Born in Senegal, of Lebanese descent, the also French citizen, Georges Choucair, envisioned an Angola that would be self-sufficient in steel production. To that end, he founded Aceria de Angola (ADA), which began operations in 2015 and whose main product is steel rods for civil construction. With raw material sourced from scrap metal and an initial investment of $260 million, the company’s chairman of the board of directors achieved his goal and is already exporting surplus products. Before this event, he had formed other companies where he revealed a distinctive entrepreneurial spirit.
Contrary to what would be expected, Georges Choucair did not take over the family business and at the age of 25, in 1992, he left for Angola with a dream in his luggage: to build his professional career on his own. «I started a business importing various commodities, but almost at the same time the national currency devalued greatly and, after losing everything, I started another business in the bakery sector,» recalls the entrepreneur, before adding: «I knew nothing about making bread, I had no experience, but I decided to innovate and introduced the French baguette to the Angolan market, and it was a great success.» In 1996, with the growth of the bakery, he came up with the idea to build an industrialised bakery and, in the search for national materials in order to optimise costs, he realised there was a lack of steel rods, which are the basis of any building. «I saw a business opportunity here and started importing steel rods from Ukraine, with the aim of also reselling them. The business grew and I created Pagena, my first company in the steel sector,» reveals Georges Choucair. This company enjoyed exponential growth, leading to the creation of ASC, Angola Steel Corporation, in 2006, a leader in the distribution of steel for civil construction.
«I was determined to produce certified high-quality steel rods»
However, the entrepreneur believed he could take the business even further, «instead of being dependent on the West, I could use the scrap metal scattered around the country to produce Angolan steel and take advantage of our distribution to get this raw material to the factory. With the idea defined, the plan was hatched to build a factory that would benefit the economy, through a non-existent sector and, at the same time, would reduce the share of imports in the trade balance. «I was determined to produce internationally certified high-quality steel rods, just like the most important steel mills in the world,» the industrialist points out. At the same time Georges Choucair wanted to disprove the stereotype that African industries could not compete, in terms of quality, with those of the West. His determination would prove an example for foreign investors in Angola and Africa, as he states: «The development of our continent can only come from the creation of wealth by the citizens, sustainable industrial investments and processing of resources that will result in more jobs.»
After looking at other steel mills, construction work began on a high-tech, environmentally friendly factory, respecting European standards, so that the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), an organisation of the World Bank, with guidelines to promote Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in developing countries, would recognise the viability of Aceria De Angola. «During the construction phase of the factory, very thorough audits were carried out by various departments of MIGA, right up to the opening day,» explains Georges Choucair, who endured many challenges, such as the lack of electricity that led him to invest US$35 million in a High Voltage network, so that there would be no interruptions to production. ADA began operations in December 2015 and, to date, is the largest private industrial investment in the country and a driver of economic and social development in the Bengo province, with 92% of the jobs held by nationals and 8% by expatriates.
Aceria De Angola has three laboratories for analysing the quality of steel
Over the years, more than four thousand indirect jobs have been created due to the appearance of small companies specialising in scrap metal collection. Aceria De Angola has three laboratories for analysing the quality of steel in order to comply with the European standard for steel reinforcing rods for civil construction, LNEC E 450-2010 - A500 NR, and is the first steel mill in Angola and on the continent to have this certification.
Georges Choucair’s entrepreneurial career has earned him several distinctions, such as Honorary Consul General of Senegal in Luanda, appointed by decree by the French Economy, Finance and Industry Minister, as French Foreign Advisor in Angola. As he is also a philanthropist, he has built and donated a maternity hospital and provides drinking water to the community among many other actions. But his greatest achievement so far has been to make Angola self-sufficient in steel rods in its specificity, exporting also to other countries. Aceria de Angola is part of the K2L - Capital S.A Group which has held, for 20 years, steel, distribution, real estate and construction companies, employing 1400 people, in 16 commercial and industrial facilities.
