Sonangol has cut debt $3 bln: Dos Santos

LUANDA, October 19, 2017 – Angolan NOC Sonangol has reduced its debt by USD 3 billion, Isabel dos Santos said on Wednesday.

The daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos added, speaking at a Reuters Newsmaker event, that recently inaugurated President João Lourenço supported her plans for further cuts and reform at the NOC.

She also praised President Lourenço’s approach to tackle corruption, which she said was not the problem of one country or one continent.

Dos Santos also spoke about Chinese lending in the country. “There is absolutely no taboo about being financed by Chinese banks because that’s the case pretty much everywhere,” she said, adding that Angola would not face the same issues as Venezuela in repaying the Asian giant.

“There is really pretty much nothing in common [between Angola and Venezuela],” she said. “Maybe just the weather.”

Dos Santos addressed the challenge of foreign currency access in the country, saying it “could potentially be a risk” for local services providers reliant on foreign currency.

She also said the country’s oil vision is “very much aligned with the government’s vision,” and that hydrocarbons policy was a “complex exercise” on which many institutions collaborate.

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