Angola’s economy is growing, its democracy is wellestablished and its people are benefiting fromthe revenue generated by its mineral wealth. Nowthe country is ready to take its proper place in

regional, African and world affairs as an equal partner. Last year Angola’s parliament approved a new constitution to

replace its U.S.-style presidential system, under which the chief execu-tive was elected directly by the people, with a more parliamentarymodel in which the head of government is the head of the party withmost seats in congress. The new governing document moves the coun-try forward into another new stage, following the end of the colonialperiod in 1974, the civil conflict that lasted until 2002, and the interimperiod that finally ended with last year’s approval of the constitution.

The new document “represents a significant advance in the consoli-dation of our democratic process and in creating conditions for aharmonious and sustainable development of the country,” says PresidentJose Eduardo dos Santos.

Angolans have every right to be proud of their achievements. In lessthan a decade of peace, the country has moved from a centrally plannedeconomy to one that is driven by market forces and is thriving as a result.A combination of government infrastructure and private investment ischanging the face of the country and improving the quality of life forall. The country has friendly relations with its neighbors, and is becom-ing more active and influential in the Southern African DevelopmentCommunity, the 15-member organization that groups together theregion’s countries with the goal of promoting economic growth andimproving the well being of its members’ citizens.

The African giant is leading by example as oneof the fastest-growing economies in the world,the biggest FDI receptor on the continent and astrategic ally of the U.S. in sub-Saharan Africa

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Angola’s international ambitions extend beyond the region. It isbecoming increasingly integrated in the global economy, especiallyafter last year receiving B+ and B1 ratings from the three major rat-ings agencies for its sovereign debt, which shows the country hasreached international credit standards and will allow the governmentto seek financing in world capital markets.

Angola is also strengthening its relations with the U.S. from theiralready high level. The two countries are becoming increasingly impor-tant trade partners, and Angola’s government is eager to extend theircooperation to other areas such as agricultural development, food secu-rity and, of course, energy. ■

AAfftteerr 3355 yyeeaarrss ooff iinnddeeppeennddeennccee aanndd eeiigghhtt yyeeaarrss ooff ppeeaaccee,, AAnnggoollaa iiss ppoossttiioonniinngg iittsseellffaass aa kkeeyy eeccoonnoommiicc ppllaayyeerr iinn tthhee rreeggiioonn uunnddeerr tthhee ggoovveerrnnmmeenntt ooff PPrreessiiddeenntt ddooss SSaannttooss

World’s fastest-growingeconomy in the last decade

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Angola’s economic growth since 2002 has been impres-sive. From 2003 through 2008 GDP growth averagednearly 17% per year, making it one of the three fastest-growing economies in the world for that period.

In 2009 Angola was affected by the global crisis that pushed economiesaround the world into recession, but by 2010 the country had alreadybounced back, with GDP growth of about 4%, and Angola is now poisedfor another long stretch of rapid economic expansion.

“GDP will grow 7.5% in 2011,” says Carlos Feijo, Minister of State andHead of the President’s Civil Office. The Economist Intelligence Unit fore-casts an average annual growth of 7.4% over the next five years, and theAngolan government predicts GDP to expand 15.5% next year.

As Africa’s second-biggest oil producer, Angola has a steady source ofrevenue to fund its post-war reconstruction efforts, a building programthat is upgrading transportation, education, health and social welfareinfrastructure and spurring growth.

The government is working hard to diversify and internationalize theeconomy as well, promoting investment in other industries such as tourism,timber, diamonds, gold, copper and other types of mining.

The oil industry has been by far the biggest contributor to growth inrecent years, accounting for about 85% of GDP. Efforts to boost growth

Angola’s B+ economyLast year, agencies awarded B+ and B1 creditscores to Angolan sovereign debt for the first time

in the non-petroleum economy,though, are showing strong results.

The decline in the price of oil in 2009led to a drop of 3.6% in the industry,compared to 5.2% growth of the non-oil sector. In 2007 the non-oil economygrew by 25.7%, and in 2008 by 11.7%.The non-oil sector should be a big con-tributor to economic growth this year,with an expansion of 11.2% accordingto the government’s forecast.

