Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Government secured last Tuesday, in Dallas, Texas, 1.3 billion dollars for investments in different infrastructures, within the framework of agreements initialed with North American financial institutions.
This was announced by the Minister of State for Economic Coordination, José de Lima Massano, who considered the advances made in this segment with financial institutions, especially the US Export and Import Bank (Eximbank), relevant.
According to the official, who was speaking to the press on the sidelines of the 16th US-Africa Business Summit, this financing will help “to pave the way” towards improving infrastructure, promoting economic development and social integration in Angola.
Angola and the United States signed, on Tuesday, final agreements to finance three important infrastructure projects in the Lobito Corridor, flagship of the US Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI).
These agreements for projects in the areas of clean energy, radio connectivity and transportation infrastructure demonstrate the US Government’s continued commitment to supporting and accelerating Angola’s economic investment priorities.
Awarded less than a year after President Biden’s announcement of the Lobito Corridor initiative, these infrastructure projects represent the largest US-backed PGI funding package to any country since the initiative’s inception and will create Angolan and American jobs.
In October 2023, the US signed a memorandum with Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and the European Commission, together with the African Development Bank and the African Finance Corporation (AFC), to develop the Lobito Corridor, including investments in infrastructure -key railway structure in the three African countries.
Direct financing of US$872 million from Eximbank – the largest renewable energy transaction in the history of this banking institution – will support the construction of two solar power plants by the North American company Sun Africa, generating more than 500 megawatts of renewable energy for the national network of Angola.
It is the result of a whole-of-U.S. Government approach, including critical advisory assistance at different phases of the Power Africa and Prosper Africa initiatives, and support from the Commerce Department’s Advocacy Center.
By bringing together equipment produced by the EU, the Republic of Korea and Sweden with American technology and American equipment suppliers, and supported by ING Capital LLC, the solar plants will improve access to electricity, clean water, irrigation systems and other energy resources.
The US$450 million Acrow Bridge project, investing in modern transport infrastructure through the engineering, procurement and construction of 186 bridges across Angola, involves financing and support from Eximbank, Private Export Funding Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank.
AFC’s commercial loan for a portion of the project is an example of the Lobito Corridor consortium partnering beyond railways to support rural transport connectivity that will serve to link communities to each other and to the larger regional corridor.
The Angola National Radio FM Signal Expansion Project and studio modernization, supported by technology from Ohio-based GatesAir, is a $40 million project to expand analog FM radio coverage to 95% of Angolan population.
This key agreement will provide 168 Flexiva FM transmitters, installation of antennas, towers, auxiliary RF systems and studio upgrades across the country in a successful collaboration between GatesAir, Deutsche Bank, with guarantee from Eximbank and the State Angolan.
Next steps
According to José de Lima Massano, the signing of these agreements represents the basis for other operations with the same characteristics to occur.
In addition to obtaining financing for infrastructure, Angola intends to see more American companies investing directly in the Angolan economy, he highlighted.
The Minister of State said that, in parallel with this interest from financial institutions, there is a desire from US authorities and US-based companies to increase investments in Angola, within the scope of PGI.
He highlighted the fact that American authorities identify Angola as one of the “flagship projects”, via the Lobito Corridor, a fact that has attracted the attention of many companies.
According to the government official, the meetings held during the Business Summit demonstrate this desire a little, but Angola needs to continue following the path of reforms, dialogue, opening up the economy and improving its business environment.
Only with this strategy, he said, will the country be able to attract more direct investment. “This is our exercise. We left here with very positive references, there were companies that knew little about Angola but were very curious. Let’s see if this curiosity results in real investment”, expressed the minister.
He said that the Angolan delegation took advantage of the summit to share what the country is currently doing, in terms of potential and opportunities, in order to be able, with this exercise, to attract more direct investment into the economy.
José de Lima Massano explained that the Angolan authorities have approached investors from various geographies, to ensure credible partners that help create a resilient and sustainable economy.
From the approach with the various potential investors, he said, there continues to be a great desire to make achievements with Angola, highlighting that there are already positive testimonies from companies installed in the country, regarding the viability of the national market.
“We have had interesting results”, concluded the minister.
The US-Africa Business Summit takes place in the city of Dallas until Thursday, with the participation of more than 1,500 guests, including heads of State and Government and businessmen from various parts of the African continent and the United States.
On Tuesday, in addition to participating in the opening ceremony and the High Level Dialogues in which President João Lourenço spoke, the Angolan delegation was involved in a panel on investments in Angola, where they spoke about business opportunities.
Angola was represented at this meeting by the Minister of Transport, Ricardo de Abreu, who spoke about the ongoing investments in the sector, especially in the Lobito Corridor, and by the Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges.
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