The Company

The ESCOM group was founded in 1993 by the Portuguese Espírito Santo group and Helder Bataglia, the current chairman & CEO. In early years ESCOM mainly focused on trading operations in Africa, South America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. In 1995 it chose the Sub-Sahara region in general, and Angola in particular as its “core-business” area. In Angola ESCOM began with a project in the water and sanitation sector in the province Cabinda. In 1999 the group started projects in the public works sector in the Republic of Congo, involving drainage systems, energy supply infrastructure, and the construction and repair of roads and buildings.

ESCOM in Africa

ESCOM is currently one of the largest private foreign investors in Angola and Congo. The total investments to date have been 750 million USD, and it has an investment ‘pipeline’ of 1.4 billion USD. In Angola and Congo, the group is developing businesses or projects in the following sectors:

- Mining (exploring new concessions allocated by the Angolan government and in other African countries)
- Energy (construction of the Luapasso dam in the Luanda region)
- Agriculture (banana production project)
- Oil and gas (block 18 stake and other opportunities being considered)
- Real estate (residential projects and offices in Luanda, Benguela, and in Soyo)
- Cement (development of a new productions unit in Benguela)

The group is committed to be the reference investment conglomerate in Sub-Saharian Africa in the following areas: natural resources, real estate, infrastructure, energy, and financial services. The group also wants to maintain a leading position on the private investment area in Angola and enlarge its investors base.

Social Responsibility

ESCOM is a global, profitable group which acts professionally with a social conscience. It promotes sustainable development at an economic, social, and environmental level together with its partners in the markets in which it is present. The main partners of the group are Alrosa (Russia’s largest diamond company), Camargo Corrêa (one of the largest private Brazilian business conglomerates), Mota Engil (Portugal’s largest construction company), and Chiquita (a worldwide leader in the distribution of fresh fruits). Visionary, wide, tenacious, profound, creative, and involved are ESCOM’s core values.

The expansion of the operations of the ESCOM group has been accompanied by increased involvement in social responsibility initiatives. The group's strategy in this area involves a commitment to education, culture, and health. As in business, in which partnerships are fundamental, in social responsibility ESCOM seeks a partnership with Angola, helping to increase the skills and the social and cultural well-being of the Angolans. In 2009 the “Fundação ESCOM” will start its activities aggregating all the social responsibility activities currently developed and will be run by a Curators Council.