Angola's first IPO to spur wave of listings, stock-exchange CEO
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Loading... - Cyriacus Ngounou
- 17 Aug 2022
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Next month's debut initial public offering (IPO) on Angola's BODIVA stock exchange is expected to unlock a wave of new listings, its chief executive said, as the Southern African oil producer forges ahead with a far-reaching privatisation drive.
BODIVA will begin accepting bids next week for 1.945 million shares - a 10% stake - being offered by BAI, Angola's largest private bank. BAI's listing is expected on June 9.
Under President Joao Lourenco, the OPEC member has embarked on an ambitious reform programme to modernise the economy and attract private investment.
The state plans to sell its stakes in firms including upstream oil company ACREP, Caixa de Angola bank, fuel retailer Sonangalp and television and telecommunications provider TVCabo Angola.
"All these companies revealed, publicly or privately, their ambition to list capital with BODIVA," the exchange's CEO Walter Pacheco told Reuters. "I think that the first IPO will be decisive to promote the market."
BODIVA was founded in 2014. But with Angola's economy largely dominated by state-owned companies - a legacy of its socialist past - the exchange has mainly served as a market for government bonds, trading debt of around $2 billion in 2020.
"The market did not advance earlier because it was necessary for the state to reduce its direct intervention in companies and in the economy," Pacheco said. Read More...
