When President Joao Lourenco took office in September 2017, the Angolan state directly or indirectly controlled hundreds of enterprises spanning oil, banking, diamonds, telecoms, aviation, agriculture, media, and real estate. Many of these entities were inefficient, opaque, and – in the assessment of international creditors and domestic reformers alike – better suited to private ownership or mixed public-private structures. The Programa de Privatizacoes (PROPRIV), established by Presidential Decree No. 250/19 of 5 August 2019, provided the legal and institutional framework to transfer 195 of these state-owned assets to private or mixed ownership over a multi-year horizon.

PROPRIV is not merely an economic programme. It is the mechanism through which Angola’s equity capital market is being built. Every completed BODIVA listing to date – from BAI in 2022 to BFA in 2025 – has been executed under the PROPRIV umbrella, and every major candidate in the IPO pipeline derives its listing mandate from the same framework.

Programme Structure and Categories

PROPRIV organises its 195 target assets into four disposal categories, each with distinct implications for BODIVA:

1. Full Privatisation (Privatizacao Total)

Complete transfer of state ownership to private buyers, typically through competitive tender or public auction. These transactions do not necessarily involve BODIVA – many are direct sales to strategic investors. Examples include smaller state-owned hotels, factories, and agricultural estates where public-market listing would be impractical due to the entity’s size.

2. Partial IPO via BODIVA (Oferta Publica de Venda)

Sale of a minority or majority stake through an oferta publica de venda (public sale offering) on BODIVA. This is the category most relevant to capital-markets investors. The five completed BODIVA equity listings – BAI, BCGA, ENSA, BODIVA itself, and BFA – were all executed as partial IPOs under this category, with the state retaining residual stakes in most cases. Future BODIVA listings, including Sonangol, Endiama, and Unitel, are expected to follow this structure.

3. Strategic Sale (Venda a Investidor Estrategico)

Sale of a controlling or significant minority stake to a pre-identified strategic investor, often an international operator with sector expertise. This approach is used when the government determines that operational expertise – not just capital – is needed. Aviation (TAAG) and certain industrial assets may follow this path, potentially in combination with a subsequent BODIVA listing once the strategic investor has implemented operational improvements.

4. Concession (Concessao)

Transfer of operating rights for a defined period without transferring ownership of the underlying asset. Infrastructure assets – ports, terminals, logistics facilities – are typical concession candidates. These do not directly generate BODIVA listings but can indirectly support capital-market development if concessionaries later seek public financing.

Progress to Date

As of February 2026, PROPRIV’s track record includes the following milestones:

The five completed BODIVA listings represent the most visible achievements of the programme, with BFA’s USD 241 million raise in September 2025 standing as the flagship transaction. The BFA IPO demonstrated that PROPRIV could deliver a transaction of genuine institutional scale – 5x oversubscribed, 11,000+ orders, and 8,488 new retail investors brought into the market in a single offering period.

Beyond BODIVA, PROPRIV has executed dozens of direct sales and strategic transfers, particularly in the hospitality, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors. These smaller transactions receive less media attention but are important for reducing the state’s operational footprint and generating fiscal revenue.

Governance and Institutional Framework

PROPRIV is overseen by the Comissao Interministerial para a Reforma do Estado (CIRE), an inter-ministerial commission that reports to the Presidency. The operational management of individual privatisation transactions is handled by the Instituto de Gestao de Activos e Participacoes do Estado (IGAPE), the state asset-management agency.

For transactions that involve BODIVA listings, additional oversight comes from the CMC (Comissao do Mercado de Capitais), which must approve all prospectuses and ensure compliance with securities-market regulations. The CMC’s role is particularly important for protecting retail investors – it reviews pricing methodology, disclosure requirements, and allocation rules for every oferta publica de venda.

The governance chain, in simplified form:

1. CIRE approves the privatisation decision and disposal method
2. IGAPE manages the transaction, appoints advisors, and coordinates with selling shareholders
3. CMC reviews and approves the prospectus and offering terms
4. BODIVA provides the trading platform and manages the subscription process
5. CEVAMA settles the transaction and credits shares to investor custody accounts

Transparency and Challenges

PROPRIV was explicitly designed to address the governance failures of earlier Angolan privatisation efforts, where state assets were transferred to politically connected individuals at below-market prices through opaque processes. The use of BODIVA as a distribution mechanism – with published prospectuses, open subscription periods, and market-determined pricing – represents a deliberate shift toward transparency.

However, the programme is not without criticism. Civil-society organisations and opposition politicians have raised concerns about the pace of disclosure (not all PROPRIV transactions receive the same level of public documentation), the valuation methodology for direct sales (where competitive tension may be limited), and the concentration of post-privatisation ownership in a small number of domestic business groups.

For BODIVA-track privatisations, the transparency standard is higher: prospectuses are published, subscription is open to all eligible investors, and allocation is conducted under CMC-supervised rules. The BFA offering – with its pro-rata allocation and 11,000+ individual orders – set a benchmark that future BODIVA privatisations will be measured against.

PROPRIV and the BODIVA Pipeline

The pipeline of future BODIVA listings is, in practical terms, the PROPRIV pipeline. The programme provides both the political mandate (presidential decree) and the institutional mechanism (IGAPE coordination, CMC oversight) for each listing. Without PROPRIV, there would be no compulsion for state-owned enterprises to list; with it, the question is not whether they will list but when and at what terms.

The most significant upcoming PROPRIV-to-BODIVA candidates include:

• Sonangol – 30% stake sale, potentially USD 1.5-3 billion+, restructuring required
• Endiama – partial stake in the state diamond company, 2026-2027 target
• Unitel – dominant telecoms operator, delayed from 2025, ownership resolution pending
• Standard Bank Angola – minority stake offering, 2026-2027
• TAAG – national airline, medium-term, complex restructuring

These five candidates alone represent a potential combined raise of USD 2-5 billion – a transformative volume for an exchange whose current total equity market capitalisation is USD 3.37 billion. For detailed status and timeline estimates on each, see the IPO Pipeline tracker.

Fiscal and Economic Impact

PROPRIV serves multiple economic objectives beyond capital-market development. Privatisation proceeds contribute to fiscal revenue, reducing the government’s dependence on oil-related income. The programme also aims to improve the operational efficiency of formerly state-controlled enterprises by introducing private-sector management, market discipline, and shareholder accountability.

For Angola’s broader economic diversification – tracked in our economy section – PROPRIV creates a feedback loop: privatised companies become more efficient, their BODIVA listings attract domestic and foreign capital, the expanded investor base supports further listings, and the resulting capital-market depth enables new financing mechanisms for private-sector growth.