[{"bbox": [85, 152, 1135, 340], "category": "Text", "text": "exports and the end of the war did not revert this scenario. Despite the government's intense efforts to reverse the legacy of the war, the country's economy continues to depend excessively on imports, with low levels of productivity, weak qualifications of its technicians, lack of production and local value-addition in key value chains, storage and distribution infrastructure, weak application of new technologies, and consequently weak competitiveness. Unemployment remains high and the economy is not generating enough jobs to keep up with the growing working-age population⁹. Angola is considered very vulnerable to climate change impacts, particularly drought and floods, which negatively affect livelihoods, rural and urban areas, and the business environment."}, {"bbox": [85, 344, 1135, 584], "category": "Text", "text": "Since the election of President Lourenço in 2017, Angola adopted a reform agenda to improve the business environment and make Angola more attractive for investment. For the last couple of years, several players were involved in promoting investment and exports in Angola. These include AIPEX which has a mandate to connect foreign investors with opportunities across the private sector and state-owned enterprises. The Ministry of Economy and Planning was involved in organising Angola's trade fair and attracting investors for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to boost innovation and productivity of Angola's large state-owned enterprises. The Institute of Asset Management and State Holdings is responsible for the privatisation and restructuring policy of state-owned enterprises. Angola's infrastructure requires substantial improvement, which the government is seeking to address by attracting investment in PPPs to improve ports, railroads, and key energy infrastructure."}, {"bbox": [85, 589, 1135, 747], "category": "Text", "text": "In December 2021, Angola completed the IMF's Extended Fund Facility¹⁰, demonstrating capacity to implement difficult fiscal and macroeconomic reforms. At the same time, it has taken steps to make the public procurement process more transparent and to simplify administrative process. However, administrative procedures remain bureaucratic and time-consuming and an overall weakness in the economic governance, a poorly diversified economy, mismatched skills and lack of infrastructure make the country uncompetitive and unattractive for investments."}, {"bbox": [85, 754, 1135, 994], "category": "Text", "text": "Angola is the EU's 6th African investment destination, capturing 7% of EU foreign direct investments in the continent (EUD 14.1 billion stock in 2021). Angola's investment stock in the EU amounted to EUR 3.5 billion in 2021. The EU is Angola's main investment partner¹¹. Private investment is highly regulated in Angola. Each investment project must first be approved by the government through AIPEX which monitors the execution and grants benefits in some cases. The Private Investment Law applies to private investment of any value, carried out by domestic or foreign investors. Moreover, there are relevant provisions on investments included in four international treaties ratified by Angola (African Economic Community/African Union (AU, 1994), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) Treaty (1984), Southern African Development Community (SADC) Treaty (1993), and SADC Investment Protocol (2010)."}, {"bbox": [85, 998, 1135, 1186], "category": "Text", "text": "The 6th Angola-EU Ministerial Meeting Joint Communiqué¹², issued on 10 December 2023 under the Angola-EU Joint Way Forward dialogue mechanism, highlights Angola's commitment to the implementation of the **Angola-EU Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (SIFA)**, signed on November 2023. The Agreement is designed to foster a more transparent, efficient, and predictable business environment by focusing on practical measures to improve the attraction, expansion and retention of FDI¹³ and to ensure more sustainable and responsible investments to Angola. The SIFA is expected to benefit all types of investors, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, including both local and foreign investors."}, {"bbox": [85, 1191, 1135, 1324], "category": "Text", "text": "Concerning trade, the EU is Angola's second trade partner considering exports and imports by continent¹⁴. In February 2020 Angola submitted a formal request to start accession negotiations to the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). On 26 July 2022, the EU-SADC EPA Joint Council adopted a decision approving Angola's request, and the EU is ready to start the negotiation as soon as Angola engages in the process. Concerning the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), Angola deposited its ratification instrument. The"}, {"bbox": [85, 1358, 1143, 1424], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁹ Over 550 000 new workers joined the labour force between end-2022 and end-2023, but just 10 000 jobs were added. Urban and youth unemployment surged to 42% and 58% at end-2023, respectively, up from 39% and 53% a year earlier. Economic diversification remains elusive while oil production is in structural decline."}, {"bbox": [85, 1424, 531, 1448], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁰ https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/AGO#whatsnew"}, {"bbox": [85, 1448, 326, 1470], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹¹ Source: EC, November 2023."}, {"bbox": [85, 1470, 741, 1494], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹² Joint Communiqué: 6th Angola-EU Ministerial Meeting | EEAS (europa.eu)"}, {"bbox": [85, 1494, 1143, 1559], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹³ Such as through increasing the transparency and predictability of investment-related measures, streamlining the administrative procedures that foreign investors have to go through to establish and carry out their activities, promoting digitalisation and e-government, and improving dialogue between the administration, investors, and other stakeholders."}, {"bbox": [85, 1559, 1143, 1647], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁴ As per EC web gate data, EU exports to Angola amounted to EUR 3 445 000 000 in 2023 and EU imports from Angola amounted to EUR 9 400 000 in the same year. Considering continental percentages: (1) Exports: Asia 63%, Europe 28%, Americas 6%, Africa 3%. (2) Imports: Asia 45%, Europe 37%, Americas 12%, Africa 5%. Main EU exported categories to Angola are machinery and pharmaceutical products. Main EU imported category from Angola is mineral fuels. Source: United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade."}, {"bbox": [1037, 1682, 1143, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 25"}]