1. Prezioso operates from strategic industrial locations such as Luanda, Cabinda, Lobito and Soyo, serving sectors where safety, reliability and technical execution are essential. In this regard, what milestones best define the company’s journey, and how have they positioned Prezioso as a trusted industrial-services partner in Angola?
Gerald Green: We have been operating in Angola for over 35 years, so we are celebrating a long history in the country. Prezioso has also been present in Africa for over 40 years.
A few years ago, the Prezioso business was acquired by the ALTRAD Group. ALTRAD is currently the largest fabric-maintenance and industrial-maintenance company in the world. 65,000 employees, offices in 51 countries, and sales generated in more than 100 countries.
Angola is Prezioso’s largest business in Africa, and we are very proud of that. We have nearly 2,000 people working with us in the country, which makes us the largest fabric-maintenance services company in Angola.
We operate in Lobito, Luanda, Cabinda and Soyo, but our activities are not limited to those locations. We work both onshore and offshore, providing support and maintenance services to the oil and gas industry, which remains Angola’s largest source of economic income. We are very pleased to support such an important pillar of the country’s economy.
Our core business is fabric maintenance, combining access solutions such as scaffolding and rope access with surface preparation, protective coatings and insulation services. We also provide non-destructive testing, inspection and repair services, delivering integrated solutions that protect industrial assets, maintain integrity and extend operational life.
2. Angola’s energy sector is moving through a new cycle of offshore investment, gas development and refinery expansion, creating demand for specialized services that protect critical assets and keep operations running. With this context in mind, which figures best show Prezioso’s scale today, and what do they reveal about the value the company delivers to clients?
Gerald Green: As a business, we generate more than USD 100 million per year. We are probably the largest company of our kind in the country by a considerable margin.
However, the main value we provide is reflected in our safety performance. We maintain extremely high safety standards and did not report a single lost-time incident last year, despite the considerable number of working hours we deliver both onshore and offshore.
Safety and quality are our primary objectives and the foundations of the value we deliver. Beyond the financial value of our services, our greatest commitment is to execute every project safely, reliably and to the highest standards.
3. New offshore and gas projects are increasing the technical demands placed on Angola’s industrial-services sector. Building on this momentum, how is Prezioso strengthening its capabilities to deliver safer, more efficient and higher-value solutions for complex industrial assets?
Gerald Green: As part of a global leader in industrial services, we can draw on international expertise and introduce proven technologies into Angola. Expanding these capabilities will remain one of our key priorities throughout 2026 and 2027.
The ALTRAD Group has acquired more than 200 companies around the world, covering a broad range of industrial activities. These companies bring new technologies and capabilities into the group.
For example, we are preparing an exhibition at our yard in Angola where we will demonstrate four technologies that are already being used internationally and that we are now bringing into the Angolan market. We will conduct live demonstrations for the main industry players and clients in the country.
One of the technologies involves robotic systems for blasting and painting. These robots come from Remotion, our Norwegian partner within the ALTRAD Group. They are used to carry out blasting and painting activities on offshore assets.
The robots are remotely controlled, which means that personnel do not need to be physically present on the same asset. During the demonstration, we will operate the robot located here in Angola, while also controlling robots located in Norway from our facility in Angola.
We are also preparing to conduct a live demonstration of this technology on an offshore asset in Angola. This is particularly important because it reduces the need to expose personnel to potentially hazardous activities.
We are introducing additional technologies from our partners in Aberdeen, Scotland. These include Technowrap composite repair solutions and QuickFlange technology, which makes it possible to install flanges on pipes without carrying out hot work.
We are also introducing V-Deck, a new access solution that provides an alternative form of scaffolding. We are already using this technology with one of our clients’ offshore asset.
V-Deck makes operations safer and requires fewer working hours. It is also faster to install, which ultimately reduces the cost to the client.
Another technology we are bringing into Angola is a new type of safe habitat that allows offshore work to be performed more safely.
