Hydro is a Fortune 500 energy and aluminium supplier operating in ...

Dilemmas:
Hydro is about to establish a new business. To
support the local community, Hydro’s policy is to
employ a high proportion of local people, as long
as they have the right qualifications. Hydro has a
positive dialogue with the local government and
various organizations, and close cooperation has
been established. Having good relations with
One project was the establishment of
the Management and Technology Transfer
Programme, as a further step towards the development
of Angola as an independent oil nation.
Young Angolans are given educational opportunities,
with a preparatory year in Luanda, followed
by four years of university studies in the UK,
mainly at the University of Aberdeen.
The first five students in this scheme graduated
in 2003. Two of them joined Sonangol as
oil experts, while three have continued studying
for a higher degree, also financed by the
programme. Over the next years, more than
thirty students will graduate to boost Angola’s
growing oil competence. In connection with this
process of “Angolization”, Hydro has transferred
the responsibility of the further follow-up of the
programme to Sonangol. Hydro will, however,
still be involved in its management.
A similar transfer of responsibility has taken
place in Hydro’s other project, the Quenguela
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these groups is essential to get the business running.
When the employment process starts, one
influential politician demands that his son is
appointed to an important management position.
The son is qualified, but he is not the best applicant.
What do you do?
Water System and Agricultural Programme. This
is a development project for a community outside
Luanda, where oil production had previously
taken place and geological data showed water
reserves. The project involves the drilling of water
wells and distribution of water, establishment of
water filling stations, improvement of infrastructure,
construction of plants for egg production,
manioc processing and water-bottling, and the
construction of wash houses and three schools.
The project promotes a sustainable way of life
in a rural area inhabited by several thousand
people, mostly refugees, who have been displaced
from other parts of Angola during the war.