In the document to which Lusa had access, analysts from the Centre for Studies on Economic and Social Development in Africa (CEDESA) critically analyse the "recipes" of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which they consider to have not been successful and suggest that Angola should accelerate economic reforms in the two and a half years remaining until the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, finishes his term.
Among them, they point out the need to evaluate the profitability of large state-owned companies, including Sonangol and TAAG, promoting the efficiency of their management and privatizing at least a third of the capital.
The think tank's academics point to Sonangol's recent 2024 earnings report, with debt rising by 4.5 billion dollars (up 15.4 percent year-on-year) and revenues falling 8.6 percent in the space of a year.
"Let's be clear, these results are not good. It's not the catastrophe of 2015, but it is somewhat uninspiring," they say.
For CEDESA, the efficiency of companies can be optimized through partial privatization, since management with private partners "tends to be more agile and focused on results", encouraging innovation.
They also advocate that "competition between visions (state and private) can lead to cost reduction and the elimination of unnecessary bureaucracy", in addition to the sale of parts of state-owned companies generating revenue, alleviating budgetary constraints and reducing the need for public financing.
"Partial privatization can lead to improvements in the quality of services, as private entities focus on customer satisfaction" and have more flexibility to adapt quickly to market demands, says CEDESA.
Both Sonangol and TAAG are enrolled in the government's privatization program (PROPRIV).
In addition to this recommendation, CEDESA highlights the need to completely restructure the State's financial function, in terms of spending, debts and hiring, "possibly creating an efficiency department like Elon Musk's in the USA".
Another reform involves the introduction of a free market in Angola in which entrepreneurs can create and manage their companies "without bureaucracy and state interference", with "mechanisms that bring them capital (banks, stock exchanges, venture capital, funds and autonomous state partnerships)".
