Angola – a promising country offering broad business opportunities

This month, Sarens shines the spotlight on Angola. Sarens entered Angola in 2021 as a heavy lifting and specialised transport service provider. In the past two years Sarens has established a strong presence in the country. According to Sarens Regional Director: South Africa Tim Biesemans “Angola is a stable economy with growing industries offering broad business opportunities for heavy lifting and the specialised transport industry. The fast-paced development happening in Angola offers greater scope for a global specialist like Sarens to offer its services, skilled workforce and rich experience of 65 years."

Sarens currently has an office in the city of Luanda and a yard for storage and maintenance activities of its equipment in the city of Viana. Its fleet in the region includes mobile telescopic cranes (50 t to 500 t), lattice boom crawlers (100 t to 600t), and other equipment available from its regional office in South Africa and its headquarters (HQ) in Belgium.

“Angola is a friendly country which has allowed us to have the necessary synergy to transform ourselves into a local company to serve our clients in the region closely. Our local presence facilitates the business processes, ensures better client interactions, and smoother project execution. It also strengthens the confidence of new clients who prefer dealing with locally established companies,” Biesemans adds.

To closely know about the business unit in Angola, we spoke to Sarens country manager for Angola David Rojas.

How important it is for you to know the local business culture and what has Sarens done to be ready?

We consider that knowing the local business culture is a priority since it forms the basis of integration with our clients and collaborators. As such, we have hired experienced local personnel from the start of our operations in the country. We have also attended the local congresses and conferences which has helped us know about the local business culture in detail.

Tell us about the professionals you have on the ground. What are their specialties and how do these help your current and potential clients?

We have a team of professionals including local and foreign personnel having immense experience in the industry. All personnel are trained and certified with the highest international standards to guarantee optimal performance of their functions. Additionally, they also receive safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ) training that gives them an engaged mindset.

We have specialised crane operators for crawler cranes and hydraulic cranes, specialist riggers who perfectly follow the procedures for lifting loads, and experienced supervisors. We also have trained mechanical technicians to keep our fleet in optimal condition with a rigorous maintenance plan. Together they offer our clients quality service that is reflected in the continuity of the projects.

How much equipment support do you have from Southern Africa’s head office in South Africa and how much support do you have from Sarens HQ in Belgium?

The Southern Africa head office’s current fleet includes hydraulic cranes (20 t to 650 t) and crawler cranes (100 t to 600 t) along with SPMTs, jacking and skidding systems, as well as barges. Sarens HQ in Belgium has one of the most diverse and the largest fleet of equipment in the world comprising of rough terrain, all-terrain, truck cranes, heavy crawler cranes, SPMTs, barges, jacking and skidding equipment. Along with the most advanced fleet Sarens has almost 65 years of industry experience. We also have the largest land-based crane in the world - the SGC-250 or the “Big Carl” with a capacity of 250 000 t/m. Sarens also has a robust technical solutions department to provide complex structural calculations and select the most effective solutions for our clients. With our out-of-the-box thinking, together with our optimal deploying of the right equipment, we offer unparalleled lifting and transport techniques for each project.

In which markets do you see Angola being most active, and do you think Sarens can serve those markets with its services?

The oil and gas sector is the top sector in the country. Mining and civil works are also one of the key sectors of Angola. The expansion of Angolan production of crude oil entails the strengthening of the current infrastructure and expansion of the existing facilities. Our services are perfectly suited to this need since we have a diverse fleet of heavy lifting equipment and the necessary experience of working with large-scale projects globally.

Angola is very active in oil and gas. How can Sarens help clients in this sector?

Our rich experience, highly trained personnel and large fleet of equipment helps us to offer a one-stop-solution to the heavy lifting and transport needs of the oil and gas sector.

• Our fleet includes diverse equipment with a wide range of lifting capacities. The equipment is maintained in optimal condition for proper operation by carrying out regular inspections and certifications according to global standards.
• With our engineering, projects and rental services, we can collaborate with the client at all stages of the project, thus achieving better cost-benefit result and reduced timelines.
• Sarens also offers customised technical solutions that allow us to comply with the needs of our customers.

Is there a limit to the sectors you can supply services?

Sarens has vast experience in serving a large number of sectors globally:

• Civil works: Sarens has been involved in many new-build civil construction activities around the globe, providing cranes for steel assembly work and installation of complex civil structures and a rich history in accelerated bridge replacement and installation technologies.
• Oil, Gas and Petrochemical: Sarens has globally executed some of the most complex lifting projects for the oil and gas sector including the installation of 1 300 t reactors lifted by crawler cranes, a 1 390 t splitter column of 125 m in length lifted by a tower system, and the transport of a topside module of 15 000 t, to name a few.
• Minerals, Metals and Mining: Since the mid-2000s, Sarens has built a strong reputation in the minerals and mining industry. Sarens has proven experience of handling modules and providing load-in services on the manufacturing yard, load-out and inland transport services, and heavy lifting and installation works on site.
• Others: Other sectors served by Sarens are gas power plants, coal power plants, wind, forwarding, offshore and module yards, thermal and nuclear power plants, and solar.

Sarens is always open to respond to the current challenges of our clients, which arise with the constant updating of new technologies and industrial development.

Do you see Angola entering the renewables sector? If yes, what role will Sarens have to play there?

Angola is in the process of adapting to the use of renewable technologies. It has a national strategy for new renewable energies which establishes the national principles and objectives for the promotion and exploitation of new renewable energy sources in Angola.

Sarens’ presence and experience in the renewable energy sectors globally can align with the renewable goals of Angola. We can collaborate by providing necessary equipment and bring our broad experience in: 

• the transportation, lifting and installation of wind turbines, making us a valuable partner for both onshore and offshore projects.
• the construction of solar towers using our heavy luffing tower cranes. These cranes consist of a modular system that can reach up to considerable freestanding height with different jib lengths and requires only a small ground area.