By Angola Cables Press Release
May 29, 2017
Luanda, Angola – The Development Bank of Angola (Banco de Desenvolvimento de Angola “BDA”) has finalise today the arrangement of the USD 130 million loan agreement, backed by a Sovereign Guarantee from the Republic of Angola, with its client, Angola Cables, for the implementation of a submarine cable linking Brazil to the USA, its cable landing station and a datacenter in Fortaleza, Brazil where SACS will be landing.
This represents the final step of the finance process, in the implementation of key projects for our regional market of telecommunications. Linking Angola to Brazil, with the SACS (financed by JBIC and SMBC, with NEXI insurance cover) and now the MONET cable linking Brazil (Santos, Fortaleza) and USA (Boca Raton, Miami), Angola will contribute significantly for the improvement of connectivity between Africa and the rest of the World, adding to the capability of the West Africa Cable System (WACS), which Angola Cables has a Tier1 position on the consortium, since 2009. WACS is a fibre optic submarine cable, linking 11 countries in Africa and 3 countries in Europa, from Cape Town to London.
Angola Cables was established by the five main national telecommunications operators in Angola, which make up the current shareholder structure. Angola Telecom is his majority shareholder and it is a fully state owned enterprise. Strategically, the synergistic benefits of operating these three cable systems will place Angola Cables in a very competitive position as a leading exporter of services, in Angola. Africa will benefit with this infrastructure, since in the telecom connectivity network of the World, will be place in the middle, like Europe at this moment.
For BDA, the transaction marks a continuation of a new phase of its operations; participating in similar financing structures that will support similar developmental project for Angola and its neighbours whilst supplementing its natural funding base (the National Development Fund “FND”) by borrowing from the international financial and capital markets. To this end, the Bank is also planning to obtain a rating from a major ratings agency, and is engaged in negotiations with different parties to provide limits for trade finance facilities aimed at increasing the bank's ability to support the importation requirement of its clients.
This transaction was made possible as one of the first of this type, encompassed as part of the National Development Plan 2013 – 2017 to diversify the economy, representing strategic projects which qualify for a sovereign guarantee (provided by the Ministry of Finance) and financed via the Angolan Development Bank (“BDA”).