The progress already made on diver-sifying the economy has given it greaterresilience. Even during the slowergrowth of 2010, more than 300,000new jobs were created. Moody’s,Standard & Poor’s and Fitch all gaveAngola’s sovereign debt risk notationsfor the first time, which were at a levelequivalent to Russia and Brazil. Thisshould help attract even more foreigninvestors and provide access to inter-national debt markets.

In November 2009, the IMF approveda 27-month Stand-By Agreement (SBA)for Angola worth $1.4 billion to helpthe country cope with the effects of theglobal recession. The IMF approved thesecond and third reviews lastSeptember, thereby enabling the disbursement of about SDR 229.04 mil-lion ($353 million).

One area of concern is inflation. In 2008 consumer prices rose 13.2%,and the pace of the rise accelerated to 14% in 2009, and in October 2010it was 16%. Given that the inflation rate has reached as high as 3,000%in the past, 16% is still a vast improvement. “The government is target-ing to bring the inflation rate down to 12%,” says Mr. Feijo.

Efforts to get inflation lower are well underway and the economy isready to return to the rapid expansion it enjoyed a few years ago, mak-ing Angola a country where foreign investors can expect to make healthyreturns for years to come. ■

THIS SUPPLEMENT WAS PRODUCED BY VISTA REPORTS: 100 Pall Mall, St. James, London SW1Y 5NQ Tel.: +44 (0) 20 7664 8655, E-mail: vista@vista-reports.com, www.vista-reports.com

PROJECT: Joel Malo and Saturnino Izquierdo

An opportunity not to be missed

“GDP will grow7.5% in 2011.The government istargeting to bringthe inflation ratedown to 12%.” CCaarrllooss FFeeiijjoo,, MMiinniisstteerr ooff SSttaattee aanndd HHeeaadd ooff tthhee PPrreessiiddeenntt’’ss CCiivviill OOffffiiccee

Angola’s economy has beenexpanding rapidly since 2002, andFDI has grown at a rate of 23%.The country’s oil wealth is beingused to help reconstruct vitalinfrastructure, building facilitiesthat help improve the lives of allAngolans and spurring a construc-tion frenzy that is reshaping thecapital.

Angola is also the destination ofmore FDI than any other countryin Africa, and for good reason. Itspetroleum reserves, mineral

wealth, including diamonds, gold,copper and other metals, anduntapped agricultural potentialare all opportunities for investorswith the right know-how.

Smart investors know that,when they first enter a new econ-omy, local partnerships can helpsmooth the way to profitableendeavors. Many Angolan compa-nies have the know-how to workwith foreigners and help puttogether a successful project.

The National Agency for Private

Investment, or ANIP, was set up tosupport the growth of a diversi-fied, stable economy bypromoting private investment inAngola. ANIP works in targetedindustries and development zonesand can help investors with pro-motion, project reviews and offerstreamlined solutions.

Given its resources, geographiclocation and strong commitmentto the rule of law and trans-parency, Angola is poised for along stretch of economic growth.

With smart investments in airportsand seaports, the export of itsresources can be eased and thecountry can become a regionaltransport hub.

The U.S. is a natural partner forAngola. It has long been a majorbuyer of Angolan oil, and Angolais the third-biggest trade partnerfor the U.S. in sub-Saharan Africa.U.S. investors interested in findingnew and profitable markets needlook no farther than Angola fortheir next business venture.

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Q&A with Alvaro Sobrinho, CEO of BESAQ. According to theEconomist Intelligence Unit,Angola has an expectedgrowth of 7.4% in GDP forthe next five years. Do youagree with the good eco-nomic scenarios for theAngolan economy? A. If those are the figures,then they would be consid-ered good in terms of nominalgrowth. We have to wait forinflation to see if, from thereal growth point of view, theeconomy expanded. It’s impor-tant for inflation to slowdown for real growth. As for nominal growth, ifthese are the figures, and withan inflation rate lower thanGDP growth, then obviouslythe country’s wealthincreased.

