Portuguese group Sonae plans to invest US$102.9 million in Angola under the terms of an agreement signed Monday with the country’s Private Investment Agency (ANIP) to open at least 5 Continente branded hypermarkets in the country.

Signing the contract with ANIP comes almost a year after the Sonae group signed off on a partnership with Condis, owned by Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, in which it has a stake of 49%.

The group’s chief executive, Paulo de Azevedo, told Portuguese financial daily newspaper Diário Económico that signing the contract was another step into the group’s project in Angola and that it planned to “update the business plan in order to move ahead with the project that ahs been announced to the market.”

In the Angolan market Sonae also plans to move ahead with training staff and future store managers, and the contract signed with ANIP includes a specialised retail school.

The Sonae MC brand has also been authorised by the Angolan government to sell food in Huambo province, which allows for the possibility of Continente expanding into that market.

This is Sonae’s first international investment in the food segment, as so far only non-food retail had been expanded internationally, notably within Sonae Sierra, the Zippy clothing brand, WeDo Technologies and MDS, in the insurance brokerage sector.

A further four investment contracts were signed on the occasion, worth US$16.9 million, by ANIP and Lucky Line, Snecou Group-Angola, Pratiker, and Jsy-Angola, from Mauritania, Nigeria, Turkey, and China, respectively, in the construction, industrial, and retail sectors. (macauhub)