Angola at 47 years: diagnosis of political reforms, the Angolan economy and future challenges.

President of the Republic of Angola Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco / Courtesy of Embassy of Angola

Angola celebrates on Nov. 11, 2022, the 47th anniversary of its national independence. The date represents an important milestone, as it is based on the will of Angolans to build democracy and the rule of law and the unity of the nation. Parallel to the anniversary of independence, Angola also celebrates the centenary of Antonio Agostinho Neto, the first president of the republic and founder of the Angolan nation.

Angola, after having gone to the polls on Aug. 24, with the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) Party having emerged victorious and President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco elected for a second term in the presidency of the republic, the government of Angola, led by him, reiterates its commitment to continue to strengthen democracy and the democratic rule of law, as well as to continue to fight corruption and impunity for the raising of the moral standards of society.

On the other hand, one of the main tasks of the current government of Angola has been to manage the economy and share its results fairly. The main objective of this economic policy is the promotion and diversification of the Angolan economy, in order to make the development process less vulnerable and more sustainable. This goal has been an indispensable condition for ensuring political, macroeconomic stability and the social well-being of Angolans.

As part of the Angolan economy's diversification program, the government created mechanisms to attract private investment, which makes the Angolan market open to foreign investors. With the election of His Excellency Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco as president of the republic, in 2017, the implementation of public-private economic partnerships of a business nature have played an important role in the Angolan economy. Through these economic partnerships, Angola has sought to attract foreign investment in all areas. Under Angolan law, foreign citizens can set up companies under Angolan regulations and integrate into the national economy. Angola needs strong and efficient foreign companies, entrepreneurs and economic groups in the private sector and capable elites in all domains, to emerge progressively from the conditions of being an underdeveloped country. The recent evolution of the macroeconomic framework of the economy, led the Angolan Government to introduce readjustments in the estimate of the growth of the gross domestic product (GDP).

In 2021, the oil sector contracted by 11.6 percent. Oil represents more than 30 percent of the Angolan economy and more than 90 percent of exports. It is, therefore, the largest source of revenue in the country. From 2021 to the present, the oil sector grew by 5.6 percent. In the third quarter of 2022, Angola exported around 100.42 million barrels of crude oil, corresponding to 1.09 million barrels per day, valued at an average price of $101.646 per barrel. From crude oil exports in this period, Angola collected gross revenue of $10.21 billion. At the same time, the Angolan government continues to develop actions to maintain crude oil production above one million barrels per day, a number that will, over the next few years, boost the replacement of oil reserves, develop new projects to earn revenue from the non-associated natural gas, optimize and promote the production of refined crude oil products and guarantee the country's self-sufficiency.

According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the change in the price of oil on the world market also allowed Angola's GDP to once again exceed the $100 billion hurdle at the end of this year, raising Angola once again to the position of the third-largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa, after falling to eighth place in 2021. The IMF also estimates annual growth of 2.9 percent for Angola. On the other hand, IMF forecasts, made on the eve of the annual meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions that took place in Washington, also indicate that by the end of 2022, Angola will have a GDP of around $124.8 billion, which makes it the third-largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The logo of the Angola 47th anniversary of independence / Courtesy of the Embassy of Angola

The Angolan government's priority for the coming years is to continue to improve the living conditions and well-being of all Angolans. The aim is to create a strong economy, with efficient micro, small, medium and large companies, with high productivity and profitability, which guarantee employment for Angolans, with decent remuneration and working conditions.

It is estimated that, in 2022, the economy will grow by 2.7 percent and once again with a performance led by the non-oil sector, with the contribution of the Production Support, Export Diversification and Import Substitution Program (PRODESI) and other sectorial programs, as well as the Privatization Program (PROPRIV), started in mid-2019. Under this program, 94 privatization processes were settled between 71 assets and 23 shareholdings in companies, the contracts of which correspond to a total value of 961.14 billion kwanzas. Of this amount, the National Treasury has already collected 565.60 billion kwanzas (about $1.1 billion), which corresponds to almost 59 percent of the value of the contracts.

As for the mining sector, based on the increase in the country's geological knowledge and in the laboratory and technological capacity established in the period from 2017 to 2022, it was possible to make the mining sector more attractive and bring to the country three of the world's major mineral companies (Anglo American, Rio Tinto and De Beers), to develop prospecting and exploration activities for diamonds and copper as well as ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Therefore, this sector will continue to promote the attraction of new investments, with a view to boosting the activity of prospecting for and researching various minerals, such as rare earth elements, iron, copper, niobium, lithium and manganese, with the purpose of ensuring an increase in the mineral reserves that supports the continuity of extractive activity.

