This first article in my blog is one I published some years a go on LinkedIn. It is in a way so actual and can be copied to another continent and country. In later posts more about that subject.
It all started two years ago. The down turn in the Oil & Gas industry had begun and we were starting to feel it. The sky was no longer the limit, but there were still a lot of mountains to climb. There was enough work though and plenty of positions to fill. My role as regional recruiter for Africa had just started with many challenges ahead. Working on a recruitment strategy for the different operating companies in Africa, creating a business plan and making sure we were compliant to local content requirements were some of my goals.
The main focus for me was Angola, a former Portuguese colony. Angola is a vast country with many resources and a booming development after many years of civil war, a country with a lot of potential in many ways. You can see the potential when you are there. A potential in construction, in infrastructure, in education and in moving forward in life. I felt the eagerness of the wonderful people of Angola to learn and grow. The eagerness to make something of their life and a lot of entrepreneurship.
With all this potential and positive energy you might think it is easy to find the right talent in Africa or in this case Angola. Well, that is partly true. What I have learned very quickly in Angola is that I had to forget about looking through my Dutch eyes. I had to adjust, adjust to another culture, different weather, work environment, ways of communicating, to be living in a compound.
Landing in the capital of Angola, Luanda, is interesting enough. The city spans a vast area and has many more inhabitants than it was originally build for. From the plane you will see the bay of Luanda with all the vessels and platforms, the skyscrapers and the seemingly endless slums. For such a big city, the airport is very small and that alone is already one of the first signs of some of the main issues in Luanda: infrastructure and logistics. A lack of good infrastructure is a big problem I came across every time I had to do my job. Not only for me. Going to and coming from work is an ‘adventure’ for many people. Leaving home at a very early hour to be in time at work, being stuck in traffic between big trucks for hours and roads with huge pod holes are a few examples.
Operating costs are extremely high in Angola. This has to do with a lack of logistics of course… But what do you think of the price of a simple apartment in downtown Luanda? 4k/5k euros a month… A salary of 200 K per year is nothing special and then we have to mention a driver, a car, a house etcetera as well. Things are changing at the moment and salaries go down. Prices stay the same though and people who are being paid in the local currency can feel the effect.
On a positive note though, there is constant improvement and development visible in the city.
This brings me back to the context of this article: finding talent in Angola.
Doing business in Angola is not as easy as in Europe or the US. The distances are immense and many parts of the country are not developed. Western companies are located mainly in Luanda with a focus at the Oil & Gas industry. These companies are more or less similar in the way they operate and the kind of personnel they require. When operating in Angola companies are required to comply with Angolan law and local content rules and thus need to hire sufficient Angolan staff. Of course this makes sense.
These international companies have to compete with each other for talent that is limited in numbers. You will not find thousands of people with a degree in all kind of professions who can step into each role. There are not a lot of universities in Angola. Salaries and costs go through the roof. As a recruiter operating in Angola you will have to be creative and you have to set up a strategy. You have to ask yourself some simple questions:
How to find and attract talent?
How to retain them?
How to train them?
How to train them? That is the big question mark. As a company operating in Angola you will have more responsibilities than in most western countries. You have to invest in your people. With limited resources and graduates in the country you can achieve a lot when you train your staff. You can hire a graduate and with the right mindset and technical training you can get very valuable and committed staff for a long term.
There is much more to say about operating in Angola, the difficulties, the opportunities and how to find the right talent.
Let me conclude this article by saying that the potential talent of Angola is out there and not too difficult to find. The question that matters maybe more is:
How to invest in the right talent?
