Sonangol – or to give the company its full name, the Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola – is responsible for the management of hydrocarbon resources in the African country of Angola. The company’s activities include management of onshore and offshore oil concessions, oil prospecting, research and production, fuel distribution, and will soon include refining. Sonangol is the largest Angolan company, with oil accounting for 52% of the country’s GDP. The firm is a major supplier of oil to China. In addition the company, which was established in 1976, decided not to subcontract businesses and so it has developed a strong of related activities, which include telecommunications services, retail network support, trucking, shipping, data management, engineering, its own airline, called Sonair and two banks: Banco Africano de Investimentos and Banco do Comércio e Indústria. The company and its 34 subisidiaries employ 10,000 people. Although there have been widespread claims of corruption surrounding the company, it says that it has been investing profits to help rebuild Angola, which was torn by civil war from independence in 1975, until the death of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in 2002. Since then the socialist government has moved towards capitalism and Angola’s economy is the fastest growing in Africa, with an average GDP growth of 11.1 percent in the last 10 years. This has been achieved with much support from China. Sonangol is partially-owned by the government, which is run by José Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power since 1979. A trained oil engineer, with a degree from the Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute, he has been overseeing development, including the gradual integration of the company into the international scene.
There is no doubt that Sonangol can afford Formula 1 if it wishes to go down that route and that the company has shown interest in motor racing, supporting the soccer-themed Superleague Formula since 2009. It is also now sponsoring Ricardo Teixeira in Formula 2 (below). He is the Team Lotus test driver.
There is logic in Sonangol moving into Formula 1 if the company wants more international exposure and obviously it does not harm at all to support an Angolan racing driver, but whether that translates into a F1 sponsorship deal remains to be seen.
Such a delightful regime should be allowed into F1. Might tempt Burma hey what…..?
What a cracking idea! Opens the door to other favourite regimes such as Burma and maybe North Korea, although the latter has no natural resources, money or anything likely to be attractive to Bernie.
They have been sponsoring Ricardo Teixeira for a few years now. They backed Ultimate Motorsport’s F3 team when he drove for them in 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Teixeira_%28racing_driver%29
[...] Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/the-question-of-sonangol/ [...]
Funny how militarily the Euros oppose tobacco sponsorships in sports, but openly allow oppressive regimes run by bonafide dirt bags to use the money they confiscate from their people to sponsor sports. Seems a bit silly if you ask me.
…May be interesting to note then that Tony Fernandes has been logging domain names along the lines of sonangolcaterhamf1.com and several others…. hmmm….
About par for the course nowadays…… its a good job its exciting (but bloody confusing) to watch – because a number of the characters/sponsors/hosting countries involved would not be on your guest list – but then hasn’t that always been the case for the last 30 years?
Roll on the Tilke Angolan GP
Good to know that you’re practising your portuguese, Joe… aside this gag, is also good to read you about this country.
As a portuguese with angolan parents, here’s some things that you should know about this country, it’s connections on racing and Ricardo Teixeira:
Angolans love motorsport. In the times of the portuguese ruling, they had tha capability to bring wide-known drivers to their country in the 70′s (Hans Stuck and Vic Elford made the “Seis Horas de Nova Lisboa” in 1972) and they also made two state of the art tracks, in Luanda, the capital, and Benguela, the second largest city. The idea was to bring Formula One to Angola in 1974/75, but the independence and subsequent civil war ruined their plans.
So, Sonangol knows that supporting motorsport not only would give them more exposure to the world, but also would give them something that people would love it.
About Ricardo: he’s one of the many portuguese subjects that were born on angolan parents, only that in the beging of his motorsport carrear, decided to get an angolan racing license because here in Portugal, he would be another racer. And it’s results on British Formula Three shows it: four seasons – I believe – and no results. Only last year, in Formula Two, he got some scoring points and an spectacular accident in Morroco…
The most interesting part is that Williams wanted Sonangol’s money for the last two years. Probably you should know this better than me, but we heard that Adam Parr tried to have it and the negociations went bust. Knowing that negociating with the angolan state is an excruciating process – my father tried to do it in 2006/7 with a ceramic factory in Huambo (former Nova Lisboa) and it failed – I was surprised to see Teixeira on a Lotus car… bit no Sonangol logo on it. Probably Tony Fernandes did much better, don’t know…
Just to conclude this long awnser: Sonangol also supports other drivers, one of them is Duarte Ferreira, who is 18 and drives in Indy Lights. The story of Duarte is similar that of Ricardo, only that he might have better talent…
Cheers, Joe!
Amazing, how some posters can get on their high horse about the latest source of income for F1 and yet ignore what already there just because the press have decided not to run with them.
What a great looking livery!
Another tinpot country to use F1 for its own ends and try to give it credibility. What happened to countries earning credibility rather than buying from F1.
The list is endless but heyho they give the teams a budget, so its not all bad.
