Since August 2017, the Angolan authorities have embarked on an intense process of economic and financial reforms supported by the international community, in particular through an Extented Fund Facility (EFF) agreed with the IMF in December 2018, and a series of budget support grants from the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the European Commission.

France has decided to support this reform dynamic through a Public Policy Budget Financing (PPBF) granted by AFD, the disbursements of which are backed by a public policy dialogue matrix focused on reforms in the following sectors or themes: 1/ public finance management and transparency of public action; 2/ governance of public enterprises (GEP); 3/ public-private partnerships; 4/ financial sector. The last disbursement of this loan is scheduled for December 2024.

An initial technical assistance programme was implemented by Expertise France from June 2022 to July 2024. The European Union has decided to step up its support to the Angolan government in the area of public finance, releasing a budget of €5m as part of its policy to support the formalisation of the economy, including social protection, and to support Public Finance Management. Expertise France has been entrusted with the implementation of this policy under delegated management and has developed AGEPI Technical Assistance. 

This TA programme began in August 2024, for a period of 48 months, and is in line with the actions already implemented by EF. This will enable us to intensify and complete our support for the players involved in the governance of the EPs.

Specific context linked to the governance of public companies:

As part of the drive to consolidate public finances, efforts are being made to restructure and resize the public enterprise sector (SEP), focusing on structuring projects in order to target State intervention in strategic areas and reduce the burden on taxpayers. The Angolan SEP is made up of 86 public companies, which break down as follows, according to the terminology from the 2013 Public Sector Law, amended in 2020:

• 68 public companies, 100% state-owned;
• 14 public sector companies, majority state-owned;
• 4 minority holdings.
• According to Angolan data, 49 are active (90% of employees).
• They account for around 20% of Angola's GNP (see SEP roadmap).

It is worth noting the dominance of the company responsible for Angola's oil production, Sonangol, which accounts for 70% of the SEP's EBITDA. Excluding Sonangol, the performance of public companies is structurally negative and requires ongoing support from the State of the order of 1% of GNP, of which 78% goes to financial institutions (banks and insurance companies), 10% to information and communication companies, and 15% to electricity, gas and transport companies (5% for each sector).

In 2018, the Angolan government launched a privatisation programme as part of the National Development Programme (2018-2022). This was reinforced in 2019 with the Propriv programme, which aimed to privatise 165 companies held directly or indirectly by the State by 2022.

On an institutional level, in 2018 the Angolan State created the Institute for the Management of State Assets and Holdings (IGAPE). Article 2 of the June 2018 Decree defines IGAPE as follows: “IGAPE is a specialised body responsible for regulating and monitoring the SEP, implementing the privatisation and restructuring policy and programme, managing and controlling the State's financial holdings, supporting and supervising the management of financial assets and Public Funds, and managing loans granted to the State”.

A roadmap for the reform of the public enterprise sector was published in December 2021 and approved by a presidential decree in January 2022. The roadmap sets out an assessment of the situation of public companies in Angola, both in terms of their economic and financial situation and in terms of State action and the exercise of its supervision. In addition to the need to continue with privatisations in order to refocus State action on sectors deemed essential, the roadmap provides for the SEP to be grouped into two main categories of company:

• a small number of public companies ;
• publicly-owned commercial companies. 

The final recommendations of the roadmap can be summarised as follows:

• Segment the public company sector into public companies and publicly-owned commercial companies;
• create a Society for Management of Social Participations whose main role will be to support the State's ‘shareholder function’ in respect of publicly-owned commercial companies;
• ensure that IGAPE's remit is properly defined;
• promote the autonomy of the management and control bodies of public companies;
• strengthen the coordination role of sector ministries alongside the ministries responsible for finance and the economy;
• continue international benchmarking of good governance practice
• monitor the progress of the roadmap.

The roadmap promotes gradualism in the implementation of these reforms and envisages a 4-year path for the implementation of the new organisation of the SEP, during which time the legislation and models in force will continue to apply, with IGAPE remaining the essential interlocutor for the control and supervision of the public enterprise sector and therefore the privileged interlocutor during this mission.

Following this mission, a ‘Macro-plan for activating the roadmap for public sector reform’ was drawn up by a consultancy firm in close collaboration with an IGAPE Task Force responsible for supporting this reform process. The Final Report of this Macro Plan of 7 September 2022, an extremely detailed 168-page document, submitted 9 essential reform orientations to its supervisory authority. Decision 3 of the Macro Plan identifies three priority sectors in its strategy for resizing the SEP, including energy.

In the spring of 2024, an administrative reform modified the distribution of powers between the State bodies responsible for supervising public companies.

- IGAPE retains its own portfolio;

- GEPRI (formerly GERI), a department of the Ministry of Finance, is responsible for overseeing IGAPE, as well as directly supervising part of the portfolio of state-owned companies.