Angola says to seek first credit rating

By Henrique Almeida

LUANDA (Reuters) - Oil-producing Angola will seek its first ever sovereign credit rating in a bid to improve its credibility abroad as it tries to sell $4 billion in bonds to foreign investors, its economy minister said on Thursday.

In a telephone interview with Reuters, Manuel Nunes Junior said JP Morgan had been appointed to lead the bond placement, but that talks with the main credit rating agencies had not yet begun.

"JP Morgan is the lead manager in the bond issue," Nunes Junior said. "We will also work to get a credit rating."

A potential economic powerhouse in Africa, Angola has surpassed Nigeria to become the continent's biggest oil producer, but it does not have a credit rating, making it tougher to sell its debt abroad.

The government said on Wednesday it planned to place $4 billion in bonds in the international markets between December 2009 and June next year. It is also planning to launch a sovereign wealth fund to invest its oil dollars abroad.

"It makes perfect sense for Angola to finally seek a credit rating as it will make it easier for it to sell its debt in international markets," said Ricardo Gazel, a senior economist at the World Bank in Luanda.

Angola has relied on China for more than $5 billion in oil-backed loans since the end of its civil war in 2002, but has recently turned to the West to bolster its finances, in particular after the decline last year in world oil prices.

After years of wrangling with the International Monetary Fund, the U.S.-based institution said in September it was likely to grant Angola $1.3 billion in loans.