The Cart Group hereby provides formal public clarification and restores the factual truth in the face of statements made by the Maka Angola portal in the articles entitled “Cart: the Silent Concentration of Economic Power” (February 23, 2026) and “The Suspicious Connections of the Cart Group” (February 24, 2026).
The documents in question contain highly serious imputations, including percentages and conclusions presented as facts, supported by insinuations, unidentified “sources” and inferences, without minimum documentary support, without verifiable methodology and without effective contradictory. The Cart Group firmly rejects the attempt to turn suspicion into fact by means of repetition or association.
Moreover, the publications even acknowledge, in the text itself, that “there is no evidence” of irregular practices attributable to the Group, but they insist, even so, on conjectures and insinuating constructions. Such an editorial method does not correspond to informed scrutiny; It configures a public judgment without evidentiary basis, with harmful potential and induction of error among public opinion, partners and the market.
Grupo Cart reaffirms that journalistic criticism and investigation are legitimate. However, editorial freedom does not eliminate elementary duties of rigour, namely:
- Independent verification before publication;
- Citation or display of primary sources (documents, contracts, orders, official reports, award maps, execution reports, formal audits);
- Substantial contradictory, with a request for clarification and faithful integration of the answer;
- Unequivocal distinction between fact, opinion, inference and hypothesis.
1. The disclosure of figures (“70%”), operational imputations (“chronic failures”) and structural conclusions (“concentration”, “dominant position”) without documents and without an auditable basis is not an editorial detail: it is the difference between information and mere allegation. For this reason, Grupo Cart requires that the portal present, in a complete and verifiable way, the factual and documentary basis of each statement published as “fact”. In the absence of such support, the maintenance of the imputations constitutes imprudent and objectively harmful editorial action.
2. The article states that, in the process related to the REA, “there was no accountability”. That is inaccurate. The Cart Group clarifies, unequivocally, that the management associated with the REA ended with accountability, under the applicable terms and with the competent authorities, through the established channels. In addition, “accountability” is not to be confused with “media publication” of internal information. The attempt to equate the absence of public exposure of internal documents with the lack of accountability translates into an improper, logically invalid and unfounded conclusion.
3. The article states that the Cart Group controls “about 70 percent” of the logistical supply of the Ministry of the Interior and the General Command of the National Police. Grupo Cart declares that this allegation is false.
The Group requires that the portal presents, with minimum verifiability rigor:
- the basis of calculation and the methodology adopted;
- The full universe of contracts considered and the time period;
- Inclusion/exclusion criteria; e
- The primary documents that support the percentage.
To date, no official map, complete list of awards, implementation report or equivalent document has been displayed to support, validate or allow auditing the figure disclosed.
4. The text invokes “chronic failures” of supply to the FAA based on unproven “internal complaints”. The Cart Group clarifies that there is no official statement from the Angolan Armed Forces or the Ministry of National Defense to confirm the narrative released, nor has any evidentiary document (official report, formal notification, public audit, minutes, deliberation or institutional file) been presented to support it. In the matter of strategic supplies and institutional security, allegations of this nature are not published as facts without documentary evidence: that is not transparency; It is irresponsible.
5. The article seeks to induce the perception of “dominant position” and systemic risk in banking. The Cart Group clarifies that it does not have a concentration in the national banking system, not exercising dominance or systemic control of the sector. The participation of one of the family’s holding companies (Congolian) in the sector as a whole is a minority and does not constitute any dominant position. The “capture” or “dominance” thesis would require objective demonstration with technical indicators (asset shares, deposits, credit, concentration metrics, systemic exposure and methodology) elements that the portal did not present.
6. The second article suggests suspicions and associations regarding Paramount Energy & Commodities, in the context of financing the Industrial Complex. The Cart Group clarifies, categorically: there is no direct formal or informal link between the Cart Group and Paramount for the financing of the construction of the Industrial Complex. Insinuations to the contrary, unaccompanied by contracts, relevant corporate registers, financial documents or official statements by the parties, constitute allegations without proof.
7. A sovereign guarantee is a legal and financial instrument in which the State assumes a commitment to cover only if a contractually defined event occurs. It is not synonymous with ownership, shareholder control or interference in management. It is a common instrument in project finance for the feasibility of structuring investments.
In the case of Grupo Cart:
- There are two sovereign guarantees associated with the development of two manufacturing units;
- The grace period has ended and the Group has already started to fulfill its contractual obligations, under the agreed terms.
