Angola plans to sell stakes in its biggest telecommunications company, Unitel, and two lenders in the coming months to attract investors, minister of economic coordination Jose de Lima Massano said.
“In the coming months, we are privatising our telecommunications company Unitel,” Massano said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Part of it is being done through the stock exchange.”
Africa’s third-largest oil producer will also dispose of stakes in Banco de Fomento Angola, its second-largest lender, and Standard Bank Group’s local unit, he said.
The three companies are among the largest of almost 200 state-owned firms and assets the government initially earmarked for disposal in 2019 to raise cash and diversify the economy away from oil.
More than half of those companies have since been privatised, the minister said. “We have decided to embark on a massive programme to privatise state-owned entities. It’s happening.”
Still, investors wanting to invest in the state’s oil company Sonangol or its diamond firm Endiama will have to wait a bit longer.
“We are still working on it, the desire is still there. It’s present,” said Massano. “The companies require some internal work that is being done by the management so that when they come to the market they deliver what was promised.”
Performance
As for Portuguese lender Banco Comercial Portugues and oil company Galp Energia SGPS, the government will retain its stakes, said Massano.
It holds 19.5% of BCP through Sonangol and an indirect stake in Galp through the Amorim Energia venture, which owns 37% of the Portuguese oil firm. Both BCP and Galp have significantly increased their market value over the past year by about 88% and 25% respectively.
“The performance of those assets is positive,” said Massano. “We see no need or have any strategic goal at this point to leave those entities.” — Henrique Almeida and Cagan Koc, with Candido Mendes, (c) 2025 Bloomberg LP
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