We have access to these solutions because we already work with the technologies and their providers in other countries. Being part of the world’s largest group in this sector allows us to bring that international experience into Angola.
We can present these technologies to our clients and partners and demonstrate that they are already working successfully elsewhere. They can then evaluate the solutions and benefit from the same capabilities in Angola.
This is how Altrad Prezioso Angola and the ALTRAD Group can introduce new technologies into the Angolan market.
4. In major industrial projects, trust is built through performance, safety standards and long-term reliability. With this in mind, how does Prezioso build lasting relationships with clients and partners, and where do you see the strongest opportunities to expand the company’s role in Angola?
Gerald Green: We have very strong relationships with our partners. I deliberately use the word “partners” because we try not to refer to the companies we work with simply as clients.
We do not merely provide scaffolding, painting or insulation services. We provide solutions.
We provide access solutions. We provide solutions to prevent corrosion under insulation. We provide inspection and non-destructive testing solutions.
We ask our partners what difficulties they are experiencing and then work with them to develop a solution. We also plan together how we will address future challenges.
Once they understand that we are working alongside them rather than operating simply as a subcontractor, the relationship becomes much stronger.
This approach is also connected to the introduction of new technologies. For example, we are working with a company called Abyss Solutions.
Over the past few months, we have been working with Chevron in Cabinda to create a three-dimensional map of its offshore assets. We have already completed the mapping of two assets.
The result is comparable to having a Google Maps-style system inside an industrial asset. Surveyors use three-dimensional cameras to map the entire facility.
This allows personnel based in other locations, including the United States, to move virtually through the asset and identify potential problems or specific areas where work needs to be carried out.
For example, when work is required on a particular pipeline, the user can enter the line number into the system and be taken directly to its location.
This makes it much easier to locate equipment, identify problems and plan the necessary work.
The system is now being implemented, and Chevron is training its personnel to use it. We have also been approached by TotalEnergies and other clients interested in replicating the same technology.
Because we have already worked with similar systems outside Angola, we understand their benefits and are pleased to introduce them to our partners here.
The technology reduces the time required to plan work and decreases the environmental footprint associated with travel.
Traditionally, when a repair was required, someone would need to travel from Luanda to Cabinda to inspect the asset. That person would conduct the survey, return to Luanda, prepare a list of materials and potentially travel back again.
With digital mapping, much of this assessment can be carried out remotely. It saves time, reduces travel and gives personnel in Luanda full visibility of what is happening on an offshore asset in Cabinda.
In practical terms, it reduces the distance between teams and assets.
5. ALTRAD highlights safety, environmental responsibility, ethics, human rights and responsible procurement as part of its corporate commitments. In practical terms, what concrete actions is Prezioso taking to make its operations safer, cleaner and more environmentally responsible?
Gerald Green: Safety is our main priority. However, the strong safety figures we have achieved are only valid until yesterday.
Every day, we must start again and think about how we are going to maintain those standards. Some companies achieve an excellent safety record and then become too comfortable with it, until an incident eventually occurs.
We are very proud of our safety results, but we understand that they do not guarantee what will happen today. Every morning, we must recommit ourselves to delivering the same standard of safety.
In terms of sustainability, we have significantly reduced the number of expatriates working in the business. This is part of our nationalisation programme, but it also directly reduces the environmental footprint associated with international travel.
A few years ago, we had a much larger number of expatriates working on 28-day rotations and travelling regularly between Angola and different parts of the world. This created a considerable travel footprint.
We have also begun working with many more local suppliers. Whenever we can purchase something locally, we do so. We are moving away from the practice of importing everything directly.
For example, we work with local distributors of paint and other materials because this also reduces the environmental impact of our supply chain.
Instead of several companies importing small quantities of the same product separately, local suppliers can import materials in bulk. They can transport them by sea rather than relying on air freight, which reduces the overall footprint.
Whenever we identify a new technology that can reduce our environmental impact, we also consider it as part of our operations.
