Rising domestic production and import substitution has become a major concern for the new Angolan government, which now aims to stimulate the economy through new investments and prevent the outflow of foreign exchange.
Within the scope of the recently approved National Production, Export Diversification and Import Substitution (Prodesi) Programme, in recent weeks the Angolan authorities have been presenting the National Production Dissemination Website and the “Made in Angola” application.
Official figures show that the number of registered producers and products are increasing on a daily basis, with more than 270 already registered, mainly from Luanda, Bengo, Lunda Norte, Benguela and Huambo provinces.
The website’s second week of operation was marked by the creation of the provincial and municipal support network for producers, with seminars in the country’s 18 provinces, attended by producers, municipal administrators, provincial directors of the Integrated Economic Offices, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, representatives of the National Institute for Support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, business associations and cooperatives and local producers.
Prodesi aims to “accelerate the diversification of the Angolan economy,” giving priority to this acceleration in the promotion of production and exports in non-oil sectors and in others with strong import substitution potential.
Products set out as a priority (individually and as a group) include rice, soybeans, corn and other grains, milk, meats, eggs, vegetables, sugar, coffee, tea and cocoa, as well as wood and derivatives, cotton, flowers and fish.
The 63 priority products also include asphalt, beverages, various products for the shipbuilding and repairing industry, hygiene and cleaning products, base metal products (iron and others), diamonds, gold and other valuable minerals, bauxite, heavy sands, limestone and plaster, fertilizers, glass, pharmaceuticals, tyres and hotels in various tourist centres in the country.
Among the main imports into Angola in 2015 were beverages (US$402 million), poultry meat (US$341 million), other meats (US$310 million), and rice (US$285 million).
In total, the country spent more than US$2.9 billion on agro-industrial products and US$2.86 billion on products from other industries, including construction materials and medicines.
Excluding oil and diamonds, Angolan exports stood at US$142 million in 2016, according to figures quoted by Prodesi.
The document defines a set of quantitative targets for each of the axes, namely to increase total sales of priority groups – by 15% in 2018, 25% in 2020 and 50% in 2022 – to reduce the expenditure of foreign exchange resources with the “basic basket” of goods, increase entry and diversify foreign exchange sources, increase sources of foreign investment, but also improve the business environment (by 5 places in 2018 and 10 places in 2020). (macauhub)
