The Angolan government has signed contracts for the privatisation of 92 assets and companies totalling 953.9 billion kwanzas (€1.6 billion), of which it has pocketed 568.7 billion kwanzas (€1 billion).
According to the Angolan finance minister, at the opening of the ceremony to present the extension of the privatisation programme (Propriv) 2023-2026, the Angolan authorities were pleased with the results achieved in the first phase of the programme (2019-2022), which made it possible to secure 2,763 direct jobs, of which 1,233 new jobs and maintenance of 1,530 of the old ones.
Vera Daves de Sousa said that from 2019 to 2022, 92 assets and companies were privatised, of which 11 were national reference companies, 20 participated companies and assets of state oil company Sonangol, 30 industrial units of the special economic zone (SEZ) and 31 other companies and assets.
The head of the finance portfolio noted that via Propriv the first shares listed on the Angolan debt and securities exchange (Bodiva) had been launched, specifically those of the BAI and Caixa Geral de Angola banks, “making it possible for the stock market privatisation of state holdings to also contribute to a better redistribution of national income, via adequate dispersion of their capital, paying particular attention to small subscribers.
According to Vera Daves, in addition to the fact that the Propriv indicators are positive in relation to expectations, they show that privatisations correspond to a mechanism that enhances the achievement of macroeconomic restructuring, as foreseen in the pillars of State reform.
“The results reinforce the executive’s strong commitment to macroeconomic stability, continuing public finance reform, constantly improving the business environment, boosting the private sector and making the public business sector more efficient,” she stressed.
In his turn, the chairman of the board of the institute for management of state assets and holdings (IGAPE), Patrício Vilar said that the first phase of the programme included a total of 178 assets and companies, and 92 assets and companies had been privatised, with a success rate of 62%.
According to Vilar, of the amount collected by the state over the last three years, 59.9 billion kwanzas (€106.3 million) was transferred to the state account, 105.6 billion kwanzas (€187.5 million) to Sonangol and 6.9 billion kwanzas (€12.2 million) to other companies.
Vilar noted that the “highly challenging” context for national business owners was a factor in the retraction of payments, given that the launch of Propriv took place in an environment of recession.
“This programme had to go hand in hand with our business owners and allow payments to be deferred over time and it is thanks to this that some of our farms today are being developed with a lot of effort from these business owners, but also with our support in the sense of having given them this grace period and period of payments deferred over time, even so the effort that these business owners make is titanic,” he considered.
In terms of the non-fulfilment of contracts, with a rate of 1.2%, 6.7 billion kwanzas (€11.8 million) was recorded, assets that have already been recovered, some of which have already been privatised.
Vilar noted that of the 92 assets privatised 84 were privatised via a public tender and five via prior qualification, also referring to the privatisation of assets abroad, mainly Sonangol’s holdings.
The chairman of the IGAPE board noted that initial fears that the programme would only be for foreign businesspeople, “ended up being aimed much more at national businesspeople,” with 90% of Angolan businesspeople.