In the field of diamonds, the prospect is to increase considerably the production of this resource, through the development of new large-scale projects and the promotion of others of a semi-industrial nature that may be promoted by Angolan businessmen. It is also expected to increase the percentage of cut diamonds with the construction of more factories in the Saurimo Diamond Development Complex. In the field of gold, production began at the end of last term, and is expected to increase in this term, which justified the laying of the first stone for the construction of the first gold refinery in Angola.

In this regard, it is also important to highlight that Angola was recently admitted as a member of the international committee of the transparency initiative in the extractive industries, with the aim of continuing to promote good governance and, consequently, improve transparency in the management of revenues from these industries.

Within the scope of the various development programs, it is important to highlight the National Plan for the Promotion of Grain Production (PLANAGRAO), which aims to promote grain value chains and encourage animal production; the Integrated Plan for the Acceleration of Family Farming, which aims to provide technical assistance, guarantee of production factors, support for agricultural mechanization and the creation of infrastructure to support agricultural production, with an impact on municipalities; the Kwenda Program within the scope of social monetary transfers, to ensure social assistance to people in situations of vulnerability, calamity and disaster, to continue with the reintegration of ex-soldiers in income-generating activities and to promote income-generating projects for people with disabilities; and the Integrated Plan for Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM), which aims to implement public investment actions (PIP), Development Support Expenses (DAD) and Basic Activities (Act), with priority given to social actions, in order to inhibit a rural exodus and promote more inclusive economic, social and regional growth in the country.

The National Bank of Angola / Courtesy of the Embassy of Angola

Likewise, Angola continues to make considerable progress in the social sector, particularly in poverty reduction. The Integrated Municipal Program for Rural Development and Combating Poverty is the largest social inclusion program in the country, implemented in all municipalities since 2012. The government now intends to achieve poverty reduction percentages below 35 percent, against the 65.6 percent of 2002. Among other actions, the implementation of the sub-program, "Help for Work," and access to essential basic products subsidized by the state will initially benefit 200,000 families in 80 municipalities. It should be noted that one of the main challenges facing the government of Angola in this sector is the improvement of the education and teaching system.

The government will implement the National Program for the Training and Management of Teaching Staff, to ensure the necessary quality of teachers in pre-school education, primary education and in each subject of the I and II cycles of secondary education, as well as to continue improvements to the infrastructure of institutions of higher education, science, technology and innovation, including their construction and equipping, with some public investment projects in the seven largest provinces in the country being highlighted. The National Plan for Staff Training, the National System and Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation, the creation of the National Network of Scientific, Technological Research Institutions, Public and Private, the National Plan for Employment and Vocational Training and Youth, constitute the pillars of the country's development programs aimed at youth, and the priority of the Angolan government.

In the field of tourism, the government's attention is focused on positioning Angola as one of the largest tourist destinations in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) region, and creating with the private sector, excellent conditions in priority tourist areas such as Cabo Ledo, the KAZA Project in Cuando Cubango, Bie and Moxico, Iona Park in the Namibe Desert and Calandula in Malanje, improving the quality of infrastructure to support tourism, such as access roads, telecommunications, energy and water, as well as transport and other public services, modernizing infrastructure and providing new services to create a more favorable environment for tourism to stimulate demand.

Another important axis of Angolan diplomatic action is multilateral diplomacy. Angola, with its African peers, wants to continue to play an active role in all international and regional organizations of which it is a member, with emphasis on the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the African Union and the United Nations. In full alignment with the principle of non-indifference contained in the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the Republic of Angola will continue to reiterate its call for the immediate cessation of the various armed conflicts and to urge the parties to favor dialogue for a peaceful and definitive resolution of conflicts, particularly those with strong tendencies to jeopardize world peace.

In light of these elements and others no less important, Angola reaffirms its commitment to multilateralism, which represents one of the safest ways to promote dialogue platforms in which each nation can make its contribution, thus avoiding the ever-increasing temptations more present that consist in redesigning a kind of bipolar configuration of the world. As a peace-promoting country, Angola will host, from Dec. 6 to 10, the 10th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African, Pacific and Caribbean States (OACPS), under the theme, "Three Continents, Three Oceans, A Common Destiny: Building a Resilient and Durable OACPS." This highly important event will mark the assumption by the Republic of Angola of the rotating presidency of the aforementioned organization, placing our country in the international spotlight.

In view of the above, the government and the Embassy of Angola are certain that South Korean companies and businessmen will have every interest in contributing with their means and knowledge to the consolidation of a democratic nation open to free enterprise, in one of the potentially rich regions of the planet.

This article is provided by the Embassy of Angola in Seoul.