Angola’s sovereign wealth fund made a profit of $40.5 million in the third quarter, it said on Wednesday, attributing it to a good performance in its bonds and securities investments.
The fund, which launched in October 2012 and is known by its Portuguese acronym FSDEA, said however its total asset value was $5.03 billion at the end of the third quarter, down from $5.05 billion in the second quarter.
In a statement, the fund said its investments in bonds and securities had generated a gross margin of $117.5 million in the third quarter. It allocates over a third of its portfolio to treasury bills, high grade bonds, listed equities, derivatives, currencies and other securities.
The remaining two-thirds is committed to alternative or private equity investments in emerging and frontier markets, in areas such as infrastructure - including a deep sea port in Cabinda - agriculture, timber and healthcare.
These private equity funds have invested $489.9 million in Angola and sub-Saharan Africa, and have a current reported value of $884.5 million, the fund said.
Some 48 percent of the total portfolio is dedicated to assets in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Jose Filomeno dos Santos, chairman of the board of directors, said he expected “continuous increase in the value of these investments throughout the year.”
The fund received no further endowments from the government in the third quarter, reflecting the strains on the economy due to lower oil prices.
Angola is Africa’s second-largest oil exporter after Nigeria, generating around 40 percent of its gross domestic product from crude.
In November the fund refuted rumours that dos Santos was resigning. That followed the dismissal of his sister Isabel dos Santos as chair of the state oil company Sonangol.
Their father, José Eduardo, had ruled the country since 1979 but stepped down earlier this year.
