a car bumping be punished, in some cases even up and down. We travelled for almost expelled from the tribe.” 50 days without any rest. It was crazy, but we had a great team and we Team spirit supported each other in all respects.” Prata and Prudente were asked by “It was hard work, with lots of Zwela to cover the whole of Angola, a walking,” Prata recalled. “We drove 1,246,700 sq km country, in less than 50 under the toughest circumstances. days. It was a virtually impossible task, Think nine hours of driving over both admitted. bumpy dirt roads every day. Thank God For Prudente, the logistics were there was great team spirit. Had we not a major challenge. “To gather all the had that, we would never have been information within 40 to 50 days able to make it.”

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 23 PROVINCES

Serra da Leba escarpment

SOUTHERN ANGOLA: GREAT EXPECTATIONS

24 SONANGOL UNIVERSO Kostadin Luchansky

Thanks to new and rebuilt infrastructure, southern Angola is on the cusp of a period of accelerated development. Universo takes a tour of the four provinces

he general perception of Angola’s clients; however, the next major transformation of southern provinces – Namibe, Huilá, the region will occur when long-dormant mining T Cunene and Cuando Cubango – is of huge, operations in Huilá province are revived. underpopulated expanses of dry lands where semi-nomadic peoples wander with little regard Namibe province for international frontiers. While this is partly true, Namibe’s main asset is its port, from where cargo is the region also contains highly fertile areas with currently mostly transported along impressive new abundant waters and substantial mineral reserves. highways serving the whole of southern Angola. These sources of potential economic wealth, along The city of Namibe is the largest centre of with stunning tourist attractions, are now more population (282,056) in the province as well as accessible thanks to massive state investment in its economic and administrative hub. The desert new road networks, airports and rebuilt railways. surrounding the city means there are pristine Southern Angola’s key axis of development beaches nearby. This has inspired a long-term is the totally revamped and re-equipped rail line plan to expand tourism, build a marina and attract which links the port of Namibe to Menongue, 907km investment in seafront residential development due east in Cuando Cubango province. Since its and make Namibe a ‘New Dubai’. Thus far all that completion in August 2012, the railway has provided is visible of this ambitious goal is a newly laid-out some passenger services and carried cargoes of beach promenade, but the potential is clear. ornamental granite and vital fuel for Sonangol The recently rebuilt Yuri Gagarin Airport

Lubango’s new railway station Brazuk Ltd

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 25 Shutterstock PROVINCES

showed that Namibe was capable of handling large numbers of visitors when it hosted an international roller hockey championship in 2013. New hotels and a purpose-built sports venue seating over 3,000 made the event a success. Namibe city is also within striking distance of desert attractions such as the Iona National Park, which has zebras, ostriches, gazelles and cheetahs as well as the ancient huge desert plant Welwitschia mirabilis. The region’s rich wildlife is a growing tourist attraction The desert coast forms part of the great Namib Desert which stretches 1,600km from Namibe across neighbouring Namibia to South Africa. It offers sports fishing and diving in The province of Namibe also has great solar and wind isolated, unspoilt locations. energy potential, and a 100MW wind power park (near Located 97km south of Namibe, Tômbua is the province’s Tômbua) is being developed. second most important city. Its economy is based on the Heading directly east from Namibe, the desert road and rich fish and crustacean stocks of the South Atlantic ocean. railway meet the dramatically steep Serra da Leba escarpment, Angola’s Ministry of Fisheries in conjunction with private home to the emblematic ‘Zigzag’ highway which climbs it. Both companies has invested heavily in new boats, equipment Namibe and neighbouring Huilá claim the provincial border and fish and seafood processing. A tuna and sardine cannery tourist attraction as their own. absorbed $122 million of spending in 2014. The fishing industry’s revival also includes provision of a fish market, cold Huilá province storage and a fleet of refrigerated trucks for transportation The ascent of the Serra da Leba marks a clear climatic throughout Angola and beyond. To enhance training in the transition from the Namib Desert below to the greener, fresher, sector, the government plans to inaugurate a fishing academy more fertile Huilá plateau. Huilá has long enjoyed a reputation in 2016. throughout Angola for its healthy climate and its abundant Tômbua lands around 50,000 tonnes of fish and crustaceans produce, with strawberries being the best-known. every year. The local fishing industry is largely artisan, made The provincial capital, Lubango, is home to Angola’s second up of many co-operatives and their families. Fishermen most important industrial concentration after Luanda and traditionally cure and salt large amounts of the catch in the sun. is a key route hub north and south as well as east and west.

POPULATION DENSITY

PROVINCE POPULATION AREA, SQ KM CUANDO CUBANGO

Namibe 471,613 57,091 NAMIBE

Huilá 2,354,398 5,002 CUNENE

Cuando Cubango 510,000 199,049 HUILÁ Cunene 965,288 87,342 ENGLAND 125 250 375 (for comparison) 0 England 53,000,000 130,395 POPULATION DENSITY PER SQ KM

26 SONANGOL UNIVERSO Shutterstock Shutterstock PROVINCES

Ornamental stone is one of the province’s booming Shutterstock industries, and 40 companies quarry and polish black granite at Chibia, Gambos and Quipungo, compared with just 12 in 2002. The stone is a much- prized export, and Huilá sells pink, grey, black and brown granites to India, China, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Canada as well as tiles to Zambia, Namibia and South Africa. Huilá’s water resources are also renowned in Angola and there is a thriving bottled mineral water company serving the whole country. The same water supplies a modern Coca-Cola plant and the brewery for the popular Nocal beer. The Namibe–Menongue railway continues from Shutterstock Lubango to agribusiness centre Matala, where it intersects the River Cunene as it flows from north to south. Huilá’s temperate climate and fertile soil have made it a magnet for investment. The province also has extensive cattle farming. Matala’s centrepiece is the recently refurbished 40MW dam and reservoir, the focal point of a 350km- long section of a river with potential to irrigate 350,000 hectares (3,500 sq km) of land. New food-processing facilities include a 12,500 tonne/year tomato canning plant, and storage facilities have been built to optimise the use of Lubango: famed for its strawberries Kostadin Luchansky Kostadin Luchansky

