LUANDA, Sept 9 – Angola is preparing to open its $18.6 billion domestic government bond market more broadly to international investors, as the oil-producing economy seeks to expand its funding base and attract greater participation in local capital markets.
Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa told Reuters that the government is discussing potential inclusion in a new frontier-market local-currency debt index being developed by JPMorgan. Authorities also plan to meet international investors in Luanda later this month as they assess demand and work on a framework for wider market access.
“We want to see if we can gain scale, but for that to happen we need to have a clear channel,” Daves de Sousa said in London on the sidelines of an investor conference.
She said Angola remained in close discussions with JPMorgan over how to unlock the potential of the local bond market for international investors.
“We are in a close dialogue regarding how we can better explore the potential that the local bond market has for the investors,” she said.
Angola’s domestic government debt stood at 17 trillion kwanzas, equivalent to about $18.6 billion, at the end of 2025, according to Finance Ministry data. The market remains relatively small compared with some regional peers. Kenya, whose economy is slightly larger than Angola’s, had almost three times as much domestic government debt outstanding.
Although foreign investors can already purchase Angolan government securities, access currently requires central bank approval and local banking arrangements. Those requirements have constrained participation by international portfolio investors.
Opening the market could give Angola access to a wider pool of frontier-market investors while helping develop the domestic debt market. Greater foreign participation could also diversify the government’s investor base, reduce dependence on dollar-denominated borrowing and potentially lower funding costs over time.
The discussions with JPMorgan come as the bank prepares a frontier-markets local-currency debt index expected to include countries such as Nigeria and Kenya. A widely followed benchmark could make local-currency frontier debt easier for global investors to assess and allocate to, potentially increasing the visibility of Angola’s government securities.
Angola Weighs New International Borrowing
Luanda is also considering a return to international capital markets in 2027. Daves de Sousa said the government could issue additional bonds next year and was evaluating currencies beyond the U.S. dollar, including the Chinese yuan.
“If we see the market’s condition there in 2027, we will be more than keen to step in,” she said.
The government is simultaneously working to broaden its tax base, although the finance minister said reducing public spending has proved more difficult. Authorities are prioritising investment in areas including electricity generation, power transmission, water and transport infrastructure as part of efforts to support economic growth.
Angola’s debt position is expected to improve further. Including debt held by state-owned enterprises, the government projects its debt-to-GDP ratio will decline to 48% by the end of 2027, from 54% at the end of the second quarter.
The government is also examining a potential debt-for-nutrition swap with UNICEF, although discussions remain at an early stage.
Fuel Subsidies and Oil Outlook
On fuel prices, Daves de Sousa said the government’s immediate priority was ensuring adequate fuel supplies while expanding cash-transfer programmes to protect vulnerable households. Angola is unlikely to eliminate fuel subsidies within the next year, she said.
The government is also expected to revise upward its oil-price assumption for the 2027 budget from the current $61 a barrel, while maintaining what the minister described as a conservative forecasting approach.
Angola continues to pursue economic diversification, although oil revenue is expected to once again exceed non-oil revenue in 2027 after the balance temporarily shifts in favour of non-oil revenue during 2026.
Oil production remains another key fiscal consideration. The government is working to keep output above 1 million barrels per day. Production averaged 1.04 million bpd at the end of the second quarter, while Daves de Sousa said 2027 output was expected to be “something slightly less than this.”
For Angola, opening the domestic bond market to global investors would represent a broader effort to strengthen the financial infrastructure supporting the economy. Greater access to local-currency debt could help Luanda build a more diversified funding model while giving international investors greater exposure to one of Africa’s major oil-producing economies.