Q. During the crisis the cen-tral bank maintained anexpansionary monetary policy and also allowed currency to be sent abroad.In your opinion, whatlessons can be drawn fromthe crisis?A. I think we had a very restric-tive monetary policy in recentyears, and it was done well,with an increase in reserves andwith a draining of liquidityfrom the market. Moreover,Angola’s ratio of reserves toGDP is among the highest inthe world. Angola probably hasa ratio of net internationalreserves to GDP at anywherefrom 20% to 25%, when theaverage global figure is below10%. That clearly shows that acountry like Angola has the

capacity to borrow internation-ally by developing anddiversifying its economy.

Q. Analysts expect Angola’sfinancial sector to showstrong growth this year. Doyou agree with that outlook? A. The growth of any sector,whether financial or otherwise,is possible only with economicgrowth. If Angola continuesgrowing at positive real growthrates, as has happened inrecent years, then obviously thefinancial sector will continue togrow too.The way I see it, there are norich banks nor a strong financialsector with poor companiesand citizens, it doesn’t happenthat way. You also don’t getstrong companies and a growing

economy with weak banks.There’s a link between thegrowth of economic activityand the growth of financialinstitutions.

Q. The Angola StockExchange will be opened in2011. What is your outlookregarding its competitive-ness in Africa and itsbenefits for Angolan companies? A. It will take a few years forthe capital market to mature.The exchanges in South Africaand Egypt, for example, havebeen around for some years. Itwon’t become a strong marketovernight. We do need to rec-ognize that it’s an importantstep and a financing alternativeto bank loans.

BESA, the universal bank of Angola At an expansive phase, the bank aims to consolidateits position as a financial reference group

Banco Espirito Santo Angola, or BESA, is the Angolan unitof Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo. The second biggest bankin the country, BESA is part of a multinational financial cor-poration with interests in Portugal, other parts of Europe

and Brazil, in addition to Angola.BESA prides itself on the quality of its service and its ability to give clients

a wide range of financial services and products. By putting customers first,the bank has been able to grow steadily since it was founded, while win-ning new clients and benefiting from Angola’s recent economic growth.

The bank also believes strongly in giving back to the community. Nobank can grow bigger and more profitable in a weak economy, and BESA

makes a big effort to contribute to Angola’s improvement through invest-ment, training and hiring, and through its environmental and communityprograms. “Our strategy has always been the same, and it rests on threepillars: profitability, social responsibility and supporting the economy ofAngola,” says Alvaro Sobrinho, BESA’s CEO. “The tactics to apply that strat-egy can of course change” as conditions evolve.

BESA has positioned itself as a universal bank in Angola, ready and ableto provide whatever services its clients require, from savings accounts toprivate banking products and corporate finance. Through its BESAACTIFunit it offers investment funds, and through BESA Options it provides pen-sion fund management.

All of its units make use of the latest technology to maintain the qual-ity of their service and to increase efficiency, boost profit and permit themto innovate and be pioneers in the Angolan financial marketplace.

“In terms of technology, we are the only bank in Angola with a com-pletely non-proprietary computersystem,” says Mr. Sobrinho. “It’s asystem that is installed in the world’sbiggest banks such as JP Morgan,Barclays, etc, and has an ability tointegrate products and interna-tional services, which is definitelya huge advantage over the com-petition.”

A final important component ofthe bank is its programs to helpimprove the lives of ordinaryAngolans through its support ofeducational, cultural and scientificevents and projects. UNESCOrewarded BESA’s efforts last year bynaming it “Bank of the PlanetEarth,” in honor of the lender’s envi-ronmental actions. ■AAllvvaarroo SSoobbrriinnhhoo,, CCEEOO ooff BBaannccoo EEssppiirriittoo SSaannttoo AAnnggoollaa ((BBEESSAA))

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Q&A with Helder Bataglia,chairman of EscomQ. Angola’s political and eco-nomic situations have neverbeen better and are improv-ing. Do you think thecountry is transforming itseconomic model? A. First let me say that thegreatest achievement forAngola was not economic, butthat we achieved peace in 2002after a war that ravaged thecountry. It was peace thatallowed the return of Angola asa regional power in Africa.