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 27 Luanda

N Gove Dam Hydropower, Wind 50 Km Chipindo Irrigation power 50 miles Caconda (Gold) Forestry, Agribusiness, Z Quilengues Menongue Ecotourism cattle rearing H U Í L A A ne Mining, Fruit, cereals, Coca-Cola plant, Quipungo ne Cubango MB I Quarrying vegetables Cu OL A Nocal brewery (Quarrying) Matala Dam Cuchi National capital G Lubango Jamba Longa Provincial capital A

(Iron ore, C N Manganese) u Cuíto Town, village Namibe b Missimbo Ganjelas Kassinga A a Cuanavale Road (Iron ore, n Mineral Water a g e b Manganese) Rail Bottling Plant L Chibia o d a (Granite) C River a Bicuar u r r a S e National Park Techamutete / Mpopo n PROVINCE (Gold) d o Tômbua Chibemba ANGOLA (Fishing) NAMIB E (Granite) Namibe Mupa Desert Virei National Luanda Park C (Reserve) CUNENE u b A N G OLA a CUANDO-CUBANGO n 0 400 km g Iona Xagongo o 0 200 miles Epupa/Baynes Aqueduct National Ondjiva Park e nen Calueque Dam E HUÍ L A Cu Baynes Dam Ruacana Falls Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier C UAN DO- (proposed) ANGO L A NAMIB C U BAN G O C UNENE Windhoek Conservation Area (KAZA) N A M I B I A Cataí Okavango Mark Clydesdale (BZO)

farmland and stimulate output well above subsistence levels. of $500 million per annum. The project includes an on-site Huge grain silos mark the skyline at Matala and provide food processing plant and a long-term plan to build a steelworks. security, an insurance policy against the severe droughts that Angola has also invested around $600 million in gold still afflict parts of southern Angola. exploration at two sites near Jamba, Mpopo and Chipindo. Two dams on the Cunene north of Matala are also under consideration: Jamba Ya Oma and Jamba Ya Mina, with a total Cuando Cubango province capacity of around 200MW. Angola’s second largest province has as its capital Menongue, Just south of Lubango is Ganjelas near Chibia, another the terminus of the railway from Namibe. While the region has smaller agribusiness complex also based on a dam, irrigation substantial mineral resources attracting investor interest, such and power plant. Both Matala and Ganjelas enjoy excellent as copper, diamonds, iron, mercury, gold, quartz and uranium, road and rail links to Lubango and elsewhere. it is the tourism potential of its vast wilderness, especially in the Okavango area in its far southwest borderlands, that Iron and gold captures the public imagination. Further along the Namibe–Menongue railway are Jamba Cuando Cubango is investing $350 million in tourism and Kassinga, in Huilá’s mineral belt. This is the most with an eye to developing its share of the Kavango–Zambezi significant economic area and thus was the rationale behind Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA). This is an building the railway from the coast. Here, 300km due east of intergovernmental project to create a wildlife sanctuary across Lubango, preparations are underway to restart iron ore and huge swathes of land where Angola, Botswana, Namibia, manganese mining. Zambia and Zimbabwe converge. The 440,000 sq km park, an There are proven iron ore deposits of 400 million tonnes, area the size of Sweden, could eventually emulate the high- with reserves likely to be 10 times that amount. When previously spending tourism success of the Pantanal swampland reserve worked in the 1970s, mine output was worth the equivalent which borders three countries in South America.

28 SONANGOL UNIVERSO Luanda

N PROVINCES Gove Dam Hydropower, Wind 50 Km Chipindo Irrigation power 50 miles Caconda (Gold) Forestry, Agribusiness, Z Quilengues Menongue Ecotourism cattle rearing H U Í L A A ne Mining, Fruit, cereals, Coca-Cola plant, Quipungo ne Cubango MB I Quarrying vegetables Cu OL A Nocal brewery (Quarrying) Matala Dam Cuchi National capital G Lubango Jamba Longa Provincial capital A

(Iron ore, C N Manganese) u Cuíto Town, village Namibe b Missimbo Ganjelas Kassinga A a Cuanavale Road (Iron ore, n Mineral Water a g e b Manganese) Rail Bottling Plant L Chibia o d a (Granite) C River a Bicuar u r r a S e National Park Techamutete / Mpopo n PROVINCE (Gold) d o Tômbua Chibemba ANGOLA (Fishing) NAMIB E (Granite) Namibe Mupa Desert Virei National Luanda Park C (Reserve) CUNENE u b A N G OLA a CUANDO-CUBANGO n 0 400 km g Iona Xagongo o 0 200 miles Epupa/Baynes Aqueduct National Ondjiva Park e nen Calueque Dam E HUÍ L A Cu Baynes Dam Ruacana Falls Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier C UAN DO- (proposed) ANGO L A NAMIB C U BAN G O C UNENE Windhoek Conservation Area (KAZA) N A M I B I A Cataí Okavango Kostadin Luchansky Shutterstock

KAZA is home to the world’s biggest elephant population – around 250,000 – and a wealth of other endangered plant and animal species. Angola is responsible for 90,000 sq km of the reserve. Public and private investors are investing $570 million in mining, according to the deputy governor for economic affairs, Ernesto Kiteculo. The provincial government is also investing $1.375 billion in long term farming projects to increase local food supply. The Longa area will specialise in rice and vegetables – its first harvest, thanks to Chinese co-operation, was 1,300 tonnes – and the Missombo region will grow vegetables. Kiteculo said there was also much work to be done in rebuilding 4,000km

of roads and bridges, and this would need $3 billion. Shutterstock Cunene and Cuando Cubango were the provinces most affected by the long war with apartheid-era South Africa in terms of infrastructure damage, and there remains a massive legacy in landmines whose removal is likely to take until 2025. In 2014, Menongue’s Comandante Kwenha airport was rebuilt providing a welcome boost to both tourists and investors.

