Angola’s latest economic figures offer some of the strongest evidence in years that growth is broadening beyond oil. GDP expanded 8.74% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, while the non-oil economy grew even faster, at 9.24%. Diamond extraction, information and communications, hospitality, manufacturing and financial services all recorded double-digit growth. Inflation also fell to 9.33% in July, returning to single digits after years of much higher price increases. Those numbers suggest an economy moving in the right direction.
However, the question remains of how much of that improvement is reaching companies, workers and households. Unemployment was stuck at 21.5% in the second quarter, and much of Angola’s employment remains informal.
Economist Francisco Paulo told the Angola Briefing this week that the composition of growth, concentrated in the oil and diamond sectors, helps explain the disconnect. Oil and diamonds can generate large increases in output without creating employment on a similar scale because both industries are highly capital-intensive. Growth in agriculture, manufacturing and other labour-intensive sectors would have a more direct effect on formal employment and household incomes. However, these sectors have not grown at the same rate as oil and diamonds, meaning that many people have yet to feel the benefits reflected in the headline figures.
There are other limits to what the headline figures can deliver. Angola still imports much of what it consumes, while weak purchasing power constrains domestic demand. Paulo argued that locally produced goods can also struggle to compete with imports because of the cost of producing and moving goods inside the country. The problem is particularly acute outside the main cities, where poor roads can prevent farmers from getting produce efficiently to major markets. Consequently, especially in rural areas, these growth figures are felt less.
While caveats remain around Angola’s impressive macroeconomic indicators, they do not make the improvement any less significant. Non-oil growth above 9% is notable in an economy that has spent decades trying to reduce its dependence on petroleum. Nor is the gap between falling inflation and public perceptions necessarily evidence that the statistics are wrong: slower inflation means prices are rising more slowly, not that they are falling.
The test is whether the current expansion lasts long enough, and spreads widely enough, to change the structure of the economy. Stronger formal employment, rising purchasing power, lower logistics costs and sustained private investment would provide more convincing evidence that Angola’s improving numbers are becoming an improvement in economic life.
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Also in the news:
Higher tolls raise the cost of moving goods
Angola has introduced a new road-toll regime, with charges ranging from Kz250 to Kz7,000 at non-border toll stations and from Kz2,500 to Kz85,000 at border crossings, depending on the vehicle. Under Presidential Decree 147/26, which entered into force on 18 August, the revenue is assigned to the Road Fund and Emergency Works to finance the conservation and maintenance of the national road network. Payments are made in kwanzas through the state’s RUPE system. Novo Jornal reported the new tariff structure here.
The immediate effect for transport companies is another operating cost in a country where logistics are already expensive. Francisco Paulo expects businesses to pass at least part of the increase through to the prices of the goods they transport. The question is what companies receive in return.
Paulo argued that higher tolls would be easier to justify if the money produced visibly better roads. Poor maintenance already imposes costs of its own through damaged tyres, vehicle repairs and slower journeys. Those problems extend beyond large freight operators: farmers in some municipalities struggle to get produce from rural areas to the main centres of consumption because the roads are inadequate.
The government is therefore trying to solve one cost problem by imposing another. If toll revenue improves the road network, businesses could eventually recover part of the additional charge through faster and more reliable transport. Without that improvement, the new tariffs simply add to the cost of moving goods across a large and difficult market.
New ownership register raises the compliance bar
Angola has introduced mandatory registration of companies’ ultimate beneficial owners under Law 7/26 of 19 August. The legislation creates a Central Beneficial Ownership Register, requiring companies and other covered entities to identify the individuals who ultimately own or control them. Existing entities have 180 days to comply. Proof of registration can be required when establishing or maintaining business relationships, while fines for companies can reach Kz50 million for very serious infringements. Expansão reported on the new requirements, while the legislation itself sets out the registration and disclosure regime.
The rules strengthen an area that has long affected Angola’s access to international finance. Banks and other regulated businesses need to know who ultimately controls the companies with which they transact, particularly when assessing money-laundering and terrorist-financing risks.
Paulo argued that the principle is difficult to dispute: financial relationships depend on trust, and identifying the ultimate beneficiary is an established part of due diligence. Angola’s commercial banks already maintain compliance departments, although the new regime could increase their costs.
Implementation will determine how the reform is received. Paulo cautioned that disclosure requirements need to be applied consistently and for their stated transparency purpose, rather than becoming a tool for pursuing particular individuals. That distinction is important in a system where stronger formal rules will only improve the business climate if companies and investors trust the institutions enforcing them.
ExxonMobil puts $3bn behind the future of Block 15
ExxonMobil is advancing an investment programme worth around $3 billion to extend production from Angola’s Block 15. Brian Unietis, the company’s director-general in Angola, said this week that the programme covers the extension of Kizomba C until 2032 and Kizomba A and B until 2037. Block 15 has produced more than 2.7 billion barrels since operations began. Economia & Mercado reported the latest announcement.
The investment should not, however, be treated as an entirely new $3 billion commitment made this week. Angola’s petroleum ministry announced the investment and Block 15 life-extension programme in 2025, while the ANPG had already agreed an extension of the production-sharing contract to 2037. The latest announcement provides a clearer timetable for putting those commitments into effect.
For Paulo, ExxonMobil’s willingness to continue committing capital is evidence that major oil companies still see Angola as a market where they can earn a return. That is important as the government tries to stabilise production after years of decline from the peaks reached earlier this century.
The investment also exposes the central tension in Angola’s diversification story. Oil accounts for a much smaller share of GDP than it once did, yet Paulo noted that it continues to dominate exports, fiscal revenues and foreign investment. Much of the investment that reaches the non-oil economy is itself concentrated in mining, another capital-intensive sector. Agriculture and manufacturing attract far less despite their greater potential to create employment.
Extending mature fields can protect export earnings and government revenue, but it does not remove the structural problem. Another period of stronger petroleum income would give Angola more resources with which to diversify; history suggests that using those revenues to build productive sectors outside oil is the harder part.
BFA–Citibank deal strengthens Angola’s dollar link
Banco de Fomento Angola has become the first Angolan bank to establish a correspondent banking relationship and open a US-dollar account with Citibank. BFA announced the agreement on 25 August, saying Citi’s international network would support the processing of transactions and facilitate financial flows between Angola, the United States and other markets. The bank described the agreement as recognition of its governance, risk-control and compliance systems.
The deal follows a difficult decade for Angola’s access to dollar correspondent banking. The IMF reported that global banks began withdrawing direct US-dollar relationships with Angolan banks in 2015, forcing more transactions through intermediary institutions and increasing costs. Expansão reports that negotiations between BFA and Citi took more than three years, including an extended due-diligence process.
Paulo sees the agreement as a potentially important step in the rehabilitation of Angola’s international banking links. Direct dollar correspondence could make transactions easier for companies trading internationally and reduce reliance on third-country banking channels. He also expects other Angolan banks to seek similar relationships if BFA’s agreement proves successful.
There is a wider business-climate argument. Foreign investors need to be able to move capital into Angola and, just as importantly, repatriate profits without excessive friction. A credible domestic banking system with stronger direct connections to global financial institutions lowers one of the practical barriers to operating in the country.
One agreement does not amount to a wholesale return of international correspondent banking. Paulo cautioned that it is still too early to judge the effects of the Citi relationship. But after years in which Angola’s financial isolation complicated trade and dollar transactions, BFA has provided a test of whether stronger compliance standards can begin reopening channels that were lost a decade ago.
Thanks for joining us for this edition of the Angola Briefing. We’ll be back next week to bring you the latest developments shaping Angola, and analysis from our panel.
See you then.