Q. Some have called Angolathe El Dorado of Africa.Hyperbole? A. I think it’s maybe a little toomuch enthusiasm. Angola isclearly experiencing a period ofsustained growth. It grew athigh rates in recent years, butnow we have entered a phasewhere growth will slow to thepace of 6-10% per year for thecoming years. Angola is not ElDorado, but it is certainly a

country that is building an econ-omy based on very solid

foundations, not limited tothe oil sector. Mining,

energy and agricul-ture are also keyareas for develop-ment in thecountry and inAfrica, andAngola has greatabilities in thesesectors.

Q. Has theinflow of FDIhelped changeattitudes aboutthe country?

A. Changing interna-tional perception ofthe Angolan reality is aprocess that will happen

over the next years, based on arealistic commitment to the sus-tainable development ofAngola’s economy. It is thischange that will allow us toattract more foreign investmentand increase international coop-eration, which are two keyfactors in Angola’s developmentas a better economy.

Q. Why, in 2008, did Escomquit aviation and fisheries tostrengthen its position indiamonds and oil?A. We redesigned Escom in orderto rationalize our investments. Asmentioned earlier, investments infisheries and aviation were madein times of war and in completelydifferent circumstances.In 2003, a year after we achievedpeace, we decided to do a thor-ough restructuring, splittingEscom in five major areas ofinvestment, which are our corebusinesses: mining, real estate,infrastructure and structures,energy, and oil and gas.Escom is present in the oil andgas sector through an effectiveparticipation of 2.5% in block18/06, a deepwater block cur-rently undergoing exploration.

Q. Do you agree with the con-cept of U.S. companiesestablishing partnershipswith Angolan ones to enterthe ‘Golden Triangle’ market?A. The partnership withAmerican companies is vital tothe development of Africa ingeneral and Angola in particular.In this regard, at ESCOM we tryto act as a catalyst linking for-eign investors with thefast-growing Angolan economy. Moreover, in Angola there is agreat expectation for the deep-ening of cooperation with theU.S. business sector, which goesbeyond the partnerships estab-lished in the oil sector.

Escom is taking Luanda skywardsAngola’s largest non-petroleum-based company,Escom continues to build its presence in Africa

Escom is a trading and commercial group that, since beingfounded in 1993, has become one of the biggest investorsin the Angolan economy. Helder Bataglia, Escom chairmanand one of its founders, oversees its investments and at

the same time makes sure the company helps the country to developeconomically and socially.

“We’re a company that is conscious and aware that in addi-tion to investing and creating wealth in Angola, we try todevelop innovative social responsibility policies in the regionswhere it operates,” says Mr. Bataglia.

Escom is active in several different sectors of the economy,such as real estate development, diamond mining, petroleum,construction and, through its part ownership of a cementfactory, construction supply.

Escom is one of the biggest real estate devel-opers in Angola, and is also planning to enterthe market in the Republic of Congo.

The company’s first real estate project wasthe Escom Building, a 24-story office tow-er in the center of Luanda and holds Escom’sheadquarters. The building is part of thecompany’s Sky Center project in one of thebest areas of the capital, which when fin-ished will comprise four towers: the EscomBuilding, two residential buildings (SkyResidence I and II), and another office block(the Sky Business building.) AltogetherEscom is involved in 16 development pro-jects consisting of 1.8 million square meters.

Escom is also heavily involved in the dia-mond mining industry, having invested $430million in the sector since 2001. It is opening newmines and is investing more in exploration than anyother company in Africa.

