Sonangol appoints new board members

Sonangol appointed three new board members as part of its ongoing restructuring, the NOC announced Friday.

Former ExxonMobil executive Ivan Sa de Almeida will focus on E&P. Susan Almeida Brandão will run the company’s legal department. Emidio Pinheiro will manage Sonangol Holding and other non-core areas. Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos, will continue on as head of the NOC.

“The economic environment in which we operate is complex and demanding, so we need to strengthen our adaptability, agility and proactivity, through a greater division of responsibilities and thus greater capacity to act,” the company said in a statement.

In April 2016, the Ministry of Oil announced that Sonangol would be restructured. In a December 2016 interview with the Financial Times, Sonangol chair Isabel dos Santos said the NOC would be divided into three units: E&P, logistics and a division to manage concessions to IOCs. The company’s holdings not related to oil will be placed in a separate fund or sold.

Boston Consulting Group, PwC and Vieira de Almeida have been hired to assist with the restructuring. According to those firms, as of November 2016, the first of four phases has been planned and the restructuring will be completed by the end of 2017. They are expected to create a separate agency to perform Sonangol’s concessionaire and regulatory duties, lowering costs.