Cunene province Cunene is the only one of Angola’s four southern provinces not to be connected to the railway, but there are plans to extend a branch from Lubango through its capital Ondjiva and on to join the network in neighbouring Namibia.

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 29 Shutterstock SUBSIDIARYPROVINCES

The KAZA project is home to the world’s largest elephant population

Most economic activity in Energy is also a pinch point. Cunene uses diesel generators to supply 6MW the province is informal and it imports another 6MW from Namibia. Angola and Namibia have long and farming is mainly had joint projects dating back to before independence for developing power and subsistence, as is fishing irrigation dams on the River Cunene that forms part of their border. A feasibility on the River Cunene study was completed on the $1.37 billion 600MW Baynes Dam in November 2014. Cunene’s economy is largely on the River Cunene. There is some In common with the rest of the influenced by its position on Angola’s cattle-rearing carried out by several region, Cunene has many tourist southern border. Ondjiva lies just 40km semi-nomadic peoples, some of whom attractions that are now benefiting from Namibia and is at the convergence live as hunter-gatherers. from the country’s improved transport of the country’s two major (and much- Cunene has iron and copper deposits network and people’s greater willingness improved) north–south highways. There but has as yet no plans to exploit them. to travel. Among the highlights are the is vigorous trade on the border as large Water is scarce, but a huge dramatic 124-metre-high Ruacana Falls, numbers of truckers from Namibia and improvement was made to Ondjiva’s the Mupa National Park and the largest South Africa stop en route to markets domestic supply in 2014 when a 100km baobab tree in Africa. in Angola. aqueduct from the River Cunene was Most economic activity in the connected to the capital. There are also The road ahead province is informal, and farming plans to develop irrigated agriculture Southern Angola has come a long way is mainly subsistence, as is fishing along the river at Manquete and Calueque. since peace was re-established 13 years

30 SONANGOL UNIVERSO SUBSIDIARYPROVINCES

Angola’s emblematic baobob trees

HEIGHT OF A PERSON Kostadin Luchansky

A young Muckawana boy Kostadin Luchansky ago; extensive road rebuilding has meant that overland long-distance travel has now resumed and the opportunities for commerce and tourism have boomed. All this can be measured by the massive increase in hotel accommodation throughout the country and also by the surprising appearance of the distinctive, exuberantly necklaced and bangled Mumuíla women of the Nyaneka peoples, now seen as far away as Luanda from their native rural homes in Huilá. The significant economic explosion will come with the restart of large-scale mining in Huilá’s mineral belt, but meanwhile there will be a steady increase in cross- border trade and co-operation, not least in the development of the KAZA wildlife project.

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 31 BLOSSOMING PARTNERSHIP International oil and gas major BP is one of Sonangol’s most important partners. Universo profiles the company’s operations in Angola

32 SONANGOL UNIVERSO BP’s new Luanda HQ UPSTREAM

P (formerly British Petroleum) has invested $27 billion in BAngola since starting operations there in the 1990s, according to local vice-president, Paulo Pizarro. Over the next 10–15 years, the firm aims to add a further $15 billion towards its exploration and development efforts in the country. “These are large investments whose return, naturally, will be over the long term, and that’s why our strategy in Angola involves a larger and more ample contribution to the socioeconomic development of the country,” Pizarro explained. “We would like to be seen as a company that contributes to socioeconomic development, not only through the production of oil and of the payment of taxes, but also through the jobs that we create,” he added. Apart from the hundreds of Angolans that BP directly employs, it has also helped stimulate the creation of over 15,000 jobs in goods and services related to its operations. One of the world’s largest oil and gas outfits, BP has a workforce of over 84,000 people in some 80 countries. The company undertakes exploration and production activities in 18 of those countries, including Angola, which accounts for around 10 per cent of its daily global net output of 2.1 million barrels of oil and gas. In 2014, BP globally registered an operating cash flow of $32.8 billion and a profit of $12.1 billion. BP is the largest net oil producer in Angola, ahead of Total, Chevron and ExxonMobil, the company told Universo.

BP Angola history Although BP has had a presence in Angola since the 1970s, it was only in

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 33 Brazuk Ltd UPSTREAM

1995 that the company got involved in the upstream, initially through Amoco, “We would like to be seen as with its exploration licence in Block 18. BP’s Angolan oil production dates back a company that contributes to to 2007. Current oil projects stem from the prospecting licences acquired for socioeconomic development” deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks in the Congo Basin following the merger with Amoco in the 1990s. – Paulo Pizarro, In 2011 the company invested in a BP Angola vice-president further five deep- and ultra-deepwater blocks in the Kwanza and Benguela basins. These cemented its position as a leading player in Angola with prospecting the world’s imagination because of its in Angola. It led to the building of two interests in nine blocks covering a scale. At around 2,000 metres below new plants in Luanda; one for wellhead massive total area of 32,650 sq km. sea level, the oil development project machining and the other for assembling BP now sees the Angola region as is one of the deepest in Africa and one ‘Christmas trees’ (wellhead units, each one of the jewels in its exploration and of the largest interconnected subsea consisting of a set of valves). production portfolio. structures in the world. The enterprise also stimulated the Located in the deepwater in the development of a marine supply base Key operations northeastern part of Block 31, PSVM’s and multi-jointing facility at Porto BP has production-sharing agreements production started up in December 2012. Amboim, 260km south of the capital. with Sonangol in the Lower Congo Basin, It is currently around 170,000 bpd. Other sites in Angola also played a role, where it operates its most important The multi-billion dollar PSVM project with BP contractors manufacturing offshore blocks, 18 and 31. has a floating production, storage and metal structures and equipment in The Greater Plutónio project in Block offloading vessel (FPSO) at its heart and Luanda and Lobito. 18 was its first operated deepwater connects to over 77,000 tonnes of subsea While BP Angola’s own gross average development in Angola. This block equipment which stretches 28km from is over 301,000 bpd from Blocks 18 represents an area of 5,000 sq km at north to south. and 31, the company also holds non- depths varying from 1,200 to 1,600 During construction in 2010, the operating stakes in two prolific blocks, metres and contains five fields, all project employed 10,000 people in 16 15 and 17, run respectively by Esso named after chemical elements: Gálio countries and in 12 fabrication yards Exploration Angola and Total. (gallium), Cromo (chromium), Cobalto (cobalt), Paládio (palladium) and Plutónio (plutonium). Production began ANGOLA’S INTERNATIONAL OIL in October 2007 and currently stands at MAJOR LOADINGS, 2014* around 160,000 barrels per day (bpd). Block 18 also supplies associated Total...... 580,000 gas to the Angola LNG (liquefied Chevron...... 365,000 natural gas) plant at Soyo. The second major venture is in Block ExxonMobil...... 329,000 31, which comprises the Plutão, Saturno, BP...... 301,000 Vênus and Marte fields, named after planets and collectively known as PSVM. Source: Angolan Ministry of Finance *barrels of oil per day This installation has captured