“We are a company open to new challenges andopportunities,” says Mr. Bataglia. ■

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HHeellddeerr BBaattaagglliiaa,,CChhaaiirrmmaann ooff EEssccoomm

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Like many capital cities in the developing world, Luandahas become the destination for people from the coun-tryside who are seeking work and a better way of lifefor themselves and for their families. And like many

other capital cities in the developing world, the number of peo-ple living there now is far higher than the city’s planners expectedwhen they began its development.

In contrast, unlike the vast majority of cities in the developingworld, the cost of living in Luanda is far from cheap. Not longago, the capital joined the ranks of Tokyo, Moscow, Geneva andZurich as the world’s dearest cities for expats. In March 2010Luanda was crowned most expensive city by Mercer HumanResource Consulting.

Prices have been driven up rapid-ly by the entrance of so manymultinational companies, especiallyin the oil and diamond sectors, whoare willing to pay top dollar for themodern conveniences and luxuriestheir employees are used to backhome. With annual gym member-ships running $2,500 and qualityhousing in safe areas setting rentersback nearly $10,000 a month, livingin Luanda is anything but afford-able by most people’s standards.

Nonetheless, working with thecountry’s resources is so lucrative,Luanda’s connections to the globalmarket so excellent, and the lifestyleenjoyed so rewarding, that mostexpat workers find it’s all worth it.

For the 60% of the populationthat still lives under the poverty line,things are looking up. Luanda has apopulation of about 6 million peo-ple, 12 times more than thehalf-million the city was plannedfor. A building boom is currentlyunderway that will greatly increasethe number of homes and offices available. The development islargely taking place following a master plan intended to turnLuanda into a world-class, modern city, and that plan is partly over-seen by the regional government’s Office for Planning and UrbanManagement, or IPGUL in its initials in Portuguese.

“IPGUL deals with the segment of the private sector that intendsto invest in the area of territorial intervention, in other wordswith the licensing of private construction,” says Helder Jose, theagency’s director general. “It doesn’t deal directly with publicworks for infrastructure or with civil construction companies; whatwe do is provide companies with the necessary licenses and admin-istrative instructions to carry out their real estate investments.”

IPGUL was created in 2008 by an initiative of President EduardoJose dos Santos. Starting from scratch has been a difficult task,

Mr. Jose says, and the agency has used its resources wisely, firstto buy needed equipment, train employees such as engineers andgeographers, and finally to set up a digital database that containsall the territorial information of Luanda.

“We think that was the right path to follow to start taming ourproblems,” Mr. Jose explains. “Without knowing the variables ofthe territory it’s impossible to carry out efficient planning strate-gies. Our geographic information system includes verifying indetail the location and number of social infrastructures such ashospitals, police stations, schools, universities, stadiums, church-es, markets, etc.”

With that information, IPGUL can contribute much to the real-ization of the concept of “Luanda-World City” – a plan whose goalis to give the capital the kind of urban infrastructure and ameni-ties that will make it a modern city capable of joining the ranksof the world’s major metropolitan areas.

Included in the project are plans to develop coordinated infra-structure networks for water, gas and electricity, and at the same

time develop transportation andmobility systems. Policies for col-lecting and processing solid wasteare also being developed, with thegoal of improving the city’s hygieneand fostering new habits of con-sumption and civic responsibility.

The government also has ambi-tious plans to invest in education,culture and leisure, all carried outthrough the implementation of anintegrated strategy to manage theprovincial territory and reach a bal-ance between public and privateinvestment while also respecting theintegrity of the important parts ofthe already existing city.

“The Luanda of 1975 is differentfrom the Luanda of 1992, and fromthe Luanda of today,” comments Mr.Jose. “The question we ask ourselvesis ‘don’t the inhabitants of todayhave the right to leave their markon our urban transformation?’ Whatpeople must understand is that noteverything will be preserved and noteverything will be destroyed because

they know that tourists who come to Luanda of course should beable to notice some historical marks left over the years.”

The importance to the national government of developingLuanda cannot be understated. President dos Santos has beendeeply involved in the work to improve the city for its residentssince even before the end of the civil conflict in 2002.

