Overview

Angola has a 1600 km Atlantic Ocean coastline and offers solid medium to long-term potential for maritime transportation and fisheries development as prioritized by the government’s 2018-2022 national development plan.

Fisheries:

Angola was a leading fish exporter during the colonial era until the mid-1970’s but with the proclamation of its independence, Angola lost its fisheries capacity and expertise whereby skilled manpower left the country and the protracted civil war that ended in 2002 destroyed most of the infrastructure.  Today, the Angolan government, as well as local private sector and international entities, are heavily focused on fisheries development to advance the country’s economic diversification, generate employment opportunities and expand food production capacity both for national consumption and for export.

 All combined, agriculture, forestry and fisheries represented less than 10 percent of Angola’s GDP in 2020.   The Angolan government is prioritizing development of the fisheries sector, both coastal and aquaculture value-added production in Angola, with support from the AfDB and the United Nations.

In 2021, the production volume for the fisheries sector was more than 400 thousand tons, including industrial, semi-industrial, artisanal, continental, and aquaculture activities. Most semi-industrial and industrial fishing is based at four main ports: Namibe, Benguela, Porto Amboim, and Luanda. Some fishing activity extends to the Zaire and Cabinda provinces in the north.  Companies from Poland, Portugal, Spain, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Italy are active in the fisheries business in Angola. 

There is a large artisanal fishing fleet in Angola with around 100,000 people earning their living in the fishery sector, including 50,000 artisanal fishermen organized in groups that fish in teams and share equipment.  The coasts of Benguela and Luanda provinces have the greatest concentration of artisanal fishing.  As part of the National Development Plan to improve production quality and living standards in artisanal fishing communities, the Angolan government is providing microcredit and regional support centers with facilities for boat and gear maintenance, fish processing, and docks. 

The Ministry of Fisheries works to address illegal fishing through operation of 15 patrol vessels procured from China and France, as well as two vessels funded by the Dutch government with installed vessel tracking technology.  Angola collaborates with Namibia and South Africa to protect and survey the fishing grounds through a Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional program.  In addition to the Ministry of Fisheries efforts, an inter-agency Angolan government committee led by the Ministry of Defense operates a National Communication Service Center responsible for managing the safety and security of the activities in the national waters.  The Center’s primary responsibilities are protection of the oil production platforms, combatting illegal fishing and piracy.

In 2013, the AfDB extended a five-year, US$ 40 million loan to Angola for the Artisanal Fisheries Support Project.  The project aimed to increase incomes of small-scale fishermen and traders through improved fishery infrastructure, to reduce post-harvest losses, and to improve the quantity and quality of fish capture and sales. The project targeted coastal communities in four provinces in Angola (Cabinda, Benguela, Kwanza Sul and Bengo) with focus on populations over 10,000, with a concentration on women, who constitute 80 percent of small-scale fish processors and traders. 

Aquaculture production in Angola is currently modest, with a focus on tilapia and catfish, but government efforts are underway to expand production, supported by a US$ 11.1 million loan from the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).  By 2018 and 2019, Angolan authorities sought to achieve more than 700,000 tons and 715,000 tons of production per year through small-scale communal ponds and a limited number of medium to large-scale commercial aquaculture operations but was unable to meet these goals due to lack of investments in the sector. 

Sea Ports

Angola has four operational seaports:

•              Port of Luanda, Angola’s main port, has a capacity of 11,166 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and handles more than 70 percent of the country’s imports.   The Port of Luanda is located adjacent to the Luanda Railway (CFL) and includes five specialized terminals:  Multiterminais (break-bulk terminal), Unicargas (multipurpose terminal), Sogester (container terminal), Sonils (Oil & gas terminal), and Soportos (multipurpose terminal). 

In early 2020, the Angolan government launched an open public tender for the concession of the Multipurpose Terminal of the Port of Luanda-E.P. that was awarded to DP World, a UAE company.

•              Lobito Port benefitted from Chinese-funded construction, renovation, and installation of heavy equipment.  Being the second largest port in the country, Lobito Port is strategically interconnected to the Benguela railway network (CFB) to facilitate mineral transportation from the neighboring countries of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia.  The inaugural load using the Benguela railway network was done in March 2018 with 1,000 tons of manganese from Katanga province in DRC to the Lobito Port in Benguela province, Angola.  In the future, the rail is expected to extend into the neighboring country of Zambia for mineral transportation.  In early 2022, the CITIC and SPG Consortium won the international public tender for the concession of the multipurpose terminal in Lobito Port. The CITIC and SPG Consortium competed with an initial payment to the State of 100 million dollars, and an investment plan of US$ 76 million to be carried out over the 20 years of the concession.

