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Angola’s government has appointed a new board for state-owned telecommunications firm Angola Telecom to lead the planned privatisation of the company.

The loss-making utility ($90 million in 2018) is part of a sprawling privatisation plan being rolled out under president João Lourenço, which aims to spin off 195 state companies by 2022.

This includes stakes in the national airline TAAG, diamond company Endiama, state oil firm Sonangol, and Banco Angolano de Investimentos, the country’s biggest lender. Most (178) are to be sold by public tender, with plans for 17 IPOs as Angola prepares to launch a domestic exchange.

The aim is to drive much-needed diversification, boost private sector development, and attract foreign investment.

It’s ambitious, especially given Angola’s tendency towards snail’s pace policy making, but the sell-off should not be dismissed.

Since taking office in 2017 president João Lourenço has pushed through unexpected and sweeping economic reform in Africa’s second-biggest oil producer, hoping to distance himself from the cronyism of predecessor José Eduardo dos Santos, in power for 38 years.

The shift is welcome, and necessary.

Angola oil-dependent economy has stagnated since the commodity slump, with growth and public expenditure plummet in recent years, while debt has soared.

We’ll see how it plays out, but privatisation could play an important part in reversing this trajectory.

This report reflects the views of the author alone, not those of How we made it in Africa.

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Today’s picks

From the continent

Kais Saied is set to become Tunisia’s next president according to exit polls from a presidential runoff vote on Sunday. His projected victory over businessman Nabil Karoui is as a shakeup of the country’s politics, with both candidates seen as outsiders. More: BBC

Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said he plans to meet with Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed in Russia to discuss a long-running dispute over the $4bn Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam being built on the river Nile. He did not say when the meeting would take place, but the statement comes ahead of a major Russia-Africa summit being hosted by Moscow on October 23 – 24. More: Reuters

The global perspective

A consortium including Trafigura, First Bank of Nigeria, and the Africa Finance Corporation is reportedly raising $450m for a copper and cobalt processing plant in Democratic Republic of Congo. The country supplies about 60% of the world’s cobalt. More: Financial Times

Qatar Airways is reportedly in advanced talks to buy a stake in Rwanda’s national carrier Rwandair. The airline is seeking new markets amid an ongoing airspace blockade by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and has reported a record $639m loss for 2018/19. More: The East African

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