Angola debts to construction companies mount

Outstanding invoices owed to Portuguese construction companies by both the Angolan State and other entities have topped €500 million.

According to the newspaper Público, around 10% of this amount has been the subject of high level discussions between the two countries which a week ago held round-table talks to discuss these and other problems related to the exposure of Portuguese construction firms because of the serious problems affecting the Angolan economy.
In the last three years, the Angolan currency, the Kwanza has devalued by 90% against the US dollar, the currency in which many of the contracts were signed.
The list of companies and activities involved is extensive and ranges from graphic design firms, construction firms, engineering companies but it is the construction companies that are most affected (90%).
When asked by the newspaper about the payment plans created to reschedule the debts and the amounts that have to be paid off, the President of the Portuguese Construction Confederation explained that the debts were being dealt with individually be each of the companies involved and that the confederation was unable to follow the situation.
“We know the difficulties that the Angolan economy is going through but actually we have made important progress and we are particularly concerned about the small and medium-sized companies” says Eurico Brilhante Dias, the Secretary of State for Internationalisation.
He said that the initial case involving 23 companies would be completed by the beginning of 2020.