34 SONANGOL UNIVERSO UPSTREAM

BP OPERATED BLOCKS BP Block 18 Greater Plutónio development

BP 50%, Sonangol Sinopec International (SSI) 50% Water depth3 1,200-1,600 metres Fields3 Cobalto, Plutónio, Paládio, Cromo and Gálio Future fields3 Césio (caesium), Platina (platinum) and Chumbo (lead) Crude stream3 Plutónio Loading point3 FPSO Plutónio Daily output3 170,000 bpd*

Block 31 PSVM development

BP 26.67%, Sonangol EP 25%, Sonangol P&P 20%, Statoil 13.33%, SSI Thirty-One Ltd 15% Water depth3 greater than 2,000 metres Fields3 Plutão, Saturno, Vênus, Marte Crude stream3 Saturno Loading point3 FPSO PSVM Daily output3 170,000 bpd*

Source: Angolan Ministry of Finance *barrels of oil per day BP

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 35 BP BP

UPSTREAM

THE PSVM PRODUCTION SYSTEM

In addition, it owns a 13.6 per cent share in the Soyo succession plans, coaching and knowledge transfer. This is enabling Angola LNG facility, which is set to resume operations later Angolans to build their professional competency and take on the this year. roles of technicians, engineers and senior leadership positions The firm operates two other blocks (19 and 24) in the within the organisation. Kwanza and Benguela basins where oil production has yet to commence. Production-sharing contracts for these Made in Angola blocks were signed in December 2011. BP is committed to supporting the development and enhancing Altogether there are five non-operating partnerships the capability of Angolan companies. BP spent $565 million in in Blocks 15, 17, 20, 25 and 26. When BP took a 40 per cent stake in Block 26, it gained access to five new offshore blocks in the Kwanza and Benguela basins, totalling 24,240 sq km in area. The potential of these acquisitions lies in BLOCKS IN EXPLORATION PHASE their geology, which is thought to mirror that of Brazil’s hydrocarbon-rich pre-salt region. Block 19

Angolanisation BP 50%, Sonangol P&P 40%, China Sonangol 10% There is close co-operation with the government in its Water depth: 500–1,800 metres policy of Angolanisation, and to this end more than 79 per cent of the 1,000 staff that BP employs in Angola Block 24 are nationals. BP 50%, Sonangol P&P 50% The company is committed to developing local Water depth: 600–1,800 metres employment through training staff, implementing rigorous

36 SONANGOL UNIVERSO Greening the desert UPSTREAM

BP NON-OPERATED ASSETS

Block 15 Esso Exploration Angola (operator) 40%, BP 26.67%, Eni 20%, Statoil 13.33%

Water depth3 650–1,400 metres 2013 on promoting local content in helping develop joint- venture partners and suppliers’ capacity to provide increased Fields3 Kizomba A (Hungo, Chocalho, Marimba numbers of products and services in Angola. Norte), Kizomba B (Kissanje, Dikanza), Kizomba C A consequence of this is a boost to the socioeconomic (Mondo, Saxi Batuque), Kizomba Satellites 1 (Clochas, development of the country. Mavacola), Kizomba Satellites 2 (Kakocha, Bavuca, The PSVM project has one of the highest levels of local Mondo Sul) input, accounting for about 20 per cent. Several components Daily output have been manufactured or assembled in Angolan fabrication 3 320,000 bpd* yards at Soyo, Dande, Luanda and Porto Amboim. These Block 17 include pipelines, Christmas trees, manifolds, jumpers, buoyancy tanks, umbilicals and wellheads. Total E&P (operator) 40%, Esso Exploration Angola 20%, BP 16.67%, Statoil 23.33%

The company in the community Water depth 600–1,500 metres BP supports several educational projects in Angola and has 3 strategic partnerships with universities, schools and local NGOs. Fields3 Girassol, Jasmin, Rosa, Dália and Pazflor Engagement with Angolan society at every level has (Acácia, Hortênsia, Perpétua, Zínia) resulted in firm relationships with key stakeholders, such as community and church leaders, government, academics and CLOV (Cravo, Lírio, Orquídea, Violeta) others to reach mutually beneficial outcomes. Daily output 580,000 bpd* The oil company’s sustainable development and community 3 investment programme focuses on education, enterprise Source: Angolan Ministry of Finance development, enhancing institutional capacity and social inclusion. *barrels of oil per day

