Angola hopes to get “breathing space” on its debt for the next three years after negotiations with its main creditors. Angola owes more than $20bn to a number of Chinese entities, including $14.5bn to the China Development Bank and nearly $5bn to the Export-Import Bank of China. It has also borrowed from China’s largest lender, ICBC, according to analyst calculations. It is also part of the G20 group’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), which since April has helped 46 countries defer $5.7bn in 2020 debt-service payments. G20 leaders on Sunday endorsed a plan to extend the freeze in payments to mid-2021. Daves de Sousa also said the government aimed for the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022 to begin the privatisation process of large companies such as Sonangol or Endiama. Angola would consider tapping the Eurobond market once the market began to trust the government’s ability to service its debt again, she said.
SOURCE: BUSINESS DAY LIVE