The problem of the Portuguese investors

A few weeks ago at a dinner with some friends and acquaintances one of them told us that he was moving to Angola, to work on a new investment project of a Portuguese company on the construction sector.

We started talking about the viability of the investments in Angola versus others countries about the protectionist policies of the Angolan Government against the foreign investments and companies obligating them to have a national partner with practically half of the investment propriety, the higher level of financial and propriety and human risks, the low level of the labour skills and several others questions. After it was mentioned that the Portuguese investors have other markets to explore where they have a vantage for being from an EU member and where a few Portuguese groups had already invested and proved its high investments viablility on the medium and long term analysis with a lot less risks and instability face the politicians moods. So why keep investing in Angola?

There is also the question from which we can not alienate ourselves being that the fact that the Angolan Government is one of the most corrupt government of the planet and José Eduardo dos Santos is presently one of the biggest murderesses of the planet that he and his family have been steeling the Angola wealth from decades, being one of the largest fortunes of the world made with Angolan people blood.

The answer of that person to all these facts was simply that “but on that countries because they have a higher educated labour force, they will quickly learn the company knowhow and then they will take us out of the market by competing with us” and this sentence says everything about the mentality of the majority of the Portuguese investors. They don’t want to compete with the best, they don’t want to work to become the best on the market, they just want to make money under the State protection (domestic or foreigner) and without being obligated to invest the necessary to become the best and to have the finest employers.

However our own recognition and justice to a few Portuguese companies because they work to be the greatest and go to markets where they are forced to compete with the best and where is required to stand up among them.

All investors prefer to invest on a country where the labour are educated so they can use it in more specialized works and not having to support all the training cost, all investors except the Portuguese investors off course.

The competition is what compels the companies to be more efficient and the market capable to provide the customers with the best service or products at the best price.