Luanda, July 3, 2025 (Lusa) - The Angolan government said on Thursday that almost 20% of bank loans in Angola require immediate attention, and the current situation makes it urgent to consolidate effective recovery and restructuring mechanisms.
“Today, around 20% of bank credit in Angola requires restructuring. This figure alone tells us how urgent it is to consolidate effective recovery and restructuring mechanisms,” said Angola’s Secretary of State for the Budget, Juciene de Sousa.
According to Sousa, if the current situation, “marked by stubborn inflation and still modest growth,” poses challenges to business activity, “then it is even more important to have an insolvency regime that allows companies with potential to be reorganised, saved and relaunched.”
Speaking at the opening of the 1st International Conference on Business Recovery and Insolvency, Juciene de Sousa considered that a good insolvency system is more than a legal measure; it serves as a lever for economic policy, a shield for protecting jobs and a sign of institutional maturity.
Juciene de Sousa highlighted the new legal regime for corporate recovery and insolvency in Angola, with the entry into force of a law passed in 2021, acknowledging, however, that legal reform in this area “marks the initial phase”.
‘Having a functional insolvency legal framework, with swift, effective procedures capable of meeting the expectations of those who resort to justice, is more than a legal ambition. It is an economic necessity,’ she pointed out.
The legal reality in the area of corporate recovery and insolvency “is still recent,” she said, considering that it requires consolidation, institutional adaptation and investment in technical capacities.
“Changing the law alone is insufficient, we must also change practices, strengthen structures, train staff and, above all, build a legal and economic culture that recognises the value of restructuring as a viable alternative to dissolution,” she said.
She also stated that, with the legal framework for corporate recovery and insolvency, Angola has filled a historical gap and created a strategic instrument for credit stability, job protection and the revitalisation of the business fabric.
She also argued that the legal instrument should be transformed into a genuine recovery mechanism, “rather than merely an instrument for orderly closure”, because, she pointed out, the aim is “to build an Angola where viable companies have a second chance”.
An Angola “where workers retain their livelihoods and banks recover credit without dragging the economy into stagnation,” she concluded.
RECREDIT, an Angolan company specialising in the recovery of bad bank loans, organised the conference, which brings together Angolan speakers and others from Brazil and Portugal.
In May 2024, RECREDIT announced that it had recovered 31.19 billion kwanzas (almost €30 million) in bad debt in the 2024 financial year, representing 109% of its target, “exceeding operational expectations”.
DAS/ADB // ADB.
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