Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country in South-Central Africa bordered by Namibia to the south, Zambia to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola is made up of 18 provinces, with Luanda as its capital. Portuguese is the official language of Angola, and the official currency is the kwanza (AOA).

Angola is run by a multiparty regime, with its President as the chief of state. Its legal system is based on Portuguese civil law and customary law, modified to accommodate political pluralism and increased use of free markets. 

Angola’s climate characteristics, the quality and richness of its soils, its young and growing population, and its high potential for diversification and growth of the economy that is not dependent on oil position it as one of the main countries in Africa and the world in which to invest.

Despite an international climate of high prices for raw materials and food products, Angola's economic recovery remained resilient and stronger in 2022. Data released as early as 2023 shows that gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerated to 3.9% in the third quarter of 2022 from 3.6% in the second quarter. Export growth increased even more, to triple digits, in the third quarter of 2022, while import growth slowed.

The annual inflation rate in Angola accelerated for the 4th month to 13.54% in August 2023, the highest since December 2022 and up from 12.12% in the previous month mainly due to a sharp depreciation of the local kwanza currency.

Angola has overtaken Nigeria as the biggest oil producer in Africa. With over 9 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, Angola is committed to unleashing the full potential of its hydrocarbon sector. In 2023, after two years of modest recovery, economic growth in Angola is expected to slow sharply to 0.9%. Once again, activity is being penalised by the downturn in the oil sector, which accounted for 30% of GDP in 2022. Over the first eight months of 2023, oil production contracted by 5.8% year-on-year. This was primarily due to maintenance operations that impacted output results in February and March. Rebounding since then, oil production between January and August reached an average of 1.12 million barrels per day (mb/d), a figure that remains significantly below the target set by the government in its budget for 2023 (1.18 mb/d).

Angola is the second largest producer of diamonds in the world. Angolan diamonds are mainly mined in the province of Lunda Norte and represent about 20% of the world’s diamond production. The global demand for diamonds is increasing, especially in China and Japan. China is currently the largest market for Angolan diamonds. Angola’s diamond industry is well positioned to benefit from these growing markets. Looking ahead, Angola's mining sector will continue to be dominated by diamond exploration and production, which accounts for around 90% of total mining revenues. With demand for strategic minerals, non-ferrous metals, and rare earths increasing dramatically due to the global energy transition and the use of strategic minerals in lithium-ion batteries, the sector is expected to significantly increase its contribution to the country's GDP growth. Angolan mining production is expected to trend by 1.6% in 2023 and 3% in 2024, as private investment in greenfield and greenfield projects increases.

In 2023, growth in the non-oil sector is expected to slow to 3.4%. In H1 2023, the sectors with the highest growth rates were transport (+20.4%), financial intermediation services (+14.8%), and telecommunications (+3.8%). Trade, the second largest sector of the economy (20% of GDP), posted more modest growth of 2.7%. Industry only grew 0.7% over the same period and remains an underdeveloped sector (8% of GDP).

PwC in Angola 

PwC Angola is organised around industries, including oil and gas, financial services, industrial manufacturing, energy, utilities, and mining, to share the latest research and points of view on industry trends, develop industry-specific expertise, and share different methodologies and approaches in each area.

PwC Angola offers a range of tax services to assist taxpayers with tax structuring, tax compliance, oil and gas taxation, mergers and acquisitions, indirect taxation, financial services taxation, individual taxation, tax litigation, etc.