Sonangol

Sonangol Asia is one of the subsidiaries of Sonangol EP (also known as National Fuel Society of Angola), established in 1976 as a state-owned enterprise that oversees the petroleum and natural gas production in Angola. Their activities include “…exploration, research, development, marketing, production, storage, transport, and refining of hydrocarbons and their derivatives” that are done both independently and inter-organisationally. It has more than 30 subsidiaries across the world that take care of the commercialisation of crude oil and petrol products under their coverage.

Growing with your customers beyond process and technology

It’s a common occurrence for people to change roles and move to different locations for organisations with a global reach. As a payroll company servicing multiple countries in Asia and ANZ, Ascender teams are used to seeing new names and meeting new people in the companies they provide service for. This was the case for Inacio Zebedeu Bueti, Finance Manager, who took over the HR function for Sonangol Asia Limited Singapore (Sonangol Asia) 2 years ago.

“My role was slightly different before I moved to Asia. I wasn’t very involved in HR before,” he shares. Originally from Angola, he was working for another subsidiary in the US for 7 years before getting the role. “This is quite new for me. It’s a good addition to my profession – you learn to appreciate a little bit more of what HR is about.”

Sonangol Asia is one of the subsidiaries of Sonangol EP (also known as National Fuel Society of Angola), established in 1976 as a state-owned enterprise that oversees the petroleum and natural gas production in Angola. Their activities include “…exploration, research, development, marketing, production, storage, transport, and refining of hydrocarbons and their derivatives” that are done both independently and inter-organisationally. It has more than 30 subsidiaries across the world that take care of the commercialisation of crude oil and petrol products under their coverage. Ascender has been providing fully managed payroll services for their Singapore subsidiary since 2004 using the Ascender PeoplePay software.

The Ascender team was more than willing to help bring Inacio up to speed with how things go in Asia by introducing him to the obligations of the company in the region in terms of HR and payroll. “They were very helpful in not just processing the payrolls, but helping me to be familiar with the statutory requirements, monthly contributions, CPF, and so on.”

This was possible through the team’s expertise in Singapore payroll honed through experience and training, assuring the Sonangol Asia’s employees that they will be paid correctly and on time. For questions and requests, they are assured of the account manager’s responsiveness and flexibility.

“Ascender is a good partner for our HR tasks and obligations,” Inacio confirms, and he is looking forward to having more involvement with Ascender for their other HR needs.

While their Singapore office is just a small part of the Sonangol organization, it is a vital piece of their presence in the Asia Pacific as it contributes to the transformation of Angola’s natural wealth, opportunities, pride and welfare for the more than 25 million Angolans.