Angola negotiates 950 million euro loan with Spanish bank BBVA

The Angolan government is negotiating with Spanish bank Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) a loan of up to one billion dollars (950 million euros), revealed the financial information agency “Bloomberg”, citing people involved in the process.

The loan, the agency says, will be used to finance public investments in several areas that encourage the diversification of the economy beyond oil, which continues to be responsible for more than 90% of Angolan exports.

The agreement, which has not yet been approved, has not been confirmed by BBVA, but the Angolan government confirmed to “Bloomberg” that there is a proposal to finance projects with public money using funds of Spanish origin, without providing further details.

The loan, if confirmed, comes in the context of an attempt to diversify Angola's sources of financing beyond China, the largest international creditor of this Portuguese-speaking African country, which is the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2014, Spanish bank BBVA lent 500 million euros to finance export contracts from Spanish producers, according to the prospectus shown to investors late last year, which was used to prepare a $2 billion (about 1.9 billion euros) issue.

In 2020, BBVA again lent 500 million euros to finance export contracts, according to the same document, which is a report on Angola's financial and economic activity to convince investors to invest in the country.

According to Bloomberg, the Angolan government is meeting with investors from the Middle East, Europe and the United States of America to “test investor sentiment on an issue that could amount to up to two billion dollars in external debt (Eurobonds) this year, as revealed by the Minister of State and Economic Coordination, José de Lima Massano, during his visit to Davos in January.