During a hearing at the Economy and Territorial Cohesion Committee, requested by the PCP to hear representatives of the company’s workers, Miguel Pinto, coordinator of Site Norte, argued that the company’s issues were related to management and had been ongoing even before the nationalization in 2020.
“Efacec has been poorly managed by the private sector for many years. It’s not just public management,” he stated.
According to the union leader, the company secured an 18 million euro contract “on the eve of meeting its new owner,” referring to its sale to Mutares.
“Even under state ownership, it won bids,” he emphasized, questioning why Efacec faced difficulties.
The State never “placed any public manager at Efacec, surely there are some, to manage the company,” especially when funds were being injected into the company, specifically for paying salaries, he mentioned.
“We consider that this was never a true nationalization,” said Miguel Pinto, asserting it was done to “cover up gaps.”
He further noted that Mutares’ entry, after acquiring the company from the State in 2023, led to a restructuring that already reduced jobs, highlighting “pressures” on workers to accept severance packages.
Miguel Pinto also expressed concerns for Efacec’s future, citing changes introduced by Mutares that seem to divert from sectors once considered strategic by the company, focusing instead on the transformer business.
Efacec was nationalized following the ‘Luanda Leaks’ process, which led to Isabel dos Santos’ exit from the company’s capital.
The group remained with a majority of public capital for about three years, a process that drew significant criticism and involved capital injections into Efacec by the State.
