Brazil provides funding of US$1.5 billion in Angola

A credit lined from Brazil's Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Económico e Social (BNDES) to fund the purchase of Brazilian construction equipment in Angola in the first five months of the year totalled US$1.5 billion.

The credit line that was granted in 2006 with a value of US$750 million and was boosted in 2007 with an extra US$1 billion.

The BNDES is also offering US$250 million to fund projects in Angola.

The head of the Foreign Trade Department of the BNDES, Luciene Ferreira Machado, told newspaper Valor Económico that, for the time being, the line, which is mainly focused on Angolan government projects, was not due to be increased.

The BNDES’s resources are being used in 16 road projects considered to be a priority by the Angolan government.

The BNDES is, meanwhile, finishing off analysing a request for funding of US$70 million for construction of a sugar factory next to the Cabinda hydroelectric plant, in northern Angola.

The project, which is expecvetd to cost US$260 million, is a partnership between Brazil’s Odebrecht (40 percent) and Angola's Damer (40 percent) and Sonangol (20 percent).

"We have no pretensions of competing with China, especially because we don’t have the means to do that,” said Ferreira Machado.

Ferreira Machado said, however, that the aim, "is to preserve the space conquered by Brazil, whilst being aware that we are working in a very competitive environment."

At the end of 2007 China had granted funding to Angola estimated at US$4.5 billion for construction and equipment, a figure which may reach US$9 billion if other types of funding are included in the calculation.