Young Entrepreneurs Doing Sustainable Business in Angola

Angola is watching a new generation of young entrepreneurs taking a fresh approach to business. Unlike their predecessors, these young men are strongly committed to business ethics. This represents a marked difference from the way things were done in the past, and this is bringing more credibility and sustainability to their business ventures, opening Western markets in the process.

There are many young people who are leading this charge. Some of the notable young businessmen include Ivan Morais, Gilbert Pires Cabral, or Mirco de Jesus Martins. They are taking off in different directions and business sectors, but all are finding a fair degree of success. One of this generation, perhaps the most steadfast, is Mirco de Jesus Martins.

In just the last decade, Mirco Martins has had a very large number of businesses and ventures. After leaving his post as an engineer at BP, he first created Vernon Group, a petroleum and oilfields services company. Vernon Group currently employs hundreds of people across Angola and partners with large energy companies such as Baker Petrolite and Sonangol. One of the many examples of his openness and embracing of international business standards, Martins personally made sure that Vernon Group went through a successful audit with Deloitte & Touche Lda.

From there, Martins has founded and gotten involved in many more businesses. Shooting off of the Vernon Group branding and infrastructure, he has also created Vernon Finance House, Vernon Estate, and Vernon Investment. With these efforts, Martins has shown that his expertise extends far beyond the petroleum and gas industry. He is also a high profile shareholder and co-founder of Banco Quantum, an investment and finance entity in Angola which is led by other young businessmen such as Jose Filomeno dos Santos and Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais.

In addition to finance, real estate, and energy, Martins has a large stake in the telecommunications industry. His company AOC is one of the biggest distributors in Angola of international brands such as Samsung and Nokia. Forever committed to transparency and business ethics, Martins also led this company through a successful audit by PWC. Even at this point, it seems like Martins is not satisfied, and continues to expand his business interests into new areas of the Angola economy.