Indeed, the city has already changed immensely since that time,under the guidance of various government agencies, includingIPGUL, that are overseeing and licensing the construction of newbuildings, roads, sewer systems, and water and power networks.

“I think Luanda’s residents are already noticing the impact ofour work, although not yet as much as we would like,” says Mr.Jose. “We can feel that people now have a better understandingof the role that IPGUL is playing” in the city’s development. ■

Luanda, the most expensive city inthe world, is under development

IIPPGGUULL iiss oovveerrsseeeeiinngg aa pprroojjeecctt ttoo ddeevveelloopp tthhee cciittyy ooff LLuuaannddaa,, iimmpprroovviinngg qquuaalliittyy ooff lliiffee ffoorr rreessiiddeennttss

A regional government entity for city planningand management, IPGUL is coordinating amajor urban transformation

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down,” boasts Mr. Rodrigues. “We opened a professional training cen-ter that would be top-notch in any part of the world. We tried to keepcreating value, even during difficult times, and in that way we made thecompany stronger, more robust and more able to take on the future.”

In addition to the brick factory and the training center, the companywants to participate in reconstruction in other ways. Mota-Engil’s con-struction specialty is public works, for which there is much demand inAngola. The builder is currently bidding on a contract to build a mini-hydroelectric facility in Benguela province, for example, and is lookingfor partners to bid on other, similar projects as well.

Mota-Engil is looking at other areas, too. The plan is to identify indus-tries that will benefit from Angola’s construction boom, and invest in those.In December 2009, the company announced an agreement to spend morethan $15 million to buy most of a company called FATRA, which makeswires and cables. The goal is to reduce the need for imports of cabling andother types of construction goods, and to provide work for locals, as partof the overall objective of adapting to and equipping for the special situ-ation in Angola, Mr. Rodrigues explains.

“Today our presence in Angola is perfect-ly fitted to the needs of the country, withwhat we intend to do there and with whatthe country is working to do,” he says.

Luanda real estate fever Angola’s housing market was greatly affected by the 27-year long civ-il conflict, which diverted government investment into its armed forcesand discouraged private investment in housing stock.

With the strong economic growth in the past few years, some of thatshortfall is being taken care of, though the Ministry of Urban Affairscalculates that the city will need 65,000 new dwellings to be built eachyear through 2016 to cope with population growth in the capital,already home to 6 million. According to the Office for Planning andUrban Management (IPGUL), foreign investment in the real estate sec-tor in Angola grew 20% in 2007 and 18% in 2008. The economicslowdown felt around the world in 2009 also affected Angola, but realestate investment is still expected to grow 10% this year.

IPGUL is working on plans to build a residential area of 500,000 squaremeters within Luanda, which would increase the amount of housingspace within the city by more than 1 million square meters. Initiallythe project would focus on the upper segment of the real estate mar-ket, before eventually targeting buyers farther down the economicladder. ■

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From ashes to skyscrapersAngola is in the middle of a giant construction boom, focusing specially on housing and infrastructure

Angola is slowly but surely repairing or replacing build-ings and infrastructure that were degraded duringthe 27-year civil conflict, and taking advantage of thecountry’s vast oil wealth to build new roads, schools,

hospitals and housing. The frenzied activity, which includes a gigantic program to build hous-

ing to cope with the country’s growing population, has left much of Luandalooking like a construction site, and will transform the capital and muchof the country when most of the building is finally completed.

Construction of facilities to house the 2007 African BasketballChampionship (Afrobasket) and for the African Nations Football Cup havealready left the country with modern sporting facilities including four newstadiums, upgraded airports and hundreds of new hotel rooms.

The government has spent huge amounts of money around the coun-try on projects that have already greatly improved the lives of normalAngolans, including $176 million over the past 15 years on social, com-munity and production projects, $5 billion on infrastructure in Zaireprovince alone, and $153 million on remodeling and expanding Luanda’sinternational airport.

