An Interview with Cristóvão Da Silva

by Gordon Nary

Gordon: When did y0u attend Senior College Dun Laoghaire, what degrees/certificates did you earn , and what is one of your one of your favorite memories when you were there?

Cristóvão: I attended Senior College Dun Laoghaire from September 2002 to June 2005, I got GDBM (Graduate Diploma in Business Management); My favorite memories were, first being admitted to the College, the classes themselves, different nationalities in the class, brilliant tutors and of course my graduation day.

Gordon: What was your first job and why did you leave it?

Cristóvão: My first job after college was at Canada Life, I left it because I had to reallocate to South Africa to be with my wife and my 2 years old daughter

Gordon: When and where did you serve as Agent Administrator and what  were your primary responsibilities?

Cristóvão: From February 2008 to April 2010, in Randburg, Johannesburg - South Africa. My primary responsibilities were: Liaising with different franchises and agents from different countries, control of the retail, sundry, subscription and commissions account, responsible for Receivable and Payable accounts from invoicing, making payments, receiving payments, capturing the invoices, reconciling all the accounts and producing the financial report on monthly basis and the notes

Gordon: When did you serve as Accountant at DSTV Multivideo Angola and what did you like most about your work?

Cristóvão: From May 2010 to February 2013, I liked the challenge of the work and also we had a very young team, good working relationship with the team

Gordon: When did you serve as Cost Control & Accountant Mediterranean Shipping Company and  what were your primary responsibilities?

Cristóvão:  From February to July 2013, I was responsible for the Receivable and Payable accounts and cost control, my primary responsibilities were: verification, approval, capturing and posting of the invoices, reconciliations, control of the company’s assets, providing assistance to Treasury and Human Resource, filling, preparation and submission of the financial report on monthly basis.

Gordon: When and where did you serve as Accountant/Cost Controller/Finance Advisor/Administrator and what is one of your favorite memories when you were there?

Cristóvão: From July 2017 to April 2018 at Force III Security Service, my favourite memories was being able to train an accountant that still works there to date, helping the acting manager understand the business, assisting the Human Resource and Operations on day to day basis

Gordon: You also serve as Finance & Administration Manager at Jesuit Refugee Services in Angola. What are your primary  responsibilities and approximately how many people does Jesuit Refugee Services serve?

Cristóvão: My primary responsibilities were working closely with the country director, fundraising, preparation and control/management of the budget, preparation and submission of the financial and narrative report, supervision of the logistic, human resources, finance department. JRS serves about 5.000 Refugees and Asylum Seekers OR people of concern by providing free legal service, payment of house rents, providing basic food basket, livelihood, SGBV and other types of social assistance. As far as employees, we had about 30 staff members, this excluding the volunteers and activists

Gordon:  Please share with our readers some information about the Humanitarian crisis in southern Angola.

Cristóvão: The Humanitarian crisis in Southern Angola have been worse compared to what the Angolan government shows in the media, the drought, lack of infrastructures, people lost their livestock, there is no water for them to drink nor to provide to their livestock, as result some people flee to Namibia looking for better conditions, the situation in Southern of Angola is better to be seen than to hear from the media

Gordon:  What are some of the media challenges in Angola?

Cristóvão: Still there is no freedom of speech. Internet had made things much easier, since everybody now can share the information in real time at anytime and anyplace by using Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram etc. But the media is still censored

Gordon: Thank you for a great interview.