Africa-Press – Angola. The Federal Court of the District of Columbia, Washington (USA), rejected the action brought by Aenergy, SA against the Angolan government, and determined that the case be judged in Angola.
This is the third time that the US courts have rejected the case, as they understand that local justice is not the “convenient forum for judging” the lawsuit filed by the company AEnergy against the Angolan authorities.
The process brought, in American territory, concerns the supply of electric turbines from General Electric, whose contract was canceled by the Angolan Government, in 2019.
According to the judge of the Federal Court of the District of Columbia, this action falls within the competence of the Angolan jurisdiction and Aenergy, SA is dedicated to the practice of “forum shopping”, seeking that its claims are met by US courts with no connections to the case.
According to a note, the judge granted Angola’s petition to reject the action of Aenergy, SA, and reasoned that there was already a sentence from the court of the Second District of New York (2021), confirmed on appeal to the Second Circuit and by the Federal Supreme Court (2022).
The judge not only adheres fully and explicitly to the grounds of previous decisions, but confirms that the jurisdiction of the case belongs to Angola, also rejecting Aenergy, SA’s argument of not being able to obtain a fair decision in Angola.
It states, in its decision, that the delay of the Angolan courts alleged by Aenergy, SA does not serve to demonstrate the lack of adequate procedural guarantees and endorses the decision of the New York court.
He stressed, on the other hand, that Aenergy’s allegations about the delay of processes in the Angolan courts are worth little more than the type of complaints of frustrated litigants against any judicial system.
The sentence is still subject to appeal by Aenergy, but once again dismisses the allegation of lack of credibility of the Angolan courts.
The AEnergy case
The case concerns 13 contracts signed between AEnergy and the Ministry of Energy and Water (Minea), in 2017, for the construction, expansion, requalification, operation and maintenance of electricity generation plants in Angola.
At issue is a civil liability lawsuit filed by the company Aenergy and its subsidiary Combined Cycle Power Plant Soyo SA, against MINEA, the Ministry of Finance, the Public Electricity Production Company (PRODEL) and the National Electricity Distribution Company (ENDE), referred to as the “Angolan part”.
In the initial indictment of AEnergy in the Federal Court of New York, submitted on May 7, 2020, the Angolan party is accused of eight crimes, including two crimes of termination of contract, one of illicit enrichment, two of violation of international law (physical goods and intangible goods) and a crime of illegal expropriation.
The deal should have been financed by a credit line of US$1.1 billion, originating from a company in the General Electric (GE) group itself, and foresaw that AEnergy would buy eight turbines, also from the same GE, which would be installed in several power plants in the country.
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