The Carrinho Group, currently described as Angola's largest agribusiness group, originated from a bar created by Leonor Carrinho in her backyard to support her three children. An informal agreement with Sonangol, which established that the company's technicians would have their meals at the bar when they traveled to Lobito, marked the beginning of the business activity. From this base in Benguela, the group expanded to approximately 60 retail units under the Eskebras and Bem Barato brands, 19 rice, wheat, and corn processing factories and oil refining, and operates in six Angolan provinces covering 107 municipalities.
The group is currently led by Nelson Carrinho, son of founder Leonor, with brother Rui Carrinho as vice-CEO, and employs more than 2,000 people. In recent years, Carrinho diversified into the financial sector, having acquired Banco de Comércio e Indústria (BCI) in 2021 for 30 million dollars and the bank Keve. After a lengthy period of approach, the group reached an understanding with Portuguese BPI to purchase the 33.35% held by the bank in BFA.
The entry into BFA did not come unexpectedly. When BPI put its entire stake in the Angolan bank up for sale in 2024, Carrinho was one of the interested parties, although the operation did not materialize due to the strong devaluation of the kwanza. The following year, BFA went public on the Luanda Stock Exchange, with the sale of approximately 30% of the capital for more than 200 million euros, in an operation that involved more than 8,000 investors.
The Carrinho Group's entry into BFA's capital was made through the company Congolian Financial, with Nelson Carrinho and Rui Carrinho as the ultimate beneficiaries. The group acquired 1.13 million titles in the IPO, to which they added more than seven thousand shares subsequently purchased on the secondary market. This stake of 7.61% of BFA's capital was valued at approximately 109 million euros at market prices.