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 37 UPSTREAM

BP ANGOLA TIMELINE

1970s Initial Amoco involvement in Angola

1996 Amoco acquires Block 18 rights

1999 BP assumes operator position in Block 31

2006 FPSO Greater Plutónio built

First oil Greater Plutónio. 2007 Agreement to take part in Angola LNG project

FPSO PSVM with its distinctive turret BP makes 16th discovery in ultra- 2008 deepwater Block 31. Approval given for Block 31 development A BP-funded postgraduate programme for a master’s of law degree (LLM) in Oil and Gas, and also a master’s degree in Oil and Gas Business Development, in partnership with the Faculty of BP and Sonangol sign new production- Law of Agostinho Neto University, launched in April 2007, has so 2011 sharing agreement as operators of far produced over 100 graduates. Backing has also been provided Blocks 19 and 24, with interests in Blocks for the engineering and science faculties at the university. 20, 25 and 26 The school support programme includes improving children’s access and study conditions in schools across the country, as demand for education far outweighs supply given 2012 First oil from FPSO PSVM in Block 31 Angola’s youthful population. There are also initiatives to stimulate young people’s interest in mathematics and sciences. In enterprise development, BP assists rural cooperatives that have evolved from the Greater Plutonio micro- FPSO PSVM reaches plateau output 2013 credit project. In partnership with local NGOs, the firm First cargo delivered from Angola LNG supports conservation, farming, water and sanitation initiatives for rural communities in Cunene province, Southern

38 SONANGOL UNIVERSO UPSTREAM

DULCE HENRIQUES

Dulce Henriques is a Benguela- born chartered engineer now working at BP’s offices in Luanda. She attended the polytechnic in her hometown before going on to study for a degree in Lisbon. Her choice of an engineering career was influenced by a secondary school teacher who told her 25 years ago that computers would be the future. She was considering doing biology but instead opted for electronics, the subject nearest to computing in Benguela at that time. After winning a scholarship, to Portugal she graduated in Electronics and Telecommunications from ISEL (Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa). “It was the natural choice,” she explained. Henriques later specialised in instruments and control on joining BP. By the end of 2011, she had been promoted to projects and modifications manager. “This was a big leap in my career, as there were many technical aspects to this job and also a lot of administration, as I had two offshore teams reporting to me, plus procurement issues and the management of a subcontract company. So I was at full stretch in managing these extra aspects, at the same time as having a baby. Responsibilities included a project portfolio ranging from $200,000 to $15 million – and certainly wasn’t boring! “Things are always changing and you need to adapt, which has Angola, a region often affected by extreme climate taught me to manage. There were only three people in the team when I change (droughts and floods). The programme started; now there are 20. It was a very interesting role and I learnt a lot. competed for the Sirius Award and won the Global “I can’t complain with what I have achieved so far. Since March Partnership Award in recognition of its impact on the 2015, I have moved into my second management role. I’m now communities and its value in establishing sound and the Discipline Engineering manager for BP. So I have dreams to effective partnerships. accomplish more,” she added. Funding has also helped other rural co-operatives, This engineer is happy in her current role. “I like working in mainly run by women, in Benguela province with a a mixed environment with people from across the world and with focus on improved farming and irrigation techniques different experiences, and when we are struggling, we come together. and the development of local markets. There is a variety of teams and people doing multiple things, so it’s The Green Namibe project aims to fight the always good to learn and interact with each other.“ desertification of that province through planting She also has no problems working in a predominantly male industry. trees and using modern irrigation. The project is “I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but I’m not shy and consider myself a creating a micro-climate while providing agricultural tough cookie,” adding she would definitely recommend a career in the students and their professors with valuable practical oil industry to any young Angolan women. experience and research material.

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 39 UPSTREAM

DINAYAME MENDES BP

40 SONANGOL UNIVERSO UPSTREAM

Dinayame Mendes, a process engineer on the Greater provide process engineering support to the Greater Plutónio project, joined BP as a trainee technician in 2006. Plutónio project and “consistently and efficiently deliver Born in Uíge in 1984, the daughter of a Baptist church safe, reliable and compliant operations.” pastor, she spent two and a half years in Hull in the UK on She is continuing her further education with an MSc in an apprenticeship, mostly at the Dimlington Gas Terminal, Process Systems Engineering at Cranfield University, UK part of the North Sea gas system. While there, she received and hopes to complete it in September 2016. awards of Overseas Student of the Year 2007 from the Hull “I like the diversity of challenges I encounter in my Association of Engineers and Student of the Year 2008 job. It exposes me to learning from and interacting with a (Engineering Industries Association of Humberside). She multidisciplinary team,” she told Universo. was also named 2008 gold medallist by the Worshipful In her leisure time, she enjoys travelling. She does, Company of Tallow Chandlers, an ancient English guild however, recognise the downside of being away from which once regulated the fats and oils trade, but now family and friends and missing out on important events. supports education and training in the energy sector. Mendes is one of the growing number of Angolan Mendes was chosen to join BP’s production chemist women working in the oil industry. “There are not as team in 2008 and undertook a year-long training many as I would like to see. Particularly in operations and assignment with Nalco in Sugarland, Texas. She then engineering roles, there are not so many women.” joined the Greater Plutónio support team as production Her first experience of working in a male-dominated chemist, overseeing chemicals management services, and environment was at an onshore gas terminal in East then as production technologist. Yorkshire, and there were a lot of barriers to overcome. After completing a BSc (Hons) in Environmental One was the robust language of her male work colleagues. Science with the Open University in 2011, she joined the So when she went offshore, she more or less knew what it Challenge Programme in Process Engineering, taking on would be like. the role of assistant operations engineer on the FPSO PSVM “I was acquainted with the environment. As anywhere working on a 28-day rotation basis. else where the job is traditionally seen as ‘male’, being “It was a unique experience to be part of hook-up, a woman, I had to work harder than my male peers to commissioning and start-up of production of the largest prove that I could do things. Fortunately I also happened subsea development project in the world,” she said. to find some good people who supported me, gave me the Next she became a part of the Area Engineering opportunity and valued my contribution to the success of Support Team in October 2013, where her role was to the team.”

