Angola is preparing to open its domestic public debt market, valued at $18.6 billion, to foreign investors as part of a strategy to diversify state financing sources and deepen its domestic capital markets.
The move was announced by Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa in an interview with Reuters in London, where she attended an investor conference.
As part of the strategy, the Angolan government is in negotiations with JPMorgan — the largest bank in the United States and one of the world’s most influential financial institutions by market capitalisation — over Angola’s possible inclusion in a new local-currency debt index targeting frontier markets. Authorities are also expected to meet international investors in Luanda later this month to gauge appetite for the Angolan market.
‘We want to understand whether we can gain scale, but to do that we need a clear channel,’ Vera Daves de Sousa said. She added that authorities are engaged in close dialogue with JPMorgan, which is preparing to launch a benchmark index for frontier-market local-currency debt that could potentially cover countries including Angola, Nigeria, and Kenya. ‘We are in close dialogue about the best way to explore the potential that the local bond market has for investors,’ she said.
For emerging-market governments, the participation of foreign investors can help deepen domestic debt markets, broaden the investor base, reduce dependence on dollar-denominated financing, and potentially lower sovereign borrowing costs.
Angola’s potential inclusion in the JPMorgan index would give the country access to a growing pool of investors seeking frontier-market local-currency debt.
According to data from the Ministry of Finance, Angola had approximately 17 trillion kwanzas — equivalent to around $18.6 billion — in domestic public debt at the end of 2025. By comparison, Kenya, whose economy is marginally larger than Angola’s, recorded nearly three times more domestic public debt. While foreign investors can already acquire Angolan debt securities, purchases of government bonds are subject to central bank approval and require local banking arrangements, factors that have constrained broader international participation.
Angola’s potential inclusion in the new JPMorgan index would provide access to a growing investor base interested in frontier-market local-currency debt — an asset class that for a long time was considered difficult to access.
On international market financing plans, Vera Daves de Sousa indicated that the government may issue more bonds in 2027 and is evaluating issuances in currencies other than the dollar, including the Chinese yuan. ‘If market conditions in 2027 are favourable, we will be more than ready to proceed,’ she said.
The minister also noted that the government is working to broaden the tax base, while reducing public expenditure has proved more difficult. Priority investments are directed at stimulating growth, particularly in the electricity generation, power transmission, water, and transport sectors. Angola’s total public debt, including that of state-owned enterprises, is expected to fall to 48% of gross domestic product by the end of 2027, down from 54% at the end of the second quarter of this year, according to the minister.
The government is also examining, at an early stage, a potential debt-for-investment swap in the area of nutrition, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
On fuel subsidies, Vera Daves de Sousa said the priority remains ensuring supply and strengthening cash transfer programmes to protect the most vulnerable households, rather than proceeding with further price increases. She indicated that Angola is unlikely to eliminate fuel subsidies in the coming year.
Regarding the oil price outlook, the government is expected to revise upward its 2027 crude price assumption, currently set at $61 per barrel, while maintaining a conservative approach to budget forecasting. Economic diversification will also remain among the executive’s priorities. Nevertheless, oil revenues are expected to once again exceed non-oil revenues in 2027, following a temporary reversal of that relationship projected for 2026.
On production, Vera Daves de Sousa said Angola continues to work to maintain oil output above one million barrels per day. Average production stood at 1.04 million barrels per day at the end of the second quarter, though the forecast for 2027 points to a level ‘slightly below’ that figure.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/09/10/mundo/africa/angola-prepara-abertura-do-mercado-de-divida-publica-a-investidores-estrangeiros/
