(Ecofin Agency) - The government was planning to privatize 195 firms between 2019 and 2022 and exit the productive sector. However, the plan was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and it reduced the number of assets to be sold to 178. 

Angola has raised Kz567 billion (US$1.13 billion) by privatizing 96 state firms since 2019, said Secretary of State for Finance and Treasury Ottoniel dos Santos last Tuesday.

The state firms were sold to private investors in the framework of a privatization program launched by the government in 2019. Under the program, baptized "Propriv", the government was planning to exit 195 firms but the number was later reduced to 178.

In a Presidential decree published in the official gazette last December, Angola announced the upcoming sale of 51% of the stakes of airport operator Sociedade Gestora de Aeroportos to private investors.

In September 2022, the Angolan Institute for State Asset and Holdings Management (IGAPE) indicated that the country would exit Sonangol and Endiama, two flagships of the Angolan economy, by 2027.

Let's note that after winning a second 5-year term in the August 2022 general elections won by his party, President Joao Lourenço promised to pursue his acclaimed economic reform programs, diversify the economy, attract foreign investments and create jobs.