by Gordon Nary
Gordon: When did you attend college what was your favorite subject and why was it your favorite?
Cristóvão: I attended SCD from June 2002 to September 2005, my favourite subject was economics, it was my favourite because of the way the tutor taught, his method was straight forward and it involved communication from the class, feedback from the students, real life examples etc.
Gordon: When did you serve as Customer Service/Marketing & Sales Agent at Canada Life in Dublin and what is one of you favorite memories when you were working there?
Cristóvão: From March 2006 to February 2007, my favourite memories were/are: Firstly, to be employed by this big international company, the young team that I was part of, the management was very friendly and helped me learn on job, the prizes or bonus for the sales agents and the rest of the team, the year end party etc.
Gordon: Please provide an overview of your work at DSTV Multichoice Africa Johannesburg.
Cristóvão: My duties included: liaising with agents or franchises for the following countries; Angola; Malawi; Mozambique; DRC; Zimbabwe and 3rd Parties; Calculating and capturing commissions for agents and franchisees; Payment of commissions; Capturing of Retail and Sundry invoices; Approving orders for Retail accounts; Download of Subscription files; Control of intercompany and Clearing accounts; Applying of payments to receipting; Ageing; Printing out statements; Reconciling all accounts; Billing of agents, franchises and 3 rd parties; Filing; Closing of the period and prepare monthly report.
Gordon: Please list all of the organizations at which your served as an Accountant.
Cristóvão: DSTV Multichoice Africa, Johannesburg-South Africa; DSTV Multichoice Angola/JAT; MSC; ISPOCA; M2TECH; G4S Angola; Force III Security Service and JRS Angola.
Gordon: What did you enjoy most when you worked at M2TECH - Tecnologia & Serviços?
Cristóvão: I enjoyed most the fact of being in charge, being the leader, being the manager/director of the company, managing the day to day operations of the company
Gordon: When did you serve as Credit Control Manager G4S Angola and what were your primary responsibilities?
Cristóvão: From July 2014 to June 2017, my primary responsibilities were: responsible for issuing pro forma, invoices to clients, reconciling client´s accounts, payment collections, calculation and processing of stamp tax, consumption tax and withholding tax, reconciling unallocated account, preparing Aged analysis, preparing and sending invoices to clients, maintaining good relationship with clients, control of bad debt, calculation of price increase, credit policy, assisting Finance Manager in preparing monthly reports, responding to day to day queries, assisting treasury, accounts payable and chief of accounts.
Gordon: You currently hold two positions - one as Finance & Administration Manager Security Service Force III Lda and the other as Program & Administration Associate Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Luanda, Angola. What are your primary responsibilities at each organization?
Cristóvão: I held the position of Finance & Admin Manager at Security Service Force III from July 2017 to April 2018 and my duties included: responsible for preparing, processing and sending invoices to clients, payments collections, maintaining good relationship with clients, reconciling client’s accounts; calculation, processing and payment of stamp tax, consumption tax and withholding tax, reconciling accounts, preparing Aged analysis, control of bad debt, preparing monthly reports, responding to day to day queries, assisting Human Resources in processing and payment of salaries; assisting Operations on day to day basis; responsible for accounts payable, collecting invoices from suppliers, processing the invoices and making payments to all third parties; Calculation and payment of commission for third parties At JRS Angola.
I worked from January 2019 to December 2023, and my duties included: General objective of the position to work in close collaboration with the National Director, develop and strengthen the needs assessment as part of triennial strategies, seek new funding opportunities, objectively evaluate the quality of our projects and oversee the work of the program coordinator in order to improve our impact in Angola and the Regional; responsible for Treasury; Assets; Logistic; Inventory; processing of invoices; reconciliations of all accounts; responding to day to day queries; processing and payment of salaries; calculations of IRT, Social Security, other subsidies and discounts; elaborate companies policies and procedures.
Gordon: What are some of the challenges that Refugees face in Luanda and how are they addressed?
Cristóvão: The challenges that refugees face in Luanda are: Lack of documents, lack of working opportunities, housing, education, food, health care.
Gordon: Approximately how many Refugees does JRS currently assist and what are the primary countries from which they are Refugees?
Cristóvão: Angola hosts about 57.000 refugees, JRS Angola assist about 9.000 directly and the rest indirectly. Most refugees come from DRC, Rwanda, Guinea, Cote d´Iv
Gordon: Thank you for an exceptional interview and the care, that you provides at Jesuit Refugee Service.