“I like the diversity of challenges I encounter in my job. It exposes me to learning from and interacting with a multidisciplinary team” – Dinayame Mendes, Process Engineer, Greater Plutónio project

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 41 ANNIVERSARY

A CENTURY OF OIL DRILLING 1915-2015

n 2015, Angola celebrates 100 years subsequently but were abandoned by Petrofina made an onshore discovery since oil was first drilled in its June 1916 owing to a collapse in their just south of Luanda. Angola’s oil output Iterritory. The very first successful oil pipe-work structure. was minimal until drilling began in well was sunk in the Dande river valley, shallow offshore waters in the late 1960s. around 20km west of Caxito (Bengo Oil strike Production offshore began in 1969, and province) and 40km north of Luanda. Finally the industry pioneers struck that marked Angola’s take-off as an oil- There was very good reason to choose lucky. They drilled the Dande-4 well producing nation. this prospecting area, because oil in the from August 14, 1916, through to By 1984, the country was tapping form of asphalt, also known as bitumen, September 19, 1917, reaching a depth of 100,000 bpd, and this amount doubled in was in evidence on the surface, where it 857 metres and producing 6 barrels per 2001. A mere four years later, production had for centuries been seeping through day (bpd) of heavy oil. The old wellhead reached 1 million bpd as drilling moved the rock structures and then hardening. is still visible to this day, as it has been into deep waters. The area is known to geologists today as preserved by the oil slowly oozing out Today, a hundred years since the the Libongos oil seeps. and covering it. This has protected it very first drilling operation took place, The drilling of Angola’s first well, from tropical heat and rainfall. Angola now produces nearly 1.8 million Dande-1, began on March 25, 1915, and Angola’s early drilling campaigns bpd and drills more than 80 per cent of terminated in July the same year. It lasted until June 1927. They totalled 13 this is drilled in deepwater. proved to be dry, but the clay extracted wells altogether but were deemed not gave off the strong aroma of oil. This worth developing. Universo would like to thank Canadian was enough to give the explorers Oil exploration only seriously geologist Tako Koning for researching this heart. Another two wells were drilled resumed in the 1950s, when Belgian firm item and providing data

42 SONANGOL UNIVERSO Shutterstock ANNIVERSARY

2011 Total and partners achieve 1 billion barrels cumulative 2001 oil from deepwater Girassol producing at Block 17 rate of 200,000 bpd

1975 Texaco finds 2011 Essungo oil field. 2004 Sonangol awards First discovery in Angola oil output 11 pre-salt blocks 1955 Block 2 reaches 1 million bpd in deepwater First commercial Kwanza Basin oil find at Benfica by 1700s Belgium’s Petrofina 30 barrels of 1996 2007 bitumen shipped Elf Petroleum Sanha condensate 2012 to Lisbon and Rio detects Girassol project in Chevron Maersk Oil makes de Janeiro for 1956 field in deepwater Block 0 starts up first deepwater caulking ships Oil production starts Lower Congo Basin pre-salt oil in Angola at water depth of discovery in Kwanza 1,300 metres Basin. Cobalt also 2008 announces positive 1915 Angola oil pre-salt result First well drilled. 1968 production averages Portugal’s Gulf oil makes 1.9 million bpd Companhia de first offshore oil Pesquisas Mineiras discovery in Malongo 2012 (PEMA) drills field (Cabinda) Chevron and Dande-1 near Barra partners hit 4 billion do Dande 2009 ExxonMobil and barrels cumulative partners reach oil mark in Block 0 1969 1 billion barrels Offshore oil cumulative oil 1916 production begins production from Very first oil flow. deepwater Block 15 2015 Dande-4 well tested Angola celebrates and produces 6 bpd the hundreth anniversary of oil drilling

1915 2015

bpd: barrels of oil per day

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 43 Shutterstock Shutterstock INTERNATIONAL

Views of Havana Shutterstock Shutterstock

44 SONANGOL UNIVERSO ANGOLA’S ENDURING ALLY Cuba is one of modern Angola’s longest-standing and most practical allies. Universo looks at how this trans-Atlantic relationship has bloomed

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 45 Shutterstock INTERNATIONAL

Havana: the island’s capital city

he Caribbean island of Cuba signed 40 years ago,” he recalled during dependence on international co-operation has a special rapport with a visit by Cuba’s first vice president, in education and health. That is what TAngola, having played a decisive Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, to Angola Cuba’s aim is,” she explained. supporting role in the latter’s struggle in March. Indeed, four decades later “It’s always about education and for independence in 1975. The generosity the island nation continues to provide health, because these areas are probably of spirit displayed by the Cuban people solid support for Angola’s economic what the Cuban government is strongest displayed in the heroic process and in development, specifically in the health in, and human resources are our the subsequent reconstruction of the and education sectors. greatest riches.” country captured the imagination of According to Cuba’s ambassador to As part of the co-operation in many observers around the world. Angola, Gisela Beatriz García Rivera, there healthcare, Angola is using Cuban Angola’s minister of state and head are over 4,000 Cubans working in the products to fight malaria by eliminating of the president’s office, Edeltrudes country. Around 42 per cent of these are in its vectors. da Costa, emphasised the enormous the health sector and 40 per cent in further “We are interested in building sacrifices that Cubans made fighting education, while a reciprocal agreement factories in Angola for biocides and alongside Angolans to help safeguard enables 2,841 students who have grants to biofertilisers, and in transferring independence and territorial integrity. study in the Caribbean country, mostly at technology, because we have experience “They were years of great historical a high educational level. in this field. We have put forward transcendence that will never be “Our main focus is on training local a proposal. Now we need to look at forgotten. It isn’t by chance that our personnel so that Angola can become finance, and see how we can do it,” the General Co-operation Agreement was self-reliant and, in time, come to end its ambassador said.

