Angola - Agriculture

A Fertile Country With a Favorable Climate

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The World Bank has been a key partner to Angola in its Covid-19 response, and its assistance has included financing support, technical assistance and fiduciary guidance. The country is committed to building its capacity to remain vigilant and responsive to the challenges of Covid-19, even as it expands its economy.

Angola's effective airport Covid-19 screening program is helping to provide safety and security for travelers.

A Growth Story

At nearly 500,000 square miles, Angola, in southwestern Africa, is a vast country twice the size of France, and home to a broad range of landscapes, spanning arid savannas to rain forests. Agriculture is already big business, but has the potential to become much bigger. The country offers excellent conditions for many crops, with fertile soils, abundant water and a favorable climate. Although Angola has the capacity to grow a wide range of fruits, grains and vegetables, only approximately 15% of the country’s arable land is currently cultivated. Domestic agricultural production still does not meet local demand, and exporting opportunities have yet to be fully explored.

ADVANTAGE ANGOLA

“In Angola, from an agricultural point of view, you can produce anything—from coffee and coco to peanut and fruits like orange, lemon, tangerine pineapple, mango and banana”

Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Government of Angola

António Francisco de Assis

The potential for increasing the agricultural productivity of Angola becomes clear to any visitor. Once a significant producer and exporter of products, agriculture output is once again rising following progressive reforms from President João Lourenço and his administration since taking office in 2017, designed to promote investment and boost competitiveness. Agricultural has been identified as an extremely important sector in the context of diversifying Angola's economy. “In Angola, from an agricultural point of view, you can produce anything—from coffee and coco to peanut and fruits like orange, lemon, tangerine pineapple, mango and banana,” streses António Francisco de Assis, Angola’s Minister for Agriculture and Forestry. Agriculture firm Novagrolider has been in Angola since 2009, and its parent company, Grupolider also has interests in transport and property and has been responsible for building infrastructure in the country. Today, the company has more than 5,000 employees working on four fruit farms. Most of its products are sold domestically, although it has started exporting to Portugal and Spain and plans to introduce fruit to Italy, Poland and beyond. One of Novagrolider’s biggest exports are bananas, grown on its 600-hectare (1,500-acre) plantation 60 kilometers northwest of Luanda. Each day, up to 4,000 boxes of bananas are sorted for domestic and export sales.

João Macedo

CEO, Novagrolide

“One of the main conditions for tropical fruit is a tropical climate”

“One of the main conditions for tropical fruit is a tropical climate. Angola has a wonderful climate to produce bananas all along its coastline,” says João Macedo, CEO, Novagrolider. “The government helps small farmers with agricultural inputs, tools and seeds, among other things. Foreign investment is very important, too.” Last year, Novagrolider extended its business into a 10,000-hectare farm site in Kwanza Sul Province, and it is already harvesting melons, watermelons, pumpkins and tomatoes, and plans to add mangos and grapes. The provinces of Benguela, Huambo and Kwanza Sul represent 40% of total Angolan fruit production, led by apples and pears, followed by citrus and grapes.

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Rehabilitation of the line began in 2006 and alongside its restoration Lobito Port has been modernized and expanded at a cost of $1.25bn to increase capacity to 3.7 million tonnes of freight per year, rising to 4.1 million tonnes when operating to its maximum potential. With Chinese assistance the railway has now been rebuilt and the corridor is already having an impact on the lives of the communities living and is contributing to social and economic transformation.

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Elsewhere, Fazenda Cristalina’s main crop is maize, which it has been growing alongside beans and livestock. Demand within Angola remains higher than supply, and the sale of all foodstuffs at local markets is virtually assured. “We use cutting-edge technology without being aggressive with the environment. We also have a rainfall regime from 1,100 to 1,200 mm per year, which favors rainfed farming,” says Lipios Soares, Founder and CEO, Fazenda Cristalina. The rebirth of the Lobito Corridor, a 1,300-kilometer stretch of railway through the west of Angola to the port of Lobito, offers an efficient passage for the country’s fruit and vegetables. Kickstarted by state reforms in 2017, shipments have been growing exponentially each year.

The growing preference for rail shipments instead of air freight to reduce carbon emissions showcases Angola’s strengths, as do its competitively priced refrigerated containers and transit times of less than three weeks from Luanda to Rotterdam. Angola’s agricultural sector continues to grow as the government actively supports a more diversified economy. “Today, we still set our budget thinking about how many barrels of oil we will produce. But little by little, our ambition is to change this paradigm,” says Minister de Assis. “How many tonnes of maize were produced? How many tonnes of potatoes? How many tonnes of rice? “In the government’s policy—and not only in agriculture, but in all sectors—if the investors want to establish partnerships, they can. If the investors want to work independently, they can do that easily, too.”

RAILWAY

Lobito Corridor

ROTTERDAM

LUANDA

LOGISTICS

Luanda to Rotterdam

The growing preference for rail shipments instead of air freight to reduce carbon emissions plays to Angola’s strengths, as do its competitively priced refrigerated containers and transit times of less than three weeks from Luanda to Rotterdam.

This joint undertaking provides a shorter and more efficient rail route from the Angolan port to the DRC and Zambian copper belt. After a 34-year hiatus, rail traffic resumed on March 5, 2018, when a manganese train crossed the border between Dilolo and Luau bound for the Angolan port of Lobito.

The revival of the Lobito Corridor railroad, connecting Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia has been a major milestone of the past five years.

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ANGOLA’S FRUIT SECTOR The Provinces of Benguela, Huambo and Kwanza Sul represent 40% of total Angolan fruit production. Since 2015, fruit imports have stabilized between $23m and 32m. Out of these imports apple and pear rank highest, followed by citrus and grape. Angola’s exports are of a more recent nature and really started in 2017. Since then exports have increased steadily, growing from $400,000 to close to $2.5m in 2018, and forecast to double in 2019. Source: The Netherlands Enterprise Agency, Nov. 2019

The 1,344km railway allows people and goods to be carried between the three countries, and promotes multi-modal international transport. Alongside the line's restoration, Lobito Port has been modernized and expanded at a cost of $1.25bn to increase capacity to 3.7 million tonnes of freight per year, rising to 4.1 million tonnes when operating to its maximum potential. Now rebuilt, the corridor is already having an impact on the lives of the communities living in Angola and is contributing to social and economic transformation.

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For more information about investment opportunities in Angola visit AIPEX , a one-stop-shop created just for you.

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