Mota-Engil AngolaMota-Engil Angola, the Angolan unit of one of Portugal’s biggest con-struction companies, was founded in October of last year as a partnershipbetween the Portuguese builder, oil company Sonangol, and Banco PrivadoAtlantico, or BPA, as the main shareholders.

Although the unit was only established recently, Mota-Engil has a his-tory in Angola dating back to when the country was still a Portuguesecolony. The builder maintained operations there even during the civil con-flict that wracked the country from 1975 until 2002, which has given it adeep understanding of how to operate in the market, and a deep com-mitment to helping Angola advance.

“At Mota-Engil we understand that to guaran-tee a sustainable position in Angola today we

have to make an effort in two areas at thesame time: in local human resources so thatAngolans can take over important posi-tions within the company, and at the same

time have an important local partner,”explains Gilberto Rodrigues, chairman of

Mota-Engil Angola. Mota-Engil’s dedica-

tion to the Angolanmarket can be seen in itsactions during therecent economic slow-down there. Insteadof canceling or delay-ing any of its projects,it did the opposite:it increased its invest-ment by spending

$36 million on a newbrick factory and

another $10 million ona training facility.

“We didn’t cut back onany projects or on workers,

and we didn’t slow anything

MMuucchh ooff LLuuaannddaa’’ss sskkyylliinnee iiss lliitttteerreedd wwiitthh ccoonnssttrruuccttiioonn ccrraanneess

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An innovativeapproachFrom cars to construction to concerts, the RitekGroup is bringing exciting opportunities to Angola

Strong economic growth in recent years has provideda wide range of opportunities in Angola for smartinvestors and businessmen. Antonio Cristovao and histwo brothers saw there was a need in the country for

rental car agencies, and from that their business rapidly expand-ed into other sectors where they saw the chance to launch successfulenterprises.

Ritek Rent-a-Car was opened in 2007 and from there took advan-tage of its connections in Spain and Portugal to become anintermediary helping businesses in Europe to explore opportuni-ties in the beckoning Angolan market.

“Many Portuguese and Spanish businesses that wanted to investin Angola counted on Ritek to open doors for them,” AntonioCristovao explains. “From there, with the financial strength wegained from that, we started to move into other business areas,including hotels.”

Ritek began the construction from scratch of a hotel in Benguelathat is expected to be completed in the first part of this year. Thecompany is preparing to start a second hotel project in Benguela

that should be finished in 2012, andis also working on other hotel pro-jects in Mozambique.

Ritek has even more irons in thefire, including agricultural invest-ments in partnership with Incatema,a Spanish company, and publicworks projects working with theAngolan government. The compa-ny has started a constructioncompany that is part of a projectthat will build 1 million homes inAngola.

In addition to the constructionunit, Ritek has started other business units, for instance KwanzaPort and Nova Pet, which provide consulting services focusing onthe Angolan economy and different ways of investing in Angola.

Companies that grow rapidly and take on challenges in differ-ent sectors of the economy can sometimes find it difficult to dealwith sudden success. Not so in Ritek, which relies on the extend-ed family of the founders to manage the various different businessunits.

“We’re a family business, founded by three brothers, and mostof our staff are members of our family,” Mr. Cristovao says. “Thatmeans that we can be much more demanding with them, many ofwhom are sons, cousins, nephews or some other relation to us.”

The informal nature of the company’s family structure meansRitek can participate in events that the family members feel a spe-cial attachment to, such as sponsoring the first International JazzFestival in Luanda.

Mr. Cristovao was familiar with the Cape Town International JazzFestival from years of living in the South African city, and had seenthe positive economic impact of the event. He had Ritek sponsorthe festival in South Africa, and he and his family were proud tothen bring a similar, though smaller, series of concerts to theAngolan capital as well. ■

“Many Portugueseand Spanishbusinesses thatwanted to invest inAngola counted onRitek to open doorsfor them.” AAnnttoonniioo CCrriissttoovvaaoo,, CCEEOO ooff RRiitteekk IInnvveessttmmeenntt GGrroouupp

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