• GDP: US$17 billion (2005 projected).
• Main exports: Crude oil and diamonds.
• Main imports: Manufactured equipment and food products.
• Main trade partners: Portugal, Brazil, France and USA.

Angola is rich in natural resources, including oil, coffee and diamonds. Despite this, 95 per cent of Angolans live in poverty or extreme poverty. In the years immediately after independence, economic development was stunted by the departure of 700,000 Portuguese colonists, who controlled the Government and most of the economy. Thereafter, a quarter century of civil war reduced the country to ruins. The 2002 peace accord, which brought the war to an end, has allowed reconstruction to begin. In April 2003, the World Bank committed US$100 million to the Angolan reconstruction and rehabilitation programme. However, both the Bank and the IMF were reluctant to release funds until Angola’s endemic corruption was curtailed. Agriculture employs over 50 per cent of the population but production has declined so much that, from being a net exporter, Angola now imports over half its food requirements. There has been genuine progress in this area, although the US were not keen to administer food aid after Angola banned genetically modified food products in March 2004, since the US does not make such a distinction and economically gains through the consumption of GM foods. Fishing, which almost ceased to exist, is now being rejuvenated with foreign aid. New oil and gas fields off the shore of Cabinda (an enclave in the north of the country) are being developed. However, Angola has only one refinery and so exports most of its oil in the crude form. The Government is looking to a new cooperative agreement with Algeria and partial privatisation of the state oil firm, Sangol, to boost production and refining capacity. The only other industry of any size is diamond mining. Angola’s largest trading partners are Portugal, Brazil, France and the USA, from whom it imports much of its food and almost all its manufactured equipment. Annual growth in 2005 is estimated at 11.7 per cent.

Lightweight suits are recommended. Many Angolan businesspeople dress casually, wearing open-neck shirts. Any dark colours can be worn for social occasions. As Portuguese is the official language, a knowledge of this is an advantage in business transactions; French and Spanish are also useful. There are limited translation services. Avoid June to September as Angolans tend to take their holidays at this time. Office hours: Mon-Thurs 0730-1230 and 1430-1830, Fri 1430-1730; some offices open Sat 0830-1230.

Câmara de Comércio e Indústria de Angola (Chamber of Commerce and Industry)
Largo do Kinaxixi 14, 1 Andar, CP 92, Luanda, Angola
Tel: (2) 344 541.
E-mail: ccira@ebonet.net

The US-Angola Chamber of Commerce in the USA
1100 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 1000, NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA
Tel: (202) 223 0540.
Website: www.us-angola.org