With the privatisation of multiple state companies in Angola this year, the country will likely witness its first ever initial public offerings as it establishes a domestic stock exchange.
At a news conference in Luanda, Chief Executive officer of the Angolan Debt and Securities, Bodiva exchange, Patricio Vilar, says two IPOs are expected to take place this year with a larger, unspecified, number set for 2020.
Angola is one of the few countries in the region that still does not have its own stock market, but according to the Angolan Industry Ministry’s coordinator of the Centre for Capital Markets, António Cruz Lima, it is expected to be launched in the third trimester of the year with ten listed companies and an initial capitalisation of more than US $6 billion.
Lima adds that government expects a revenue of about US $940 million in taxes from stock market activities when in operation.
Angola is Africa’s second largest oil producer and since the 2014 oil price crash which badly affected the economy, it was looking to privatise as many as 74 state companies in an effort to attract foreign investment.
The southern African country has suffered three consecutive years of recession through 2018.