The attempt to turn a normal financial instrument into an “indication” of irregularity is technically incorrect, editorially misleading and intellectually dishonest.
8. Some passages seek to induce the idea of irregularity by the simple fact that the Cart Group does not publish, indiscriminately, consolidated financial statements to the public. Such an inference is legally improperand factually misleading.
Under the terms of Law No. 1/04, of 13 February (Commercial Companies Law), the central obligation of commercial companies is to report the management and present accounts, that is, to prepare and submit the management report and the accounts to the competent bodies of the company, within the applicable deadlines and terms (e.g., Article 70).
The same law establishes, with regard to publicity, that mandatory publication refers to acts subject to registration, by publication in the Official Gazette, and does not enshrine a general and indistinct obligation of annual public publication of accounts for non-listed private entities (e.g., Articles 166 and 167).
To put it simply: accountability is an obligation; Widespread public publication of accounts is not a universal duty in the common corporate regime, except in the case of entities subject to special regimes, namely publicly-held companies and issuers of securities, for which there are specific duties to disclose information and provide accountability documents under the terms applicable to the regulation of the capital market.
Regardless of the public disclosure regime, the Cart Group reaffirms that it is audited annually by international consultants also known as BIG FOURs, independent with a presence in Angola, based on international criteria, consistently since 2007 and in the last 2 years, no audit reserve has been placed on its accounts. Consequently, it is illegitimate and editorially abusive to suggest “lack of scrutiny” or “opacity” based on an obligation that the law, in the general framework applicable to non-listed private entities, does not impose as a rule.
9. The Cart Group is a family-owned business structure, with the ownership of the share capital, effective control and power of strategic direction exercised exclusively by members of the Cart family. There are no qualified holdings of independent third parties, nor effective beneficiaries outside the family nucleus, directly or indirectly, under the terms applicable to the identification of ultimate beneficial owner (UBO).
10. As far as Manty AG is concerned, it is expressly stated that there is no direct or indirect relationship of group, control, coalition or control between the Cart Group and that entity.
The Cart Group does not hold shares in Manty AG, does not exercise dominant influence, does not have special voting rights, nor does it have contractual or statutory mechanisms that allow it to determine the financial or operational policies of that company.
Consequently, and in accordance with the control criteria established in the applicable international financial reporting standards, namely IFRS 10 (Consolidated Financial Statements), Manty AG is not part of the consolidation perimeter of the Cart Group, and there is no legal or accounting basis for its inclusion in the consolidated financial statements.
The possible existence of common beneficiaries in different business structures does not, in itself, constitute a group relationship, common control or compulsory consolidation, in the absence of management power, dominant influence or effective control. The entities maintain full legal, patrimonial and decision-making autonomy, with their own governing bodies and independent responsibility.
The relationship established between Grupo Cart and Manty AG is of an exclusively commercial nature, limited to international trading operations entered into under normal market conditions (arm’s length principle), without any corporate support, shareholders’ agreement or underlying control mechanism, over approximately 10 years.
11. Grupo Cart has relationships with national and international banking institutions and within the scope of these relationships it is frequently asked for documentation regarding its partners and related parties and so far, there are no complaints or explanations of additional data or suspicions by these entities.
12. Grupo Cart has formal internal compliance and risk management procedures in place, including:
- Know Your Counterparty (KYC/KYB) policies;
- Verification of beneficial owners;
- Systematic screening against international sanctions lists (EU, UK, OFAC and other relevant sanctions);
- Reputational and regulatory risk assessment;
- Compliance with applicable AML/CFT obligations;
- internal mechanisms for contractual approval and segregation of duties.
13. It is expressly stated that there are currently no corporate ties, contractual commitments, financial obligations, financing relationships, guarantees, cooperation agreements or any other forms of legal relationship between the Cart Group and Messrs. Maurice Taylor or Niels Troost, nor with any entities directly or indirectly owned or controlled by them.
The Cart Group:
- Demands the immediate rectification of factually false statements, with prominence proportional to that of the original publication;
- Demands the publication of full clarification and the right of reply in an appropriate manner;
- Requires the disclosure of the documentary and methodological bases invoked for percentages and imputations presented as facts;
- It reserves the right to adopt all appropriate legal and institutional measures to defend its honor, reputation and integrity, including liability for reputational damages, when applicable.
Finally, Grupo Cart reaffirms its commitment to legal compliance, business integrity and full compliance with national and international standards applicable to its operations, remaining available to provide additional clarifications through its own institutional channels.
Lobito, February 26, 2026
THE COMMUNICATION OFFICE
