It looks like some measure of privatisation is finally going to be applied to the state-owned operator Angola Telecom by the Angolan government.
According to local news reports, the government is planning to go ahead with an international public tender involving the national and metropolitan transport infrastructure of Angola Telecom. The international tender will involve a concession to manage, operate and expand Angola Telecom’s national and metropolitan transport backbone network.
While this is a somewhat limited privatisation, its aim is nevertheless to take advantage of the know-how of the private sector, not least, as the official announcement suggests, "the need to align the Executive's strategy to make the public business sector more dynamic and profitable”.
According to TeleGeography's CommsUpdate, the announcement also refers to synergies with other private, national and international operators, and taking advantage of the skills and funds of national and foreign investors. Tender winners will also be expected to train staff assigned to the public company.
The minister of telecommunications, information technologies and social communication will manage the process and the approval of the procedure and appointment of the evaluation committee, as well as the verification of the validity and legality of the procedures involved in the international public tender. In addition, the minister will have the power to delegate for all these parts of the process. The support of the finance minister has also been mandated.
This initiative takes place more than 18 months after we reported a decree naming a five-person leadership for the loss-making telecommunications company, preparatory, it was assumed at the time, to its privatisation.
