Angola may tender mining rights to Chinese investors

China's private sector vital cog in African country's economic diversification

Angola will present its first international public tender in Beijing on Sept 16 to grant diamond, iron and phosphate mining rights to Chinese investors for the country located in the western part of southern Africa.

The Angolan embassy in Beijing said on Tuesday the process aims to bring mining concessions for diamonds in the Angolan provinces of Lunda-Norte and Lunda-Sul, iron mining in the province of Kwanza-Norte, and phosphates in the provinces of Cabinda and Zaire.

The mining rights roadshow began on Tuesday in the Angolan capital of Luanda, with Dubai hosting the second presentation. They will be followed by Beijing and London later on.

Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum, Diamantino de Azevedo, said in a statement that national and foreign companies, embassies, banks, chambers of commerce and industry, professional associations and other entities interested in the mining concessions are invited to attend the presentations.

"China has been an important strategic partner for Angola and we believe that the Chinese private sector can play a crucial role in Angola's economic diversification by seizing the business opportunities listed in the privatization program," said Domingos Orlando Jacinto, press counselor at the Angolan embassy in Beijing.

The minister said the Angolan government has released a list of 195 public companies to be privatized and 32 of them are major national companies. The sale can be executed through public tender, an initial public offer (IPO) or an auction at the stock exchange.

Of the total, 175 of the target companies will go private by public tender, 11 by stock exchange auction and nine by IPOs.

The privatization program will foster economic diversification and the creation of jobs in Angola as the government intends to increase competition, efficiency of the firms and boost the country's economy. The privatization program will be executed over four years, the minister said.

The Angolan embassy official said the most well-known companies involved in this process are state oil company Sonangol, diamond company Endiama and airline TAAG, commercial banks BCI, BAI and Banco Economico, and financial companies ENSA Seguros and Bodiva-Angola Debt and Securities Exchange.

The telecommunication companies included in the program are Unitel, MS Telecom, Net One, Multitel, Angola Telecom, TV Cabo Angola, Angola Cables, Angolan postal company ENCTA and telephone directory company ELTA, he said.

The program also includes agroindustrial farms Aldeia Nova and Biocom, textile companies Textang II, Satec and Africa Textil, cement plants Nova Cimangola and Secil do Lobito, breweries such as Cuca, Eka and Ngola, and the engineering and construction company Mota-Engil Angola, he added.