Africa-Press – Angola. The Government obtained 961 billion kwanzas with the sale of 94 assets and participations, under the Privatization Program (PROPRIV), in progress since 2019, with a cash inflow of 565 billion kwanzas, announced Thursday in Luanda, the Secretary of State for Finance and Treasury.
Ottoniel dos Santos, who was speaking to the press, after the 1st Ordinary Meeting of the National Interministerial Commission of PROPRIV of the legislature that began in September, attributed the amount of the proceeds to the effect of deferred payments, provided for in the program, leaving 395 billion kwanzas to be received.
According to the figures presented by the Secretary of State, the entry into operation of 32 privatized units allowed the creation of 2,399 jobs, 911 of which were new.
In describing the meeting, the Secretary of State highlighted the discussions around the privatization agenda, revealing that the Commission is considering whether or not to maintain the sale of 53 of the 82 assets and participations still to be privatized, despite the fact that 31 of these are already in the negotiation process.
To explain this debate, Ottoniel dos Santos recalled that PROPRIV initially provided for the sale of 195 assets, but after “a series of vicissitudes”, with companies entering and leaving, the list was shortened to 178 companies, of which a little more half were privatized.
Another 31 are ready to be privatized now, leaving 53 whose consideration of the continuity in the program is under analysis, said the Secretary of State, announcing a definitive position on the issue at the next meeting.
Asked about the need to maintain the initial schedule, adopted for the period 2019-2022, the official said that the processes of almost 50 percent of the assets could not be completed for legal reasons and the need for adjustments to the nature of the business.
Another reason given is related to the possibility of the entry of new assets into the program, which “supposes to say that it will take time for the entry of these new assets to be the subject of a thorough analysis, to guarantee the effectiveness of the privatization”.
At the meeting, the new 2023-2027 cycle was also discussed, where 60 processes are expected to be completed, with emphasis on processes in the financial sector (ENSA insurance), telecommunications (TV Cabo, Multitel and Unitel), transport (Secil Marítima and TAAG) , industry and fisheries, according to information from the Institute for the Management of State Assets and Participations (IGAPE), which manages the program.
The figures released by the Secretary of State are higher than those presented last January, when the State had a cash inflow of 455 billion kwanzas, of the 806 billion to which it traded 41 assets registered in PROPRIV.
At that time, the +process found great expression in the sale of six leading companies, 17 industrial units located in the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone (ZEE), 12 belonging to Sonangol and six included in the category of other assets, in addition to the Bank of Commerce and Industry.
At the end of September, however, it was influenced by the successful privatization operations of the capital held by the State of the banks BAI and Caixa Geral de Angola, carried out on the stock exchange for values of the equivalent of US$94 million and US$49 million, respectively.
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