Portugal’s third-biggest private bank, BPI, said on Wednesday it plans to open 20 new branches in war-ravaged Angola by April 2005 because of the oil-rich African country’s good growth prospects.
BPI chairperson Fernando Ulrich told a news conference the former Portuguese colony had great potential and was a ”very strong bet” for the bank.
The bank currently operates 30 branches in Angola under the name Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA) which have some 150 000 clients.
BFA has a share of 28% of the Angolan banking market in terms of deposits and accounted for 18% of BPI’s 2004 first-half profits of 86,7-million euros ($106,9-million).
Portugal is one of Angola’s biggest foreign investors. Business interest in the African country increased sharply after Angolan rebels and the government reached a peace accord in April 2002, putting an end to a civil war which had raged for nearly three decades.
While two-thirds of Angola’s urban population lives below the poverty line, and an even higher percentage in rural areas according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country has one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.
Angola’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to expand 11,1% in 2004 according to an IMF forecast. Only Chad and fellow former Portuguese colony Mozambique are expected to grow at a faster rate this year. ‒ Sapa-AFP