Angola’s sovereign wealth fund has been directed by presidential decree to advance financing for a state infrastructure project linked to the Cazanga Island development — an arrangement that appears to breach the fund’s own governing statutes barring it from extending credit to the state.
Presidential Decree 370/26, dated 25 September, states that costs borne by the Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA) under the decree ‘constitute reimbursable advances on behalf of the state, as they relate to the preparation of a public infrastructure external to the Cazanga Island Real Estate Project, and therefore do not constitute a definitive cost or investment by the Fund in that development.’ The decree frames the arrangement as a temporary advance rather than a permanent expenditure.
In practice, however, by advancing funds in this manner, the FSDEA is effectively extending credit to the state — an act that legal analysts note is incompatible with Article 3 of the fund’s statute, which explicitly excludes from the FSDEA’s mandate ‘the granting of credit and the provision of guarantees, except when directed at a subsidiary or affiliated entity, within the limits of the respective shareholdings.’
The presidential decree authorising the operation — which falls under the remit of the FSDEA, led by Armando Manuel, a former minister of finance — states that the decision followed the fund’s expression of willingness to, ‘in an initial phase, advance, on behalf of the state, the contracting and financing of studies’ for the project.
The Cazanga Island project has undergone multiple iterations since its inception. It originated in 2006, when the Island of São João da Cazanga — property of the Archdiocese of Luanda — was granted under concession to the real estate developer Imogestin. Over the years, successive investment announcements have accompanied the scheme, which encompasses 600 hectares and envisages the construction of more than 950 residential units ranging from two- to five-bedroom configurations, as well as a business hotel, a hotel-clinic, a wellness spa, an 18-hole golf course, a golf academy, a Country Club and a marina. The project is currently in the hands of Dubai Investments Park (DIP).
A separate presidential decree published the same week — Decree 371/26, also dated 25 September — assigns to the FSDEA ownership of land previously occupied by the Roque Santeiro and Boa Vista markets in Luanda. Under that decree, the fund is directed to ‘allocate the said land to the development of real estate projects of public and economic interest, targeting urban modernisation, the creation of housing, infrastructure and commercial spaces, in accordance with the Luanda Master Plan.’
Expansão sought comment from an official source at the sovereign fund, who indicated that details would be communicated at a later stage. ‘Only after the legal procedures for registration and title transfer have been completed will a public announcement be made to present the redevelopment plan that will transform the historic Sambizanga area,’ the source said.
Source: Expansão / Original article: http://expansao.co.ao/angola/detalhe/financiamento-ao-estado-viola-estatuto-do-fundo-soberano-75058.html
