Sonangol, Angola's state-owned oil company, announced during its 50th-anniversary celebrations held recently that it was negotiating a loan of around US$4.8 billion with Chinese financial institutions to partially finance the Lobito refinery. 

If finalised, the national oil company's loan will be the first since João Lourenço took office in 2017 and could contribute to meeting the production start dates set for 2027.

The chairman of Sonangol's board of directors, Sebastião Gaspar Martins, said that the company is in negotiations with ‘financial institutions in China’ to secure financing for a phase of the project estimated at $4.8 billion, with the support of a Chinese contractor.

To give substance to the negotiations, a Sonangol team will travel to Beijing in April for meetings to determine the terms of the financing, but which, from the outset, do not include oil as collateral, revealing a change in debt strategy.

(Source: Negócios Em Exame, on 27 February)