Angolan Minister of State for Economic Coordination Manuel Nunes Júnior has sought to explain why and how his government is selling off public-sector assets, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency quotes Mr Nunes Júnior as telling a gathering in Luanda of Angolan bankers, businesspeople and representatives of the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, that the privatisation programme is meant to strengthen the private sector to make it the driver of the economy, so it can employ more Angolans.

“A strong and sustained market economy cannot be built without a strong and competitive private sector,” Mr Nunes Júnior said on Thursday.

The government intends to privatise by 2022 195 state-owned companies in the fields of finance, telecommunications, mining and agriculture, Xinhua says, with 175 privatised through public tender, 11 by public auction and nine by initial public offering.