Angola development bank aims to ease oil dependence

Angola has set up a new development bank to boost funding for small and medium-sized enterprises in a bid to lessen the country’s reliance on its huge oil sector, officials said on Friday.

The new Development Bank of Angola (BDA) is a key part of plans to speed the country’s reconstruction. Despite being sub-Saharan Africa’s second largest oil producer after Nigeria, it still struggles with the legacy of a bitter 27-year civil war that ended in 2002, officials say.

Aguinaldo Jaime, minister in the Office of Prime Minister, told a launch meeting on Wednesday that the new bank, financed by government capital, would help smaller companies facing difficulties in obtaining commercial banking credit.

“This will permit the financing of activities outside the (oil) extractive industry,” state news agency ANGOP quoted him as saying.

Reuters