Member Article

A new Angolan Public Procurement Law (“PPL”) has been approved recently. Law 41/20 of 23 December revokes Law 9/16 of 16 June and will enter into force on 22 January 2021.

The new law will apply to all public procurement procedures beginning after that date and to the performance of subsequent contracts. The new PPL does not exactly represent a revolution in Angolan public procurement, but rather an evolution in line with the objective of simplifying the Angolan system and making it more flexible. These are the most important changes:

1. Scope of application

• Extending the objective scope of the PPL to cover the following:

i) Administrative concession contracts, including concessions for public works, public services and operation of the public domain, and the formation of contracts whose implementation is carried out through a public-private partnerships; ii) Commercial contracts arising from financing.

• Extension of the subjective scope of the LCP to cover contracts entered into by:

i) State companies and companies in the public domain that benefit from operational subsidies or any operations carried out with funds from the General State Budget, whose estimated value is Akz (AOA) 500 million or more;

ii) Bodies governed by public law (private or state legal entities pursuing the public interest without an industrial or commercial character, controlled or financed by the State from the General State Budget).

• Revision of what procurement is not covered, to now include:

i) Contracts entered into by State companies and companies in the public domain that do not benefit from operational subsidies or funds from the State Budget, except for administrative concession contracts, assignments of contractual positions or assignments of the right to operate public service assets;

ii) Contracts to provide legal services relating to preparation and/or representation in arbitrations held in Angola, or before an international arbitration or conciliation body; iii) Contracts to provide legal services relating to preparation and/or representation in legal proceedings before public authorities or international institutions.

2. Introduction of two new procedures: (i) Dynamic Electronic Procedure; (ii) Emergency Procurement Procedure

• The Dynamic Electronic Procedure is carried out on an electronic platform. It is intended for the acquisition of standardised goods and services using an electronic catalogue. Any interested party is allowed to participate, provided they are properly registered or certified on the Public Procurement Website.

• Emergency Procurement is a particularly informal and quick procurement procedure. It can only be used to deal with unforeseeable situations not attributable to the contracting authority (classified as “emergencies”).

The PPL classifies the following de facto situations as emergencies:

i) Disasters

ii) Calamities

iii) Ravine-related disasters

iv) Cyber attacks

v) Collapses

vi) Floods

vii) Endemic, epidemic or pandemic outbreaks

viii) Storms

ix) Landslides

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