Angola to name head of $5bn wealth fund

Lisbon - Angola's government plans to appoint a new chairman for its $5bn sovereign wealth fund, with Armando Manuel stepping down from the post after he was appointed as the oil rich-country's finance minister, a spokesperson for the fund said on Tuesday.

"The fund (FSDEA) confirms that Armando Manuel will leave the post of chairman in order to concentrate on his new position," the spokesperson said in written comments to Reuters.

President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on Monday replaced his finance and construction ministers, in the first cabinet re-shuffle since elections last August.

Manuel, who besides chairing the FSDEA was also Dos Santos' secretary for economic affairs, was promoted to replace Carlos Alberto Lopes as finance minister of Africa's No. 2 oil producer.

The FSDEA was launched by the government in October, with an initial endowment of $5bn to invest in projects to help diversify the oil-dependent economy.

The fund has not yet published its investment policy, frustrating investors who had hoped for clearer signals on potential spending.