•              Cabinda Port is situated in the discontiguous province of Cabinda in the furthest northwest part of the country, and it provides services primarily to the oil and gas industries that dominate business in the province. 

•              Namibe Port is close to the southern border with Namibia and mainly focuses on fishing activities in the region.  Its development benefited from Japanese government assistance, and the port remains a focal point of Japan’s developmental interests in Angola.

Two new green-field ports were initiated several years ago to increase cargo capacity and competitiveness.  The Caio Port is under development in Cabinda with plans to provide regional services.  However, the Dande project near Luanda stalled due to the country’s economic downturn and resulting drastic declines in cargo traffic.

•              Caio Port (Porto de Caio) is a public-private partnership project for the complete development of a new port, with a 30-year concession from the Ministry of Transportation that started in 2012.  This deep-water natural port located in Cabinda province, adjacent to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo, is positioning itself to facilitate regional and international commerce.  Land reclamation and dredging is underway.   The first phase of the project is scheduled to include a commercial quay wall, rig facility quay, ship repair facility, and breakwater and access channel.  The project secured partial financing from the Chinese export bank and the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund.  However, in May 2018, the project was put on hold via presidential decree 122/21, pending an investigation into alleged illegal transactions to obtain the contract for the port concession. 

•              Port Dande (Porto de Dande) - In 2011, the Angolan government approved the construction of the deep-water Port of Barra do Dande in Bengo Province, 50 km north of Luanda, to shift cargo from the Luanda Port, which at that time was reaching full capacity.   With basic engineering preparations completed, the project is on hold due to a lack of government funding and a significant slowdown in cargo flows resulting from the country’s economic challenges.

 In early 2021, this project evolved into an integrated free zone foreseeing the construction of port infrastructures to load and unload fuel and other goods.  The project also includes the creation of strategic reserves in the areas of food, fuel, and energy security, as well as industrial, real estate and tourism development, aiming at the economic and sustainable development of the region, and should be developed through the establishment of public- with entities of recognized technical and financial capacity.

(Total market size = (total local production + imports) - exports)
Units: US$ millions

Leading Sub-Sectors

Fisheries

•              Vessels and equipment suited for small scale fisherman (less than 14’ vessels)

•              Vessel tracking and rescue solutions 

•              Aquaculture production technologies, feed and equipment

•              Fish Processing and storage (cold chain) equipment

•              Technical support and training

Sea Ports

•              Improving port productivity

•              Maritime and coastal security technologies

•              Vessel tracking technologies for new control center at Port of Luanda

•              Engineering and design services for greenfield ports 

•              Technical support and training 

Opportunities

Fisheries

Given the difficult financial situation in Angola, the greatest potential for U.S. company participation in the country’s fishery sector development is through the existing US$ 40 million AfDB loan for Artisanal Fisheries Support Project and UN aquaculture development funding. 

The Angolan Ministry of Fisheries is in the process of establishing several technical training and support centers for the artisanal fishery industry as well as regional processing and cold storage facilities.   In addition, several private sector aquaculture farms are under development.  Commercial sales opportunities exist for U.S. equipment and technology providers in the areas of aquaculture cultivation, small scale fishing equipment, fish processing, cold chain equipment, and logistics services.

Sea Ports

As Angola’s economy improves and cargo volumes increase, the potential exists for U.S. companies in some of the technology-based areas of port operations, such as those related to security, enhancing productivity, and vessel tracking.  Past Angolan national budgets have provided multi-million-dollar funding for seaport infrastructure rehabilitation and construction.  It is expected that more funding will be earmarked for seaports in future budgets. 

An increased focus on maritime security opens opportunities for U.S. companies with solutions related to coastal patrolling, search and rescue, and related communications and monitoring technologies.   The Ministry of Defense in Angola leads in the area of maritime security, with involvement by a number of ministries, including Transportation (Ports) and Fisheries.

A 2016 Angolan government decree formally authorized a new National Search and Rescue Center to be established under the Maritime and Port Institute (IMPA) with inter-ministerial involvement.  Internal studies are underway to ascertain existing infrastructure and to determine needed communication systems, equipment, and training for the Center to be fully functional.   However, due to current government budgetary constraints, funding has not been allocated for the development of the search and rescue center.

Web Resources

Ministério da Agricultura e Floresta (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry - Angola

Ministério dos Transportes (Ministry of Transportation) – Angola

Banco Nacional de Angola (Central Bank) - Angola

International Monetary Fund

World Bank (WB)

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

African Development Bank (AfDB)