It has been a long time coming, but bankers are hoping Angola will be finally be able to issue sovereign bonds and raise at least $500m on the Eurobond market, thanks to the country's recent strong economic performance. 

New measures have been put in place to ensure Angola's local economy benefits from moves allowing international oil companies to develop the country's newly licensed deep-water reserves.

The tenacious Portugese banks have prided themselves in their ability to stick with the Angolan economy in good and bad years, but they are now facing increasing competition from foreign banks, which stress their international network credentials.

Angola is increasingly attracting foreign investment, as companies start to look beyond the nation's onerous bureaucracy to its strong investment potential, political stability and increasing transparency.

A fall in oil prices brought Angola to its knees two years ago. A deal with the IMF has helped the economy to stabilise and signs of growth can be seen in Luanda, but to avoid a repeat of such economic hardship, more structural reforms are needed to make the country attractive for business.

High oil prices have put Angola in an economic position that is the envy of most developing countries. However, Angola has been in this situation before. This time its government is vowing not to repeat the mistakes of the past.