Angola’s sovereign fund allocates further $1.4 billion to Africa projects

LONDON (Reuters) – Angola’s sovereign wealth fund said on Monday it was allocating $1.4 billion to five new vehicles that will invest in sectors such as mining, timber, agriculture and healthcare within the country and elsewhere in Africa.

The Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA) said vehicles focused on mining, timber and agriculture will each have $250 million to invest, while a healthcare fund will have $400 million.

A fifth Mezzanine Investment fund is being set up to provide financing to entrepreneurs who do not have access to traditional debt funding, with a further $250 million, the FSDEA said.

FSDEA chief Jose Filomeno dos Santos, the eldest son of long-serving President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, said the investments aim to ease Angola’s fiscal dependence on oil export revenues at a time of weak energy markets.

“Given the current difficult fiscal context, these investments are extremely opportune because they can support the economic development required to reduce state reliance on crude oil revenues,” he said.

The new vehicles follow the launch of two similar structures late last year, set up to back infrastructure and hotel projects across sub-Saharan Africa with $1.6 billion of the FSDEA’s money.

This means the FSDEA has committed around 60 percent of the $5 billion it was endowed with by the Angolan government.