Angola’s Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges, appealed in Macau for private Chinese investment in the generation and supply of electricity in the African country.
During a session at the 15th International Forum on Investment and Construction of Infrastructures, taking place in Macau, he described the participation of Chinese investment in Angola as “essential”.
According to official figures, Angola will have an installed capacity of 6,200 megawatts (MW) by 2023, a 60% increase on the 2,400 MW the country generated in 2015, but the investment in power generation in Angola is still predominantly public.
João Baptista Borges recalled that Angola’s 2023-2027 Energy Sector Action Plan foresees an installed generation capacity of 9,000 MW by 2027, as well as an electrification rate of 50% of the country.
The minister described the energy sector as “an opportunity of common interest for financing Chinese direct investment projects,” namely through public-private partnerships and between Angolan and Chinese companies.
Taking into account that only 25 MW of the current installed capacity is the result of private investment, Borges said that power generation in Angola is “a market opportunity given the country’s industrial potential, its regional economic integration, as well as its domestic consumption potential”.
The minister highlighted the signing of a bilateral agreement for the reciprocal protection of investments between Angola and China, during the visit to Beijing by Angolan President João Lourenço in March.
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