Angola plans to continue restructuring state-owned airline TAAG next year before initiating the carrier’s privatisation process in 2026.

Transport Minister Ricardo Viegas d’Abreu said on Monday the aim is to sell a direct stake in the 86-year-old airline to a partner that will help reduce operating costs and bolster TAAG’s global presence.

“Right now TAAG is restructuring the fleet,” Viegas d’Abreu said in an Bloomberg Television interview in Luanda, the capital. “2026 will be the year where we will start engagement and negotiations and talks of the privatization of TAAG.”

The Luanda-based airline’s biggest attraction lies in its links to Angola’s provinces and regular flights to Portugal and Brazil. TAAG has relied on government support for decades to make ends meet and posted a net loss of 90bn kwanzas ($97.5mn) in 2023.

The privatization of TAAG takes place as Angola invests billions of dollars in a new airport and rail infrastructure in a bid to attract foreign investment and diversify the economy away from oil. It also comes as the government prepares to announce the winner of a tender to operate Luanda’s newly built $3bn international airport.

“I would say in the coming weeks we will be announcing the entity that will be awarded the concession of the new international airport,” said Viegas d’Abreu, a former banker who has been transport minister since 2018. He declined to provide details.

The Chinese-built airport, which is expected to handle 15mn passengers a year, is one of the country’s biggest infrastructure projects and aims to play a major role in boosting air connectivity in Africa, the minister said.

“Although we all talk about the aviation opportunities in Africa, aviation in Africa only represents 2% of the global aviation,” said Viegas d’Abreu. “The room for growth is enormous.”

His comments took place during President Joe Biden’s trip to Angola - the first visit to Africa by a sitting US leader in almost a decade. Viegas d’Abreu said he hoped Biden’s visit would help bolster Angola’s efforts to diversify its economy away from oil, which accounts for more than 90% of the country’s exports.

“We have the major US oil companies here for 70 years,” said Viegas d’Abreu. “We have also China, which is a very important commercial partner for Angola. So we, we are looking for partners that are willing to support our own agenda and strategy for sustainable development.”