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03 Oct 2024

ASSEA Launches “Action for 20%” Local Content Initiative

ASSEA Launches “Action for 20%” Local Content Initiative
Angolan service company association Associação de Empresas Autóctones para a Indústria Petrolífera de Angola (ASSEA) has launched an initiative to increase local capacity in the country’s oil and gas sector to 20%. The association’s “Action for 20%” initiative serves as a strategy to direct foreign investment to focus on local content by integrating Angolan companies and developing human capital in the country.

The announcement was made by ASSEA President Berta Issa Conde during a panel discussion at this year’s Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2024 conference in Luanda on October 3. Sponsored by Angolan financial institution BCS, the session titled Empowering Angolan Talent: Local Content Strategies to Unlock Angola’s Human Capital explored how local companies are driving exploration and production while empowering local communities and fostering economic growth.

“The Angolan executive has made sure to create a competitive business environment for companies with good fiscal incentives, so international companies should have the incentive to develop local companies,” Conde stated.

Meanwhile, speaking for the Luanda-based non-profit Associação das Empresas Contratadas da Indústria Petrolífera de Angola (AECIPA), the organization’s President Bráulio de Brito highlighted that improved decision-making in the oil and gas sector is poised to improve the implementation process for local content in the country.

“The process is positive and efficient, but we need to work harder so this improvement concept can be a reality and becomes a good process and gives the necessary frameworks for companies to incentivize the development of local content,” stated de Brito.

It was noted during the panel session that Angola has a 98% deficit in terms of local companies operating in the country’s oil and gas sector. Calls for improved Angolan capacity building are expected to result in oil and gas production stability while diminishing an over-reliance on the international community to retain production standards.

“We need a strong local content policy that will allow us to close this structural deficit,” stated service provider KAESO Energy Services General Manager Jorge de Morais, adding, “We need to close the employment gap and we have to convince people that local content is aligned with the interest of the country and the interest of the industry.”

Angola’s upstream sector is expected to grow 1.5% between 2022 and 2027, driven by the country’s project pipeline and six-year licensing round. Concurrently, proactive local content policies have paved the way for heightened participation by Angolan service providers, leading to greater opportunities for economic development.

As such, government-led Angola Environmental Serviços CEO Matuzalem Sukete explained the country’s commitment to local capital. “We are committed to building Angolan capacity to meet all the needs of the industry,” Sukete stated.

Meanwhile, it was noted during the panel session that internship programs are poised to accommodate youth employment in the Angolan oil and gas sector. It was also noted that in terms of human capital, the sector needs to facilitate conditions for women to join operational and management departments in the industry.

“Our commitment remains with the quality and security that the industry demands,” stated Angolan service provider Sonils Strategy and Corporate Governance Manager Pedro Oliveira, adding, “This opens an opportunity for many players to work together with us and serves as a massive opportunity for local content.”

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