The Finance Minister of Angola has announced that Angola will start a partial disposal of its National Oil Company, Sonangol, and diamond firm, Endiama, by the end of 2021 or early 2022, through initial public offerings.
The sale is part of efforts made by the country to raise cash and jump-start a moribund economy. Angola has already sold thirty (30) companies through a program that will run until 2022. One hundred and ninety-five (195) assets are earmarked for sale throughout the asset disposal programme.
The Minister has been making efforts to renegotiate the debts of the country with its main lenders and implement tough economic reforms that are part of Angola’s $4.5 billion program with the International Monetary Fund. (IMF).
At the Bloomberg Invest Africa virtual conference that took place on Tuesday, 24th November 2020, she said the country will attempt to sell Eurobonds once the market “starts trusting again” in the Angolan government’s ability to service its debt.
She forecasts the economy is getting to an “infection plant” as it reaches zero growth in 2021 before returning to expansion. Growth will be driven by the non-oil sector, including farming and mining, as government reforms to diversify the economy away from oil start to produce results.
She noted that the negotiation with its main creditors to reschedule debt payments have been “good” and will help the country on its course to revive the economy.
She said, “We are targeting the end of 2021, beginning of 2022 to start the process of the privatization of the big ones, such as Sonangol and Endiama. The partial sale could be done through an IPO. But all this will depend on how fast we can reorganize those companies. To make sure that with the due diligence process we can capture the interest of high-quality investors.”
“We are totally aware that it’s not an easy moment. We need to keep moving because it’s the only way to ensure that we will not live a scenario like this again.”
