The Angolan politician Manuel Domingos Vicente has been Vice President of Angola since September 2012. Previously he was chief executive officer of Sonangol, Angola's state oil company, from 1999 to 2012, and he briefly served in the government as Minister of State for Economic Coordination in 2012.
Background
Manuel Vicente was born in Luanda on 15 May in 1956 in Sambizanga ward. He is from a humble background. Vicente is the son of a shoemaker father and washer mother. Manuel Vicente knew from the early age that for him to overcome difficulties, education was the key.
Education
Manuel Vicente started his primary and secondary school at Luanda’s São Domingos Mission. He then proceeded to University of Angola (Agostinho Neto University) where he studied electronic engineering and graduated in 1983.
In his professional training, Manuel Vicente has degrees Substation and Transmission Lines, Furnas / Brazil-1985 Business Management of Petroleum, London, 1991, Marketing of Petroleum and its Derivatives, London-1991 Economics of Oil Operations - Petroleum Institute, London, 1991, Risk Analysis and Decision in the Oil Industry (OGCI) - Calgary 1992 petroleum Economics - (OGCI) - London 1992, among others connected to the oil industry
Career
Vicente worked as a chief engineer during the 1980s, before he moved to the technical department of the Ministry of Oil from 1987 to 1991. He was appointed as Deputy Director-General of Sonangol, the state oil company, in 1991. He presided over the most important sector of the Angolan economy and was considered a close associate of President José Eduardo dos Santos. During his time in charge of the company, there was a boom in oil production. He routinely traveled abroad, acquiring "an excellent reputation from the international business community".Manuel Vicente was appointed as a member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the ruling party, in December 2009.
President dos Santos appointed Vicente as Minister of State for Economic Coordination on 30 January 2012;Francisco de Lemos José Maria succeeded Vicente at Sonangol.In line with earlier speculation, the move was generally interpreted by observers as suggesting that dos Santos was positioning Vicente as his eventual successor. It appeared that Vicente's government post would give him a great deal of authority in managing the economy, and it would bolster Vicente's credibility and experience given that he had previously only been involved in the oil industry. Nonetheless, it was believed that some other leading figures in the ruling party were skeptical about Vicente, given his relative inexperience in politics, and could be trying to resist the President's efforts to position him for the succession.
Agence France-Presse reported in February 2012, citing an MPLA source, that Vicente would have the second spot on the MPLA's candidate list for the 2012 election, behind dos Santos, and would become Vice-President of Angola after the election. As anticipated, the MPLA Central Committee designated President dos Santos as head of the MPLA party list and Vicente as the second candidate on the list on 13 June 2012. The MPLA won the election, and Vicente took office as Vice President on 26 September 2012.
Views
At the UN Security Council, the Angolan Vice-president defended a reform which, according to him, should “be more in line with the international context and reflect an equal geographical representation through the increase in the number of permanent members”, namely by including an African country. In his speech, the Angolan Vice-President also approached issues such as the resurgence of armed conflicts and the religious fundamentalism in some African countries, as well as the importance of disarmament and the combating of drug and human trafficking and transnational organized crime
Personality
He is often described as a man with sound intellect.
Physical Characteristics:
He is of the Black race.