46 SONANGOL UNIVERSO Shutterstock INTERNATIONAL

“It’s always about education and health, because these areas are probably what the Cuban government is strongest in”

– Gisela Beatriz García Rivera, Cuba’s ambassador to Angola

Another potential way for the two nations to work CUBA: SOCIOECONOMIC INDICATORS together is in the joint production of medicines, an area in which Cuba has considerable experience. Indeed, it already Infant mortality exports many drugs to Angola. 4.7 deaths per 1,000 live births (comparison: UK 4.4, USA 6.2, Mexico 12.6, Brazil 19.2) Power to the people Apart from areas related to health and education, trade Life expectancy between Angola and Cuba is not very substantial. 78.2 years “It’s true that our trade should increase and we can, for (UK 80.4, USA 79.6, Mexico 75.4, Brazil 73.3) example, start with oil. Sonangol is prospecting in Cuba to find oil, and this could be a promising area,” said Ambassador García Rivera. Health expenditure “It’s in our interest to learn much with Sonangol, because it 8.6% of GDP has great experience in drilling offshore. It’s a company that’s (UK 9.4%, USA 17.9%, Mexico 6.1%, Brazil 9.3%) a friend, with a great deal of knowledge of how the oil sector works, an area in which we want to enter,” she pointed out. Doctors “We have some experience of drilling oil in Cuba, but not 6.72 per 1,000 population to the level that Sonangol has.” (UK 2.78, USA 2.45, Mexico 2.1, Brazil 1.89) During his diplomatic and economic mission to Angola, Vice President Díaz-Canel Bermúdez made a point of visiting Education spending Sonangol’s Sonils oil industry logistics base in Luanda. 12.8% of GDP* Together with Minister Edeltrudes da Costa, he reviewed UK 6.2%**, USA 5.2%**, Mexico 5.1%**, Brazil 5.8%*) co-operation in health, education, construction, energy and water, and transport among other matters. Literacy They discussed the possibility that Cuba may take part 99.8% (age 15 and over) in rural electrification in Angola, building power lines and (Mexico 94.2%, Brazil 91.3%) substations to support development in the countryside. Angola’s power generation is expected to be boosted shortly *2010 **2011 with the completion of two huge dam projects. The upgraded (Sources: World Bank, UNICEF) Cambambe dam should produce a total of 960MW, up from

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 47 INTERNATIONAL

MEDICINES WITHOUT BORDERS

In the many years since the Cuban revolution of 1959, This selfless action over Ebola so shamed the rest of the detractors of the island nation have labelled it as an 'exporter' world “that British and US politicians have felt obliged to offer of revolution. This perception stemmed from its active backing congratulations. John Kerry [US Secretary of State] described for the oppressed around the world, which Cubans see as the contribution of the state the US has been trying to overthrow their revolutionary internationalist duty. Indeed, it was such for half a century as ‘impressive’,” the newspaper reported. a mission that led to Che Guevara’s death in Bolivia in 1967, Cuban humanitarianism actions in Haiti and the Kasmir having some years previously visited the Congo where he met earthquake also drew attention in 2005. In May 2015, Cuba’s Angola’s first president, Agostinho Neto. altruism was again on show with its practical aid to victims of Nowadays, Cuba’s international profile derives from its the huge Nepal earthquake. equally heroic medical aid all around the globe. There are now 50,000 Cuban doctors and nurses working in The country led the world in responding to the Ebola 60 developing countries, The Guardian noted. As well as saving emergency in West Africa last year and drew widespread millions of lives, Cuban doctors have carried out 3 million free admiration, even from its critics. eye operations in 33 countries. The paper quoted Che Guevara’s According to British newspaper The Guardian, the Cubans daughter Aleida, who is like her father a doctor, and who “answered that call before it was made. It was first on the herself has served in Africa. Ebola frontline and has sent the largest contingent of doctors “We are Afro-Latin Americans and we’ll take our solidarity and nurses.” Cuban doctors were on the ground first and came to the children of that continent.” prepared for the long haul.

CUBA DATA

Population...... 11.3 million

Capital ...... Havana (population 2.1 million) Shutterstock Shutterstock Land area...... 109,820 square kilometres (comparison: Angola 1,246,700 sq km, Texas 692,241 sq km, England 130,395 sq km)

Agriculture Sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice

Industry Oil, nickel, cobalt, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, construction, steel, cement, farming machinery, sugar Shutterstock

Economic sectors Agriculture...... 3.8% Industry...... 22.3% Services...... 73.9%

(CIA World Factbook 2013 est.)

