The Angolan government paid in 2022 362 billion kwanzas (€397 million) of debt to creditors with emphasis on the National Electricity Company (Ende) and Chinese companies, according to a report released on Monday July 31 by the Ministry of Finance (Minfin).
The payments were made under 370 domestic debt regularization agreements between the Ministry of Finance and creditor companies, of which 282 were ratified last year and the remainder in 2021.
Most of the debt was paid in a modality involving cash payments, Treasury Bonds and compensations or tax credits, with cash payments having the greatest weight (60%).
Minfin was the entity with the largest volume of debt paid in this period (23% of the total), followed by the Luanda Provincial Government (GPL) with 18% and the Ministry of Energy and Water, with 10%.
“The regularized debts associated with the Ministry of Finance represent payments of arrears related to the construction of centralities (controlled-cost residential neighborhoods) and with Ende, in the context of energy price subsidies, through the Institute for the Management of State Assets and Holdings (IGAPE)”, the report said. Among the 308 companies that benefited from payments, the volume of debt paid to ENDE stands out, as well as the Chinese company Synohidro Construction and the Angolan company Carrinho Empreendimentos.
Chinese state-owned conglomerate Citic Construction comes fourth on the list and Angolan waste collection operator Nova Ambiental in fifth place. SEIP Infraestrutura e Construções, linked to Brazilian construction company Queiroz Galvão, Cuba’s Antex and LTI Logística e Transportes were in sixth, seventh and eighth place respectively.