Africa Oil & Gas: Angola’s Sonangol to sell subsidiaries and non-core stakes

The non-core subsidiaries and non-core stakes of Angolan state oil and gas company Sonangol will be part of the first and second phases of the country’s privatization programme, an official said on Tuesday in Luanda.

The president of the Institute of Management of Assets and State Participation (IGAPE), Valter Barros, said that the sale of those Sonangol companies, between the last quarter of this year and 2020, will be followed by insurance, telecommunications, banks and transport companies, among others.

Barros said the hotel and tourism sectors will also be divested (in particular hotel units set up for the African Cup of Nations in 2010), the management company of the Special Economic Zone (Viana) and companies located there, as well as companies in the agricultural sector (state farms and agribusiness industries).

The second phase of the privatisation programme will take place in 2020 and the third in the following year, said the president of IGAPE speaking at the second Capital Markets Forum, quoted by Angolan newspaper Mercado.

Barros also said that privatisations will preferably be carried out through the securities market, via initial public offerings (IPO) or block sales, depending on the sectors, and are expected to excluded facilities such as ports and airports.

Sonangol president Carlos Saturnino revealed last week that the group will divest 52 of its companies, including a 25% stake in telecom company Unitel. (macauhub)