Angola wants to privatize its diamond and oil giants

The oil giant Sonangol is one of the companies to be privatized.

Rodger BOSCH / AFP

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2 min

Stuck in a deep economic crisis, Angola needs new money to revive its economic machine.

The authorities have therefore decided to privatize the diamond and oil sectors, two flagships of its economy.

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Privatizations should take place by the end of 2021, according to Finance Minister Vera Daves Da Souza, who made it clear that she wanted to go quickly, but without haste.

These privatizations are the consequence of a

affecting

 but are also part of a vast program of State withdrawal from the economic sphere.

The partial privatizations of the national oil company Sonangol and the diamond company Endiama will only take place after a restructuring of these two companies, in order to make them presentable and thus to attract "

 "

investors 

, according to the company. the term used by the minister and reported by Bloomberg.

Radical transformation of the economy

These two companies are the jewels of the Angolan crown.

Sonangol is the backbone of the economy of the second African oil producer, as for Endiame, if the diamond represents only 3% of the national wealth, the company is on the other hand a machine to produce cash.

However, with the crisis generated by the

pandemic

, Angola needs money.

Even if the IMF is at his bedside and has promised 3.7 billion dollars, the country remains mired in debts inherited from the old regime.

More generally, since 2018 and the coming to power of Joao Lourenço, Angola has embarked on an ambitious privatization program intended to radically transform an economy that is still largely managed.

Thus, 195 companies, banks, insurance companies, airlines or public facilities have been identified.

And 30 have already been privatized. 

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