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Alfa 5

Alfa 5 Segurança Industrial e Patrimonial SARL is a private security company in Angola.[1] It is majority owned by ENDIAMA and holds over half of the security contracts with Angolan diamond companies.[2]

History

Alfa 5 was founded in 1993 in partnership with senior or retired military officials or their close relatives for the purpose of providing security to ENDIAMA's diamond mines against criminals and UNITA rebels.[2][3] These military and ex-military officials on the Alfa-5 board included then-General César Pugliese, Rui Carlos Sousa Gaio, the wife of then-FAA chief-of-staff General Agostinho Fernandes Nelumba, and the brother of former FAA chief-of-staff General João de Matos.[3] The name refers to five Portuguese-speaking African countries where its namers hoped it would eventually operate.

Since its founding, Alfa 5 developed into a security company of its own, offering services to firms outside of ENDIAMA as well.[4] By the late 90s, Alfa 5 was one of the largest security firms in Angola alongside Teleservice and K&P Mineira.[5][6]

In 2021, ENDIAMA began looking to sell Alfa 5, but struggled to find a buyer.[7][8]

Human rights abuses

In the early 2000s, employees of Alfa 5 were accused of multiple human rights abuses including unlawful killings of protesters, striking miners, and garimpeiros in places such as Luremo[3] and Cuango, and of flexing connections to the military leaders on the Alfa 5 board to avoid consequences.[9][10]

In response to this, General Director of Alfa 5 Francisco Borges Guerra said that Alfa 5's "operations are decentralized", that its leadership did not give such orders, and that "if the individuals should adopt that behavior, it is on their individual conscience. It is what happens a little in those areas. ... I don't believe that this behavior is generalized among our men, but I do not want to overlook those individual cases which could blemish the company's good name. We do have some sad examples."[11]

In 2023, Alfa 5's Head of Commercial Development, António Pedro Bartolomeu, told O País reporters that Alfa 5 would like to hire ex-police and ex-military personnel to ensure better discipline, but there aren't enough available.[12]

Services

Alfa 5 focuses on combining human security and electronic systems. It offers security for industrial sites and information centers, transportation of valuable cargo, demining, and security systems including alarms, armored doors, and safe deposit boxes.[4]

Clients

Alfa 5 reportedly has clients such as:

See also

References

  1. Angola: Company Profile Of Alfa 5 - WINNE - World Investment News www.winne.com, retrieved 2024-08-03^
  2. Private Security Companies and Local Populations: An Exploratory Study of Afghanistan and Angola Swisspeace, 2008^
  3. W. Martin James. Historical dictionary of Angola Scarecrow Press, 2011^
  4. eBizguides Angola: All you need to know to do business and have fun 2008^
  5. Paula Roque. Governing in the Shadows: Angola's Securitized State Oxford University Press, 2021^
  6. Angola's war economy: the role of oil and diamonds Institute for Security Studies, 2000^
  7. ANGOLA : Endiama struggles to find a suitor for its private security subsidiary Alfa-5 - 04/03/2021 Africa Intelligence, 2024-08-03, retrieved 2024-08-03^
  8. Privatization of Endiama subsidiary delays due to need for financial reorganization VerAngola, 2021-01-15, retrieved 2024-08-03^
  9. 2016 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Angola United States Department of State, retrieved 2024-08-03^
  10. Rafael Marques. Lundas: The Stones of Death, Angola's Deadly Diamonds: Human Rights Abuses in the Lunda Provinces, 2004 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2004^
  11. Rafael Marques. Operation Kissonde: the Diamonds of Humiliation and Misery Maka Angola, 2006^
  12. Péssimas condições de trabalho destapam fragilidades de seguranças privados – Jornal OPaís www.opais.ao, retrieved 2024-08-04^
  13. Sobre nós alfa5.ao^