Doing Business Angola – July 2019

DOING BUSINESS ANGOLA

Job Cassingue, is a Legal Adviser graduated A special thanks

in Law from the Catholic University of
Angola. Since 2017 he has advised To Dr. Miguel Maria Muay, to Teacher
companies, investors, national and foreign Heesun Apelgren-Diara, to Angolan National
entrepreneurs. Institute of Statistics and all those who
helped in an indirect way.
Email: [email protected]

“Every day that passes

without investing, is another
wasted opportunity to earn more
interest and more money”

Abstract
Angola is a country with
enormous potential, but
Despite this, Angola still remains
unfortunately the current
the destination of many investors
macroeconomic situation is not
worldwide. In this article, we
good, consequently the number
present Angola, the importance of
of investors has been falling.
the Lobito Corridor, post-Civil
Since 2018, with the approval of
War Angola, and the importance
Decree-Law No. 10/18 of 26
of Private Investment, business
June, the Private Investment
opportunity and the signs of a
Law, with the simplification of the
more open Angola for Private
granting of visas for Angola, with
Investment.
the fight being carried out by the
current government in the fight
against corruption and the
partnership it has been making Key words – Doing Business
with the International Monetary Angola, Private Investment,
Fund, the country has been Business opportunities.
showing some signs of progress,
although not the desired ones.

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Doing Business Angola – July 2019

Introduction The law is not enough to have a

good business environment, so it
is necessary to take into account
Private investment is the
aspects related to public security,
corruption, facilitated entry,
introduction. The use of
human capital, quality of
resources by private companies
infrastructure, quality of
(domestic or foreign), through the
institutions, responsiveness of
allocation of capital, technology
and knowledge as well as goods, administrative institutions and
equipment for maintenance and exchange rate policy.
capital stock increase.

The recent law innovates in some

Currently, apart from public aspects one of them is that of not
investment, private investment requiring minimum capital to
has been pointed out as an invest. In general, it brings
alternative for underdeveloped challenges both to the state and
countries to reach competitive to the investors themselves. The
standards regarding their local challenge for investors is to find a
production level and their supply perfect business model for the
in the international market. Angolan market. In relation to the
state, it is to have a less
bureaucratic, modern and more
Private investment in Angola has simplified administration.
been slowing down. It has been a
year since the approval of the
Private Investment Law, The fight against corruption is
expectations are enormous part of the current government's
around it because it is where the core business and we have seen
rules on how to invest are some positive signs in this
contained, as well as the rights regard. Therefore, we believe that
and duties. it is necessary to moralize society
and punish those who violate the
legal dictates for the good of the
community in general.

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Doing Business Angola – July 2019

and Congo Brazzaville,

respectively. It borders Zambia
on the east and to the south with
Namibia. The Atlantic Ocean is
located on the west of Angola.
Angola, has 18 provinces and
Luanda is the capital. It currently
has 4 international airports
which are located in the
provinces of Luanda, Benguela,
Knowing Angola Huila and Namibe. It also has a
total of 5 ports: The Port of
Cabinda, the Port of Luanda, Port
Normally when we talk about of Soyo, Port of Lobito and the
Angola, most of the time people Port of Namibe. Apart from Oil
associate it with Petroleum. In and Diamond resources, Angola
other words, Angola is also has gold, copper,
synonymous with Oil, which is aluminium, bronze, marble,
not entirely true, because Angola clinker and many others.
is known for more than just its Therefore, minerals are not the
Oil resources. only resources that the country
offers. Meaning, Angola has
enormous potential in the areas
Furthermore, Oil is one of the of Tourism, Forest Resources,
most sought-after natural Agriculture and the Industrial
resources, and currently Angola Fishing sector.
is the second largest producer of
Oil on the African continent. It’s
also the 14th largest oil producer
worldwide. However, Angola is
also the second largest producer
of diamonds in the world.

Angola, is part of the continent's The Lobito corridor

cradle of Humanity with an
extension of 1,240,700 km², with In Southern Africa, companies
an estimated population of 25 can ship goods to Dar es Salaam
million inhabitants. It borders (Tanzania), Beira (Mozambique)
the north and northeast with the or Durban (South Africa) ports in
Democratic Republic of Congo the Indian Ocean, which takes
three weeks. They can also
choose to send them, through
Angola, to the port of Lobito, in
the Atlantic.

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Doing Business Angola – July 2019

Angola after Civil War

With the peace accords
celebrated in 2002, Angola begins
to rise from the ruins caused by
the Civil War. From 2003 to 2008
Angola lived the so-called golden
era, or as we would say in
Portuguese, the era of
"Petrodollar", where Barrel at
The Lobito Corridor begins in that time even was sold at a price
Lobito Port, crosses the Angolan of 125 USD / Barrel.
territory eastwards and then
crosses the mining regions of the Unfortunately in the middle of
Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2009 with the real estate crisis
the province of Katanga and the that broke out at the time in the
so-called copper belt in Zambia. United States of America, in the
The sectors that can benefit from so-called "snowball effect" that
the Benguela Railway Line are culminated in the fall in the price
agriculture, industry, and of a barrel of oil in the
construction. International Market even costing
25 USD / Barrel since that time,
In Luanda, the logistics company fruit of the non-diversification of
Early Green believes that the the Economy, a concept defined
Lobito corridor is a major by Professor Alves da Rocha as
economic opportunity. being "considered as the best
The Lobito Corridor favours the strategy to solve the problems
business of large and small created by the dependence of
companies. The rail link allows natural resources" concept that
for the rapid transport of sulphur we cannot confuse with the one of
from the port of Lobito to the diversification source of revenue.
Democratic Republic of Congo Since then, the Angolan Economy
and there is potential to serve has lived an economic reception
other markets in the South because it has an economy that
African continent. The new depends essentially on
railroad is an opportunity to Petroleum. Currently the
develop the agricultural sector unemployment rate is around
and the food industry. 28.8% of the population aged 15-
64. According to the report
presented by the Deputy Director
of INE, during the presentation of
the indicators on Employment
and Unemployment 2018/2019.

