Africa-Press – Angola. VTB África SA, by decision of the shareholders of this bank of Russian origin, was closed and is no longer part of the commercial banks operating in Angola, the governor of the Angolan central bank announced.
Manuel Tiago Dias, who was speaking at a press conference at the end of the 123rd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, said that the decision was taken at a general shareholders’ meeting, without providing further details.
Banco VTB África SA was the only African subsidiary of the VTB group, the second largest Russian banking group, having started operations in Angola in 2006. The institution was 50.1% owned by VTB Moscow and 49.9% by businessman António Carlos Sumbula, former president of Endiama, the Angolan state-owned diamond company.
This commercial bank operated in three specific areas, namely investment banking, corporate banking and retail banking. In recent years, the bank has faced significant challenges due to the sanctions imposed in 2022 on Russia, following the invasion of Ukraine, which entailed the shutdown of the SWIFT system, essential for international banking transactions.
The sanctions affected the bank’s 4,000 clients, including 450 companies, including several in the mining sector.
VTB Africa also faced capitalization problems and, in May 2024, operated with a share capital of 7.5 billion kwanzas (7.3 million euros), half of the minimum of 15 billion kwanzas (14.6 million euros) required by the National Bank of Angola.
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