Angola passes new law scrapping need for local investment partner

Angola’s parliament approved unanimously on Thursday a new law to facilitate private investment into sub-Saharan Africa’s third largest economy, doing away with the need for local partners and a minimum spend of one million dollars.

The new law, which does not apply to the oil, mining or the finance sectors, is a cornerstone of President Joao Lourenco’s attempts to open up and diversify the Angolan economy in a bid to revive growth battered by a fall in the price of oil.

Previously foreigners looking to invest in Angola had to, in most sectors, join with a local partner who by law was required to have at least a 35 percent stake. Investors had long described the requirements as restrictive.

Angola has been hit by the fall in oil prices on which it is largely dependent and Lourenco, who took office in September 2017, is exploring ways of diversifying the economy. other nurseries in its economy.

REUTERS