Banks that agreed with the Angolan government to finance the Production Support, Export Diversification and Import Substitution Programme (Prodesi) have received 50 credit applications for projects in a single month, according to official information.

The national director for the Economy, Competitiveness and Innovation, Marcelino Pinto, said on Wednesday in Luanda that the amount requested for those projects totalled 128 billion kwanzas or US$367 million, according to daily newspaper Jornal de Angola.

Most of the projects are linked to agriculture, fisheries and industry and are intended to be implemented in the provinces of Huila, Kwanza Sul, Luanda, Benguela, Uige, Cunene, Kwanza Norte and Namibe.

Eight commercial banks signed a memorandum with the Angolan government about a month ago that pledged to grant 141 billion kwanzas in financing linked to the Credit Support Project, a support instrument for Prodesi, by the end of the year.

The group includes Banco Angolano de Investmentos (BAI), Banco Fomento Angola (BFA) and Banco Internacional de Crédito (BIC), which will each provide 30 billion kwanzas.

The group also includes Standard Bank with 20 billion kwanzas, Banco Millennium Atlântico (BMA) with 15 billion, Banco de Negócios Internacional (BNI) and Banco Comercial do Huambo (BCH) with 6 billion each, and Banco de Comércio e Indústria (BCI) with 4 billion. (Macauhub)