In addition, we conduct local environmental campaigns. Last month, more than 50 members of our personnel volunteered to spend a day cleaning a beach in Luanda.
Participation was voluntary. We asked people to donate one Saturday, and the number of employees who joined the initiative was incredible.
It was a very demanding exercise, but we collected an entire truckload of waste. We eventually needed a bulldozer to gather everything and load it onto the truck.
When we first arrived, it appeared that the beach only required a limited amount of work. However, once we began collecting the rubbish, the volume was unbelievable.
6. Industrial-service companies can contribute directly to the communities around their operations through training, local employment, safety awareness and social initiatives. What community programmes, CSR initiatives or social projects is Prezioso supporting to give back directly to Angolan communities?
Gerald Green: We support several initiatives.
We have a very meaningful relationship with a local orphanage. Our support goes beyond financial sponsorship. We organize activities and outings and assist with anything the children may need.
We have a person in our office who is specifically assigned to maintain regular contact with the orphanage and respond whenever support is required. This can include dental appointments, movie nights and other activities.
We also work closely with the French Embassy in Angola and participate in the V.I.E. programme, managed by Business France, through which young French professionals come to Angola to gain international work experience.
This creates two forms of support. It gives young French professionals international experience, while also encouraging them to come to Angola, work in the country and develop a genuine connection with it.
We also support the exchange in the opposite direction by sponsoring Angolan students to study in France.
At present, we finance scholarships for six Angolan students in France. The continuation of each scholarship is linked to their academic performance, so the students must maintain a minimum grade.
The programme is not simply a matter of providing financial support. The students understand that they must also maintain a strong level of effort and performance. This approach has worked very well.
7. Angola’s pipeline of offshore, gas and refining projects is creating new opportunities for companies with strong technical capacity and safety culture. Looking ahead, what sits at the top of Prezioso’s priorities in terms of growth, investment and long-term value creation in the country?
Gerald Green: We have two main priorities.
The first is to diversify through new technologies. We want to position ourselves as the leading industrial company for introducing, supporting and developing new technologies in the Angolan market.
We do not see future growth simply as generating more revenue or carrying out a larger volume of the same work. We want to expand laterally by offering new services.
Our objective is to provide our partners with a single point of contact capable of delivering the broad range of services they require, rather than forcing them to contact several different companies around the world.
We want our partners to come to us, explain the issue or challenge they are facing and allow us to present a range of technologies and solutions from which they can select the option that works best for them.
Our second major priority is the nationalisation programme.
We already have strong nationalisation figures, but our goal is to reach a point where the main positions, supervisory roles and key onshore and offshore functions are occupied entirely by Angolan professionals.
There is no reason why this should not be possible. Angola has a very strong base of intelligent, well-prepared young people.
As a company, it is our responsibility and duty to prepare them to assume these positions.
An expatriate may perform a particular function for a certain period, but there must be a clear plan for a national employee to take over that role.
We have been very clear about this. A local successor has been identified for every position in the company, including my own. That demonstrates how important nationalisation is to us.
8. Your career has taken you through demanding industrial and energy markets, including the Caspian Region, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, the UK, Ireland and the Nordics. With this international journey in mind, what leadership principles guide your work at Prezioso, and what legacy would you like to build in Angola?
Gerald Green: Having worked in several countries, I have learned that the main difference between one country and another is its people.
When you arrive in a country with people of great quality, you can establish that it is possible to build a future and leave the company with strong long-term prospects.
That is the case in Angola. As I mentioned, Angola has intelligent people with very strong values.
We can build on that foundation because the fundamental pillar of the company is its people.
When I leave Angola, I would like to see the company being run entirely by Angolans.
I would also like all the knowledge we have brought from our experience in different countries to have been absorbed by the Angolan workforce and the wider market.
Ultimately, I would like us to help make Angola a beacon for the rest of Africa: a model for how to operate safely, how to adopt new international technologies and how industrial operations can be developed across the continent.
