(Bloomberg) -- Angola plans to remain an investor in Portuguese lender Banco Comercial Portugues SA and oil company Galp Energia SGPS SA, while it sells other assets to bolster its finances.
“We’re very happy with what we have at this point,” Jose de Lima Massano, Angola’s minister of state for economic coordination, said in an interview on Tuesday. He called the relationship with Lisbon-based Galp and BCP “very positive.”
Angolan state-owned oil company Sonangol is the second-biggest shareholder in BCP with a 19.5% stake. It also holds an indirect stake in Galp through the Amorim Energia venture, which owns 36% of the Portuguese oil firm.
The southwest African nation is carrying out a massive privatization program in a bid to attract investment and reduce the role of the state in the economy. Sonangol Chairman Sebastiao Martins signaled in February that the Angolan company was facing a “lot of pressure” to sell its stake in BCP.
Shares of BCP and Galp have each risen more than 40% this year.
The Angolan state has sold 108 companies out of almost 200 assets earmarked for privatization, but it continues to make sense for Sonangol to retain the BCP and Galp stakes, Massano said.
“These are investments that aim to maintain a balanced portfolio,” he said. “We don’t see any need or urgency to follow a different path.”
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