48 SONANGOL UNIVERSO Shutterstock INTERNATIONAL

180MW, at the end of 2015, and the interferon, EGF (epidermal growth massive new Laúca Dam will add factor) for burns, PPG (policosanol) for another 2,067MW starting in 2017. treating hyperlipidemia, Melagenina for vitiligo, Heberkinasa (streptokinase) for Biotech Cuba thrombosis in cardiovascular disease, Biotech Cuba Cuba’s dependence on sugar, tobacco and monoclonal antibodies. Cuba’s ambassador at the and other commodities is waning, In particular, HIV/AIDS viral Faculty of Medicine, Lubango and, given the government’s long-time research is very intense, and scientists commitment to developing its education hope to develop an effective HIV and health services, it should come as vaccine in addition to producing anti- no surprise that the leading edge of the HIV medications. Regarding bacterial emerging ‘knowledge economy’ has a vaccines, the University of Havana’s strong medical connection. Synthetic Antigens Laboratory recently Biotechnology (biotech) in Cuba announced that the Hemophilus had its beginnings in 1973, according to influenza type B synthetic vaccine was to American doctor, Byron L. Barksdale, be produced locally. owner of the Havana Bay Company. That Dr Barksdale explained that Cuba Courtesy of the Cuban Embassy, Luanda year, scientists and physicians, including holds the position that patents should Cuban doctors at work in Angola Dr. R. Lee Clark (who died in 1994) from not be enforced and poor nations and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, individuals should not have to pay for Texas, made a trip to Havana and held ‘expensive’ medications manufactured discussions about new frontiers in by multinational “for profit” Doctors are Cuba’s greatest export biotech, especially its possible use in pharmaceutical corporations. viral infections such as dengue. Taking the lead from Dr Clark, Cuban Cancer vaccine scientists went to Finland to learn how to According to technology magazine Courtesy of the Cuban Embassy, Luanda make the drug interferon from white blood Wired, Cuba is also on course to develop cells. They subsequently visited Houston a promising therapeutic vaccine Shutterstock and also traveled to Eastern European against lung cancer. In April, New York countries and the former USSR to glean Governor Andrew Cuomo visited the as much information as they could about island’s capitaland helped facilitate the new biotech procedures and techniques. finalisation of an agreement between the Today, Cuba has had considerable Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Cuba’s success in the following areas: vaccines Centre for Molecular Immunology to (Type B meningococcal meningitis), develop the vaccine Cimavax and begin

Ambassador Gisela Beatriz García Rivera visits a Benguela medical centre

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 49 Courtesy of the Cuban Embassy, Luanda INTERNATIONAL

clinical trials in the US. The hope is that American researchers will allow Cimavax to undergo further testing and that it will ANGOLA - CUBA obtain the Food and Drug Administration’s approval. “The chance to evaluate a vaccine like this is a very exciting prospect,” Candace Johnson, CEO of Roswell Park, told Wired. Part Cuban international mission provides military of her excitement is because so far research on the vaccine shows 1965 assistance to MPLA in exile in Congo Brazzaville that it has low toxicity and is relatively cheap to produce and store. Researchers in Cuba worked on Cimavax for 25 years before Cuban forces help repel apartheid South Africa’s the Ministry of Health there made it available to the public in 1975 attack on Angola. With Cuban aid, Angola 2011, the magazine reported. A phase II trial from 2008 showed becomes secure base for liberation movements that lung cancer patients who received the vaccine lived an such as Namibia’s Swapo and South Africa’s ANC average of four to six months longer. Japan and some European countries are also trialling the drug. Agreement of withdrawal of apartheid troops Wired attributed the priority given to biotech and medical 1988 from Namibia. Cuban troops leave Angola research in Cuba to an outbreak of dengue fever in 1981 which affected 350,000 Cubans.

Namibia gains independence from South African Forty years of friendship control. Nelson Mandela freed from prison on 1990 Reflecting on the upcoming 40th anniversary of Angolan February 11 independence, Ambassador Garcia Rivera said, “We view these 40 years with much joy and satisfaction because we see that Angola is developing. It’s an independent country which is getting 1994 Mandela elected president of South Africa in April increasingly stronger. With great economic growth and every year it is increasing its influence in the international, regional, and world community. “All this makes us happy. Happy to have been with Angola during the most complicated times in its history, and happy to see Che Guevara, an inspiration to Cuban internationalists the country advance with all its difficulties and contradictions, as all countries have, but a country that each day is stronger, advancing with firm steps.” In a move aimed at strenthening economic relations with Cuba, Angola’s vice president, Manuel Domingos Vicente, visited the Caribbean island in late May. While there, Vicente laid a wreath at the mausoleum in Havana’s Colon Cemetery, paying tribute to the 2,000 Cuban internationalists who fell during their mission in Angola, laying a wreath at the mausoleum in Havana’s Colon Cemetery. Over a quarter of a million Cubans have served in Angola as soldiers, teachers, doctors, construction workers since independence in 1975. Vice president Vicente said he could not miss visiting the monument and expressed his gratitude for Cuba’s support in preserving Angola’s sovereignty. Angolan-Cuban relations are set to reach a new high. On May 21, Angola’s ambassdor in Havana, José César Augusto Kiluanje, announced that Sonangol was likely to start drilling for oil in Cuba’s territorial waters in 2016.

50 SONANGOL UNIVERSO Shutterstock INTERNATIONAL

RAFAEL MORACÉN LIMONTA – CUBAN AND ANGOLAN HERO

Angola’s relations with Cuba actually date back to before worked alongside the future president, Agostinho Neto, who independence in 1975, a process in which the Caribbean country at one time treated him for malaria. Moracén fought against was eventually to take a key part. Cuban assistance to the MPLA Portuguese colonial troops when they attacked the MPLA began in 1965 when the Angolan liberation movement had its camp and he also took part in some ambushes. He left Africa headquarters in neighbouring Congo Brazzaville. in July 1967. One of those Cubans involved was General Rafael Moracén In November 1975, he returned to Angola, initially as head of Limonta. His military career largely reflects not only Angola’s a tank regiment, and was posted to Cabinda province, where he transformation into an independent country and now a vibrant saw action. He later performed a key role in Angola’s defence fast-growing economy, but also the development of the against apartheid South Africa and in 1977 organised the revolution in his own homeland. security of President Neto and that of President José Eduardo Born a semi-literate son of a farm worker and a maid in dos Santos until 1982, before returning home. Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, in 1939, he worked as a There, for his services, President Fidel Castro awarded him shoeshine at the age of 14 and then a cane-cutter. Inspired by the ‘Hero of the Republic of Cuba’ medal in 1989. the 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks, he joined Cuba’s In 2014, while he was serving as military attaché at the guerrilla fighters in the Sierra Maestra in 1958. Cuban Embassy in Angola, General Moracen was awarded In 1965 he found himself in Africa, having volunteered with Angolan nationality and promoted to Lieutenant-General in five others to be a military advisor in colonial Angola, where he Angola, aged 75, by President dos Santos. Angop

SONANGOL UNIVERSO 51 C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K