Translations

BESA: a bank willing to assume its social responsibility where Angola’s State can’t act.

1. Organizational Governance

Strategy and organization

Sector Finance / Bank / Insurance

Year 2011

Country Angola

Transmitter

Context

In a country recovering from decades of war, it may seem normal not to hear anything about sustainable development. Yet, even if the authorities are focusing their efforts on urgent matters (infrastructures, health situation, industries), some private actors, such as BESA Bank (Banco Espirito Santo de Angola), attempt to compensate for the lack of government action and to contribute to the economic and social growth of their country. BESA was created in 2002, with a genuine pioneering spirit, eg being the first private bank in the country and having implemented the first trading room.

Objectives

Supporting the economic growth with giving awareness on environmental protection issues.
Supporting the creation of key development programs in the country.
Contributing to the opening of Angola to the outside world.
Proposing solutions to the integration of refugees from neighboring countries.

APPROACH

BESA defined its strategy in 2007, around 4 pillars:

"BESA Economy": Bring sustainability to its core business and support economic and political influence projects: BESA is a co-founder of the Planet Earth Institute along with UNESCO and the Dutch government which organized the first sustainable mining round table in Africa, at Luanda (Luanda) in November 2010. This initiative led to the desire to deploy the PEI with the Angolan Ministry of Environment and co-founded the Planet Earth National Committee which plans to train educators in environment and mobilize the Angolan ambassadors worldwide.

"BESA Social": One of its emblematic actions is the major educational program to learn the national language (Portuguese) to thousands of refugees from Congo and Zambia. To build this ambitious project of social integration, BESA worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In 2009, BESA also contributed to the creation of the Health Newspaper of Angola by gathering the efforts of the Ministry of Health and the Angolan Medical Association in the aim of educating about preventive healthcare.

"BESA Cultura: Support to cultural and scientific projects, such as the creation of a center of excellence with a PhD program in Earth Sciences, in partnership with UNESCO, the PEI and the Agostinho Neto University. To support this project, the bank will give some of its lands and premises. BESA also supports arts (photography, dance, etc.) to increase the country's international image on Angolan art.

"BESA Ambiente”: Awareness and education programs on environmental protection, including distribution of kits (Books, CDs, fact sheets) in primary schools.

CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE

International recognition: chosen to be UNESCO’s "Planet Bank" in 2009 for its active promotion of sustainability in its country. BESA also received many banking awards such as the “Best International Bank” by Global Finance in 2010.
KPMG’s award: "Best company to work for” in Angola.