It is all about to happen I guess, as the websites have already been registered!
sonangolcaterham.com
sonangolcaterhamf1.com
Sonangolcaterhamteamlotus.com
Wichard,
Not necessarily. It could be someone who is cybersquatting
I asked Tom Webb, the Team Lotus PR guy, about the domain registrations while I was at the Caterham announcement at Duxford yesterday.
He explicitly told me he knew nothing about them. I believe he would have fudged it a bit if the team was responsible but not ready to say anything publicly.
Of course, it could be at such an early stage that no-one’s told the PR people yet, but Team Lotus is a small enough organisation that I can’t see something like that staying secret.
Joe,
please tell me this one is irony. Your cynical joke? Please.
PDVSA was pushing it, for my tastes.
I was growing up in the 70s, and it was neatly filtered stuff, with a bit of Mad Mike Hoare tacked on because it’s hard to be him and keep it quiet.
Yup, that’s a genuine link, there, right back.
It was a nice time, the 70s. When inflation knocked out, or nearly knocked out anyone with a normal business. Think British Leyland, and all that. My old man, kept us going by doing the latter day equivalent of carting barrows of Wiemar cash about, from bank to bank (he literally carried the cash, afraid, by virtue of age, to trust the system) to pick up the ever accreting rates, to not unnecessarily diminish his modest sweat of brow hoard.
I mean this privately, personally, do you not feel this is funny?
p.s. Angola = Tantalum.
my plea is already made by my better:
“Whether he knew of this deficiency himself I can’t say. I think the knowledge came to him at last–only at the very last. But the wilderness found him out early, and had taken vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude–and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core.” – Joseph Conrad
with respect to many, for we are not uninvolved there.
real regards to all,
– john
During the mid/late 70′s there was a failed coup d’etat on the Angolan Government led by Costas Georgio aka ‘Colonel Callan’. He was captured, tried and executed along with other foreign mercenaries, mostly British. The recruiting headquarters were located in Camberly, Surrey. The name of this organisation was ‘Security Advisory Service’.
Nowadays, with the arrival of government approved private military contractors such as Sandline, Controlled Risks, Halliburton, etc., a mercenary has become a respectable occupation.
As for their clients, adult males who possess a particuliar ego driven personality will always seek power by various nefarious or machiavellian means.
Do you remember the personalities and politics at the Place de la Concorde during the 70′s and 80′s? Power struggles happen everyday and everywhere…
“Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”
Isn’t Ricardo Teixeira related to the ruling family or something like that (I thought I heard that his sister is married to someone pretty high up there in the govt) and his father also very connected in circles over there?
rella,
You tell me.
Thanks for giving some background on Senagol Joe. As they are looking to get close to F1 it is always interesting to learn more.
Very interesting, how some people immediately comment on this to be a bad thing as the country is “socialist” and government owns large part of the company.
I agree, that there are a lot of question marks over corruption and non too choicy treatment of critics (as there are in possibly the majority of countries on earth).
But look at it the other way. Its from Africa, the sole continent without an F1 race. The economy of the country is on the up for the last couple of years, something outstanding in sub saharan economies. And as Speeder_76 writes the people love motorsport.
Sounds good for the future if they get more of it then!
[...] Hoje, a Sonangol não apenas é uma companhia rentável, como também responsável por boa parte do crescimento de 11.1% de Angola nos últimos 10 anos, como reporta o britânico Joe Saward. [...]
BasCB,
Socialism isn’t bad. Capitalism only eliminates one kind of corruption, occasionally, in theory!
Life’s enemy is inefficiency and dishonesty.
It would be very very cool to have an African GP. Bit Rumble In The Jungle. But i think Joe’s piece is a sign of the times, so why not?
Can we have a Belgian BP, in the Congo, Leopold and all?
I’d fancy Senegal. Fairly temperate (compared with that other side of Africa called the UAE) and presently much safer than Liberia. Nah, nice lot there, mainly. Just no “legit” cash. Equally, no big mineral resources, which is a bonus for sport. No problems with air transport, whether you believe me or not. (think “gateway”)
Was much simpler, when teams had to turn up for their appearance fees.
Kyalami, anyone?
Just gobsmacked how much Red Bull would make out of “extreme spectatorship”!!
It all fits, once you appreciate F1 is supposed to be on the edge
best from me,
– j
Dear me, Freudian typos abound:
Not “Belgian BP”, but “Belgian GP”. You have to ask Mark Reich about the difference . . .
And to be extra shiny, Senegal may phoenetically alliterate with Sonangol the company, but i don’t fancy the latter as much!
mea,
– j
Joe,
About those domains names:
What I think interesting is they were registered on April, 19 – just one day before Team Lotus send us his press release.
Going further I’ve noticed it was registered by Group NBT, own of Net Names, who responds for teamlotus.co.uk.
The team says it would be nice, but is not saying more than that.
BTW, I know “domain name market” is common.
But if it is the case, what a clue hell! Guess that even before Lotus send a press release!