Angola is stepping up efforts to reshape its economy, accelerating reforms aimed at reducing its dependence on oil while expanding industrial capacity, strengthening food security and investing heavily in power, transport and critical infrastructure. CNBC Africa’s Keamo Mosepele spoke to Fernando Chivinda, Executive Head for Business and Commercial Banking Angola at Standard Bank Group to explore the country’s economic transformation and growth outlook.
Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:50:58 GMT
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AI Generated Summary
Key Points:
- Angola has accelerated investment in industrialisation over the past five years as part of a broader economic reform drive.
- Preferential lending and other policy measures are being used to support strategic sectors and domestic production.
- The country has reduced its heavy dependence on imported food and is now increasing local agricultural output.
- Angola aims to eventually export agricultural products to other African countries.
- Investment in agriculture, power and infrastructure is central to plans to reduce dependence on oil revenues.
- Middle East tensions have increased transportation costs and delayed imported raw materials for the private sector.
- Many Angolan companies manage external shocks by holding stock for roughly four to six months.
- Standard Bank sees intra-African trade as a major next step for Angola’s growth strategy.
- Bureaucracy remains a major obstacle, with exports outside Africa sometimes easier than trade within the continent.
- Angola is looking to draw agricultural expertise from countries such as South Africa and Zambia to accelerate its development strategy.
Topics
Angola economyeconomic reformsindustrialisationoil dependenceagriculture investmentStandard Bank GroupFernando Tsinaintra-African tradeinfrastructure investmentfood security
Angola is intensifying efforts to transform its economy, with a sharper focus on industrialisation, agriculture, infrastructure and intra-African trade as the country seeks to reduce its longstanding dependence on oil revenues.
Speaking to CNBC Africa, Fernando Tsina, executive head for business and commercial banking in Angola at Standard Bank Group, said the country has made notable progress over the past five years as it ramps up support for domestic production and lays the groundwork for broader export growth.
“In Angola, we are living a very amazing experience because in the last five years as a country, we start to invest a lot in industrialization,” Tsina said, pointing to policy initiatives including preferential lending rates designed to support strategic sectors of the economy.
The comments underscore a wider policy shift in Angola, where authorities have been working to diversify an economy that has historically been dominated by crude exports. While oil and gas remain central to state revenues and foreign exchange generation, the country is increasingly channeling investment into agriculture, power and infrastructure in an effort to build a more balanced and resilient growth model.
One of the clearest signs of that transition is the change in Angola’s food supply dynamics. A decade ago, more than 95% of foodstuffs were imported, he said. That picture is now beginning to change as local agricultural output increases
“When we look, for example, 10 years ago, more than 95% of all foodstuff we were importing. But now with this new dynamic, we can see that definitely we start to produce our food,” he said.
That shift has implications beyond import substitution. Tsina said Angola’s next ambition is to scale production to the point where it can begin exporting food and agricultural products to other African markets, signaling a longer-term vision of turning domestic capacity-building into regional trade competitiveness.
The diversification drive is also tied closely to infrastructure development. Tsina said Angola is investing heavily in agriculture alongside power and broader infrastructure projects, which he described as essential to reducing the economy’s exposure to oil price cycles.
“There is a lot of work that we are doing to make sure that we can diversify our economy,” he said. “We invest a lot actually in agriculture… There is also other investment that we are doing for power and infrastructure also that we believe that we get the right balance to reduce our oil dependency.”
The strategy comes at a time when external shocks continue to test African economies, particularly those with significant commodity exposure. Tsina acknowledged that recent Middle East tensions have had knock-on effects for Angola’s private sector, especially through higher transportation costs and supply-chain delays.
Although Angola is stepping up its industrial base, much of the raw material needed by manufacturers is still imported. That leaves businesses vulnerable to disruptions in shipping routes and international logistics.
“When you look, for example, in terms of cost of transportation, increase a lot,” Tsina said. “There is also some delay in terms of to receive the raw material.”
Still, he suggested that Angolan companies have developed some resilience in dealing with volatility, in part because firms have become accustomed to carrying several months of stock. According to Tsina, many businesses are prepared to hold inventory for four to six months, helping them navigate periods of instability.
Beyond domestic reforms, Angola is also looking more closely at how to strengthen trade ties across the continent. Tsina described intra-African trade as the “next step” in the country’s economic development, with financial institutions such as Standard Bank aiming to play a bigger role in linking companies across borders.
With a presence in more than 20 markets across sub-Saharan Africa, Standard Bank sees an opportunity to connect Angolan businesses with supply chains, expertise and demand centers in other African economies. Tsina said one of the bank’s intentions is to facilitate those linkages and improve commercial interaction between countries.
However, he noted that significant barriers remain. Chief among them is bureaucracy, which continues to hamper cross-border trade flows within Africa. In one of the more striking observations from the interview, Tsina said it can still be easier for companies to export outside Africa than to trade within the continent.
“We are incentivized to have exportation across Africa in different countries, but sometimes unfortunately it’s more easy to export to outside of Africa, and not internal inside of Africa,” he said.
That challenge highlights a broader issue facing the continent as <a href="https://absafricatv.com/government-to-earn-ksh22-5-million-monthly-from-mombasa-lpg-terminal-lease/” title=”Government to Earn KSh22.5 Million Monthly From Mombasa LPG Terminal Lease”>governments and businesses seek to unlock the promise of regional integration. While the African Continental Free Trade Area has raised expectations for deeper economic ties, practical obstacles such as customs procedures, regulation and logistics continue to constrain progress.
For Angola, overcoming those frictions could be central to the success of its diversification agenda. If domestic industries are to expand beyond import replacement and become export-oriented, easier market access across Africa will be critical.
Looking ahead, Tsina said Standard Bank’s priority in Angola will be to continue supporting the country’s strategic sectors, particularly agriculture. He also pointed to the value of transferring knowledge and expertise from other African markets with stronger agricultural ecosystems, including South Africa and Zambia.
“We need to start to make this connection, to take advantage about what we are doing well in other African countries and to bring also this experience to make sure that we can accelerate our strategy,” he said.
Taken together, Tsina’s comments paint a picture of an economy in transition: still exposed to oil and global supply shocks, but increasingly committed to building domestic productive capacity and forging stronger regional trade links. For Angola, the success of that transition may depend not only on sustained investment at home, but also on how effectively it can plug into Africa’s wider growth story.
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