Luanda - The International Financial Corporation (IFC) Vice President for Africa, Sérgio Pimenta, affirmed on Tuesday, in Luanda, the interest of this institution of the World Bank group in supporting Angola in the development of priority projects, through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).
When speaking at the round table under the motto “Public-Private Partnerships on the path to sustainable socio-economic development”, Sérgio Pimenta highlighted the need to create reforms to support the innovation of national policies and encourage PPPs.
To this end, Sérgio Pimenta highlighted that IFC and the World Bank remain committed to strengthening capital mobilization for projects that support economic development in the country.
He stated that IFC's technical assistance services for transactions in Angola have supported the Angolan Government's plans, with emphasis on the sale of its stake in the mobile telephone operator Unitel, including a possible listing on the stock exchange.
He added that a “successful” government divestment in Unitel is expected and competition will increase, stimulating the development of new subsectors, with a view to boosting the digitalization of the Angolan economy.
He recalled that, in recent years, IFC has shown its commitment to working with Portuguese-speaking African countries, strengthening its presence in Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique.
Increasing presence on these countries, he said, has served to boost investments in strategic sectors, such as energy, transport, digitalization, agri-business, tourism and financial services.
He reiterated that Angola offers good opportunities to support the health, energy, transport and communications sectors.
According to the source, these sectors constitute fundamental factors for the country's sustainable and inclusive economic growth, with the potential to create jobs and increase the productivity of other sectors, whilst ensuring the provision of public services critical for social development.
He highlighted that, after the economic recovery in back 2023, the Angolan economy is expected to grow 4.3% in 2025, if oil prices remain high and the non-oil sector responds positively to the broad reforms introduced by the Government in recent years, including making the exchange rate more sensitive to market conditions.
He also said that less dependence on the oil industry would help boost economic growth, create good jobs and improve the citizens' living conditions.
For his part, the Minister of Transport, Ricardo D’Abreu, reiterated that the sector raised, through PPPs, more than US$380 million in concession premiums and US$1.5 billion in investment commitments, in the last three years.
He highlighted that the value could increase depending on the signing scheduled for this year of the extension of the Lobito Corridor to Zambia.
He added that the overall project for the connection to Zambia is estimated at US$5.2 billion.
According to the minister, this factor places Angola in a very important position in the SADC region and for the global economy.
He said that the transport sector, depending on the master plan, expects that investment obligations could, over the next 20 years, cover 1.4% per year of the Gross Domestic Product for PPPs.
The PPP round table aimed to establish an alignment of vision on partnerships, as an instrument for promoting sustainable development and sharing experiences in the energy and water, transport, roads and health sectors.
During the event, IFC presented its available instruments to support the creation of bankable PPP projects, ensuring that, in partnership with the Portuguese Ministry of Finance, it will present experienced studies with the respective lessons learned at the meeting.
Available data indicate that IFC's investment portfolio in Angola is currently US$68.5 million, with a focus on the manufacturing industry, agro-business and increasing availability of financial services in the country, mostly for small businesses.
For 2024 fiscal year, IFC has committed a record $56 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging private sector solutions and mobilizing private capital to create a poverty-free world on a livable planet.
Since 2019, the year in which it opened its office in Angola, IFC has invested more than 500 million dollars in private projects in the country, with emphasis on health, education and finance.
IFC is one of the World Bank's financial institutions focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Present in more than 100 countries, the institution supports the creation of markets and opportunities in developing countries, promoting the improvement of people's lives.
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