The Angolan Government is preparing to launch public-private partnershuips (PPPs) for the country´s main railways lines, and to sell part of the capital of the national oil and diamond companies on the stock exchange.
According to the Angolan Minister of Transport, Ricardo Viegas D’Abreu, the Government will launch between the end of 2020 and January 2021 the bid for the concession of the Lobito railway corridor, which is part of the Railroad
of Benguela.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Abreu said the Government wants the participation of operators specialized in logistics and cargo, who will ensure infrastructure maintenance andrehabilitation.
The second priority, he added, will be the Luanda Railway (CFL) which “needs an intervention as soon as possible”, because it has a 215 km section of the line to be rehabilitated between Zenza do Itombe (Cuanza Norte) and Cacuso (Malanje), that forces a reduction of the speed to an average of 30 Km/ h.
“It is still being assessed whether this route will be rehabilitated or if the line will have a new route to reach the province of Malanje,”, Abreu said.
The minister added that the project to launch the “North Corridor” will involve public-private partnership programs.
The goal is that the three railway lines (Benguela, Luanda and Moçamedes) reach neighboring countries, with the intervention of the private sector, he added.
Abreu also said the light rail planned for Luanda, through a partnership between the Government and Siemens, will also be built under a public-private partnership, expected to be launched “later this year”, so that construction of the first line, with 30 km, can be launched.
In 2021, the construction of the new Luanda International Airport is also expected to resume, in order to be completed in 2023, according to the Minister.
The project already had an approved financing of USD 1.4 billion to be completed, “more than enough” for the final stage, Abreu said.
“It was necessary to reassess the project, we ensured that technical adjustments were made and reached an agreement (with the Chinese contractor), so as not to need additional funding.”
Also on Tuesday, Minister of Finance, Vera Daves, said that between 2021 and early 2022, part of the capital of Sonangol and Endiama will be sold on the stock exchange.
Speaking at a Bloomberg conference on Africa, Daves added that the time for launch “depends on the speed with which it will be possible to organize these companies and on the guarantee of compliance with the due diligence to capture the interest of quality investors”.
So far, the country has privatized 30 companies, out of 195 to be sold by 2022 under the PROPRIV program.
Photo: Lobito railway
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