Africa-Press – Angola. The president of the institute that manages Angolan state assets declined to provide dates for the privatization of Unitel, scheduled for the first half of 2025, noting that the privatization program extends until 2026.
Álvaro Fernão was speaking to journalists after the roadshow presenting the Public Offering (OPV) of Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA), which foresees the sale of 29.75% of the bank’s capital by the current shareholders — Unitel, which provides 15%, and Banco Português de Investimento (BPI), with 14.75%.
“The privatization program has entered a phase of divesting its most valuable and complex assets. This year, we privatized three valuable and market-significant factories, and now we’re holding the IPO ceremony for BFA, which was the top earner in 2024,” said the head of the State Asset and Participation Management Institute (IGAPE).
“We will continue to work for other companies that also face complex privatization structuring challenges,” he added, without providing any forecasts for the stock market listing of Unitel, a state-owned mobile telecommunications service provider.
“The privatization schedule runs from 2023 to 2026. We have until the end of next year to complete the program (…). We will continue working with companies to privatize them,” he said.
The president of the telecommunications operator, Aguinaldo Jaime, stated that the company’s expectations regarding this operation “are very high,” considering that it is a “systemic bank, with excellent results, very high levels of profitability, efficiency and an absolutely acceptable risk margin.”
“Investors will not miss the opportunity to invest and make a profit on their capital in an operation that we believe has been successful so far,” he declared, describing the IPO as “an important milestone for the Angolan capital market and its financial system.”
Regarding the privatization of Unitel, Aguinaldo Jaime simply said that “all clarifications will be provided in due time.”
The latest date given for the privatization of the operator was for the completion of the IPO by the end of the first half of 2025, as stated in December last year by Angola’s Secretary of State for Finance and Treasury, Ottoniel dos Santos.
The partial privatization of Unitel is part of the Angolan Government’s Privatization Program (ProPriv), which aims to reduce the state’s presence in strategic sectors and encourage private sector participation.
It involves the sale of 15% of Unitel’s capital through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Angolan Debt and Securities Exchange (BODIVA), according to a presidential order dated August 23, 2024.
The Unitel privatization process was initially announced in ProPriv 2019-2022, which included the sale of 195 state-owned companies and assets, including Unitel, the state-owned oil company Sonangol, and the diamond company Endiama.
Until October 2022, the company was partially owned by private shareholders, including Isabel dos Santos (25% via Vidatel) and General Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento “Dino” (25% via Geni), with the remaining 50% controlled by state-owned Sonangol.
Unitel became 100% state-owned, managed by IGAPE and Sonangol, when the Angolan government nationalized the holdings of Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos, and General “Dino”, both members of the former head of state’s inner circle.
Aguinaldo Jaime also spoke about the relationship between Angolan and Portuguese banks, considering it “essentially positive,” although with room for improvement. “The results are, essentially, positive,” he emphasized.
“Obviously, there can always be improvements (…) this opportunity to privatize BFA is very important because it promotes the democratization of access to capital: citizens can be shareholders, they can own a profitable bank that offers great opportunities for small savers, for companies and for institutions in general,” he added.
BFA was created in 2002 from the transformation of BPI’s Angolan branch into an Angolan bank. BPI was the majority shareholder until 2017, holding 50.1% of the share capital, while Unitel, then controlled by Isabel dos Santos, held 49.9%.
In October 2016, BPI sold 2% of BFA’s capital to Unitel, reducing its stake to 48.1% and losing majority control, which passed to Unitel (51.9%).
Since 2017, BPI has been 100% controlled by the Spanish CaixaBank, which acquired all shares, including the 18.6% stake held by Isabel dos Santos.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
