"Privatization started slowly, partly due to the pandemic and overly ambitious targets that underestimated the level of bureaucracy and due diligence [confirmation of legal and financial information] required to place assets on the market, but the Government remains committed to continuing to privatization and economic reforms to attract foreign investment", write analysts from the African department of Oxford Economics.
In a comment on the extension of Angola's privatization program until 2026, these analysts consider that "if the commitment can be maintained, the Angolan economy will end up reaping the fruits of the Government's effort in economic diversification through an acceleration of investment and economic growth".
The Government, they add, "will bet on the privatization of the largest and most profitable assets over the next four years, including the diamond company Endiama, the mobile telecommunications operator Unitel, the airline TAAG and 30 percent of Sonangol, which could be done in several phases".
The increase in investor interest, and the consequent increase in Foreign Direct Investment, along with the continued diversification of the economy, should lead Angola's Gross Domestic Product to accelerate to 3.5 percent in 2027, says Oxford Economics, which anticipates a slowdown in economic expansion, from 3.3 percent in 2022 to 2.5 percent this year.
