Dos Santos has funded agricultural students and started up farms across Angola.
Nations, like armies, cannot march on an empty stomach. Agriculture in the global south needs investment if these countries are ever to fully stand on their own two feet. In Angola, that investment has come from one of the continent’s top investors, Isabel dos Santos.
“Betting on agriculture creates productive communities capable of having a voice in the Angolan economy,” dos Santos has previously said.
“This is the true transformation of a country: to count on the contribution of all. When we produce work, we create opportunities, bringing hope and future.”
She said that at Unitel, Angola’s telecom giant in which she owns a 25% stake, “we believe in our national talents, we invest in Angola.”
To that end the company selected six young Angolans to do a postgraduate degree in agriculture at the Royal Agricultural University in Britain.
As well as investing in the future, she also sees the need to invest in the present.
Unicanda is owned by Unitel. The Unicanda Farm in Malanje, Angola, started with just 15 people but has now created around 100 jobs.
Last Februrary, the company announced that after the initial $6.6 million investment, a further $35 million will be invested to produce maize, soy, and other cereals across 5,000 hectares in the Calandula region.
“I am proud to be able to invest in my land and see our projects grow and become real,” dos Santos said.
Three years ago, dos Santos started another agricultural project in Huila, Angola. It was a strawberry farm start-up, with its only resources at the time being $100,000, a few acres of land, and 120 women members of the community. The farm turned into an important source of strawberries – helping in turn reduce exports – as well as provide work and financial independence to 120 families. Dos Santos did not just pour her money into the project, but also her expertise. The women learned business management and marketing skills.
Dos Santos has said that supporting national production in Angola was now one of her primary focuses in order to innovate new ways of making use of Africa’s natural riches.
“People and natural resources,” dos Santos wrote on her website. “Combining the two achieves the best possible outcome: it reveals capabilities, creates opportunities and jobs, generates value and quality from our products.”
“The continent is blessed with fertile land, great rivers and enormous agricultural potential. We are creating a large support network for small scale local producers, from fishermen to banana, passion fruit and strawberry growers. We ensure them that their produce reaches consumers in the big cities. The support may be given in a number of ways, from providing the tools for the job, such as fishing nets or small plastic packaging to store strawberries, to operational advice that makes a difference. We monitor the entire supply chain and we ensure access to a nationwide distribution network that is the key to success for any business,” she said.
With her innovative investments in Angolan agriculture, dos Santos aims to lead the transition from subsistence farming to value generating agriculture.
Distributed by Geostrategics Partners for Unitel
