Angola to Sell Shares in National Diamond Miner
February 09, 23
(IDEX Online) - The Angolan government plans to sell shares in Endiama, the national diamond miner, as part of a series of economic reforms.
It will initially make five or 10 per cent of its shares available with a listing initially on the Angolan stock exchange and subsequently with a secondary foreign listing, according to a Reuters news report. But that figure could increase to 30 per cent.
Endiama is part owner of Catoca, the world's fourth biggest diamond mine, together with Alrosa, Russia's state-controlled miner.
"Our goal is (to list) till 30 per cent but will start maybe with five or 10 per cent," Diamantino Azevedo, Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas,
Back in 2019 he suggested that it would be privatized and its stock would be partially floated on the stock exchange.
Angola's total output for 2022 was 8.75m carats, well down on an initial forecast of 13.8m carats.
Angola's President Joao Lourenco also want to part-privatize the national oil and gas company Sonangol.
Angola is the world's fourth biggest diamond producer, but has yet to explore 60 per cent of its diamond-rich territories.
De Beers has revived plans to invest in Angola, after "substantive and consistent reforms" in a country torn apart by a 27-year-old civil war.
Pic shows Catoca mine and Diamantino Azevedo