Lisbon, Portugal, 16 June – The Cosec credit line between Portugal and Angola, worth 1 billion euros, is already funding a number of large projects, including construction of bridges and hospital, state bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) said Monday in Lisbon.

This is one of the three credit lines for investment in Angola that CGD has in operation, the bank said in a statement, adding that their total value was 1.6 billion euros.

The significant interest from Portuguese investors in Angola is clear from the use of the biggest of the credit lines, the Cosec credit line, which in 2008 already had loans contracted or in execution totalling over 500 million euros, which according to the institutions accounts for the “biggest slice of loans provided by Portuguese banks under the terms of this line.”

Construction of two bridges – one over the Catumbela river and another over the Kwanza, refurbishment of the Prenda hospital and the Lucrécia Pail maternity (both in Luanda), the Angolan tax reform project, construction of a building for the immigration services and reconstruction of the road between Huambo and Alto Hama are amongst the many projects in the hands of Portuguese companies and for which CGD has provided these funds.

The Cosec line, was initially set up to the value of 100 million euros at the end of 2004, and later underwent successive increases, the most recent of which of 500 million euros, to a total of 1 billion, last March, CGD noted.

The two other lines work in a different way, one of which, worth 100 million euros, is for projects that are part of the Angolan public investment programme, and the Angolan authorities are currently identifying those projects.

The commercial credit line, in the amount fo 500 million euros, made official in March, during a visit to Lisbon by the Angolan President, will finance projects in the public or private sector.

These must be carried out in consortium between the two countries, and the Angolan authorities are responsible for selecting the projects that are part of this financial instrument. (macauhub)