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Doing Business Angola – July 2019

Ana Paula Machado, also noted doing business that the best
that the youth unemployment economies are subject to when
rate between 15 and 24 years is evaluating the Private Investment
52%, that is, in a universe of 100 environment:
young people, about 52 are
• Starting a business
unemployed.
• Dealing construction permits
• Getting electricity
• Register property
• Protecting investors
• Paying taxes
• Trading across borders
• Enforcing contracts
• Resolving insolvency
The Private Investment
• Repatriation of Profits and
Private Investment is thus a
Dividends
necessary, fundamental and
urgent alternative, insofar as it Excessive bureaucracy, marked
can provides: corruption, inefficient judicial
system, unskilled labour, lack of
• Massive generation of
infrastructure, limited access to
employment,
credit, poor energy distribution
• Introduction of funds and system has been pointed out as
capital the great dilemma of the
underdeveloped countries in the
• Introduction of know-how
process of economic
• Dynamization of infrastructures diversification and affect in what
way Angola's position in Doing
• Availability of finished products
Business.
in the market
The journey towards the
• Development of the national
diversification of the Angolan
industrial sector
economy must essentially take
• Combating regional into account standards such as
asymmetries human capital, terms of trade,
country size, easy access to main
But for this to happen, it is world markets, quality in
necessary to improve the infrastructures, and quality in
business environment by institutions.
reviewing some of the criteria for

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Doing Business Angola – July 2019

The current government has been

showing positive signs regarding
the fight against corruption,
impunity and influence peddling,
the International Monetary Fund
has been a strategic partner to
Angola now is open boost the economic sector, is a
case to point out that Angola is
The current Government, driven now more open to private
by the spirit of dealing with the investment.
economic situation, has been
developing some policies that In general, the current
stand out in the approval of Law Government has encouraged the
nº 10/18 of June 26, Private primacy on respect for the
Investment Law, which in a Constitution and the Law, which
certain way innovates the way of we believe is a great step towards
diving into the business the great journey towards the
environment in Angola, since this transformation of Angola into the
new law no longer requires the destination of Private Investment
obligation of a local partner at the in Africa.
time of the constitution of
company, does not require
minimum capital to invest in
Angola.
The recent law, bring two regimes
the one of the prior declaration
and the special regime. The
simplest is the prior declaration
regime, which requires only
statement of financial standing However, the challenges are
passed by her Bank, the granting bigger and business
of a 2-year privileged visa, it is opportunities as stated by Jack
already possible to set up a Ma (founder of Alibaba) are in
company in 24 hours, and there crisis, so if you plan to invest in
is still the possibility to have Angola, come and take a tour to
access to credit Banking. discover the enormous potential
that the country has in store for
The innovation of the Migration
itself.
policy, and there are currently
not many constraints in
obtaining visas for Angola, that
“The good browser does not
is, there is a special attention for expect to happen, it does
individuals who want to invest in happen”.
Angola. Mário Sérgio Cortela

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Doing Business Angola – July 2019

Closing remarks
By and large, as a result of the
study, we believe that the This study leads us to the
business environment is conclusion that it is not possible
gradually improving, the to have a competitive economy
arguments presented prove that marked by the absence of the
Angola continues to be a regional private sector; otherwise, the
power at the level of the African economy grows with the
continent, and the fate of many intervention of the private sector.
investors.
However, the challenges are
defined, the opportunities and
The measures taken by the they are there, so come and do
current Government in relation to business in Angola.
Private Investment have had
positive effects, resulting in the
facilitation of visas, the
facilitation of the process of
incorporation of companies, not
requiring minimum capital to
invest, that is, the attention given
to investors and entrepreneurs
has been increasing, and so
should be even to the extent that
in Angola the political economic
system has been pointed out as a
market economy, conclusion
drawn from the constitutional
rules, and it is necessary that the
State gives more openness to
economic agents because the
State can not meet all the needs
of citizens.

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Doing Business Angola – July 2019

References

CEIC-UCAN, Estudos sobre a Diversificação da Economia Angolana, 2018

Pederneira, Ricardina Faça Negócios em Angola, Rethink Press, 2015

Relatório sobre emprego e desemprego em Angola – INE, setembro de 2017.

Relatório económico de Angola 2017 - CEIC UCAN

https://pt.euronews.com/2019/05/01/o-potencial-economico-da-via-ferrea-

do-corredor-do-lobito

http://www.cnc-angola.com/index.php/contactos/16-portos-nacionais

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lista_de_aeroportos_de_Angola

http://jornaldeangola.sapo.ao/economia/principal_produtor_de_petroleo_em_

africa

https://www.imf.org/external/index.htm

Decreto-lei nº 10/18 de 26 de Junho Lei do investimento Privado