João Martins

João Martins, a native of Angola, is the current Coordinator of the Management Committee of SECIL Marítima S.A. In an interview with V&G, he admits to the challenging nature of his position in the transport and logistics company, revealing a professional career filled with numerous experiences inside and outside of Angola. Teaching has been one of his greatest passions, and he always strives to keep up to date in various fields, which reflects the admirable number of degrees and masters that are part of his academic background. Among many topics, João explains the course that SECIL has taken after a strong pandemic crisis, divulging details about the company’s growth. 60 years old and with a lot of work experience on his CV, the manager talks about the sector’s limitations in Angola, as well as SECIL Marítima's fundamental role in the country’s economic context.

How do you describe your career path?
I completed my primary education in the province of Cabinda and finished secondary school in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1980, specialising in forensics. This was followed by a degree and Master’s in Economic Policy in the Republic of Bulgaria and the return to my country 10 years later. Along the way, I have done many training courses, such as Management Control Up-To-Date 2010 and International Trade and Strategic Management of Human Resources. My working career is extensive. I worked in the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and I was an advisor in the National Bureau of Inspection and Investigation of Economic Activities. I taught Introduction to Economic Activity, Notions of Administrative Practice, Marketing and Market Studies. I was made the Provincial Director of Criminal Investigation in Cabinda and held many other positions until September 2015, when I was appointed Executive Director of the Administrative and Financial Area in the company SECIL Marítima SA, where I currently hold the position of the company’s Coordinator of the Management Committee. 

What are the strategies adopted by SECIL Marítima regarding logistics and transport?
As it didn’t have any freight transport vessels, the management of the company has embarked on a process of transporting freight through vessels of other international ship owners, providing our customers with a «door-to-door» logistics service, from the markets of acquisition to the importer’s warehouse of destination. SECIL Marítima concentrated most of its logistics activity on the management of the China Credit Line, which provided it with a portfolio of customers from that market. In addition to the logistics segment, the company received four catamarans used for passenger transport from IMPA (now AMN-Agência Marítima Nacional). It also received six catamarans for passenger transportation from Sonangol. The greatest challenge now is the creation of conditions kickstart cargo shipping with the Cabinda Ferry and the opening of the Luanda-Cabinda route, thus diversifying our portfolio of businesses and clients through commercial expansion into new markets.

«I believe that we have a long way to go to make this activity sector more attractive»

Has the position of Coordinator of the Management Committee been challenging? On what values is your leadership based?
As a result of the experience accumulated over the previous years, I believe I have acquired sufficient knowledge to perform this function. However, it is still a challenge to be at the head of a company linked to the maritime and port sector, as the challenges are daily and constant, considering that the company lost all its material assets and human capital. Our mission is to revive SECIL as a profitable company, focused on the transportation of people and cargo inside and outside the country. The values required to perform this function include honesty, humility, integrity, resilience and thrifty management of public resources.

Is the impact of the pandemic on the revenues from 2020-2022 significant?
Like any economic player in the national and international market, the pandemic created cash-flow pressure on all market players. SECIL Marítima was no exception. Many of the state projects were paralysed and, as a result, we stopped importing project freight, which greatly affected our revenues. For this reason, we decided to make shipping our core business to leverage the company’s growth.

Let us talk about the future, what are the plans?
Based on the Business Plan for the 2020-2030 period, the administration of SECIL Marítima has been focusing on investment actions, in order to allow the efficient operation of Cabotagem Norte, which involves a process of training, affirmation and stabilisation, which provides an organisational and functional structure that ensures a level of optimisation of operational and management processes, ensuring a shipping activity with continuity. Also bearing in mind the company’s propensity for the privatisation process, in addition to the diversification of market segments of operation, it is imperative for SECIL to work closely with governmental authorities and other similar bodies, in order to capitalise the company and continue to remedy the excessive liabilities contracted by the company over the years, in order to balance its equity.

Is passenger transport a focus for SECIL for the coming years?
Passenger transport is, and will continue to be, a focus for the company. Under the current conditions and with the going rates and tariffs charged by national ports, passenger transport is not yet a profitable activity, due to the very high operating costs. However, being an eminently social activity, we will continue with this business, fighting for the review of the price list to be a factor in order to allow the profitability of our vessels.

«Passenger transport is not yet a profitable activity»

What will change with the privatisation of the company? 
The privatisation will represent an opening of the capital to the private sector, allowing a redefinition of the strategy and positioning in the domestic market, bringing greater investments. The intention is to turn SECIL into a competitive and, perhaps, the biggest and best positioned company in the national market.

What is your vision of the logistics and transport industry in Angola? And what role does SECIL play in the country’s economic context?
Angola, given that it is a vast country, with about 51% of the population living on the coast, is based on a sustainable progress that necessarily passes through the development of logistics and transport. In the past, the concept of logistics only encompassed activities related to the storage and transport of goods, today it encompasses many more variables within a business. In our country, there are still asymmetries in the development between the coastal and inland provinces. Government policies on logistics and transport have only just begun to be addressed with greater seriousness and focus, but I still believe we have a long way to go to make this sector of activity more attractive. We need to deepen the question regarding the economic impact suffered by countries with a minuscule fleet of long-haul ships, especially with regard to the negative influence on the balance of payments by contracting services abroad. With the lack of serious investments, SECIL Marítima lived through bitter moments in its cost structure and, not having its own fleet, was left to its fate. Today, with the current situation, the company begins to experience a new time, with the reception of catamaran type vessels in order to start transporting passengers and cargo, thus laying the foundations for its sustainable development. It is with this perspective that we understand that SECIL’s role, in the country’s current economic context, is relevant in order to boost trade and the transport of goods and passengers between the country’s ports.