Angola

Location : Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Namibia and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Capital : Luanda

Languages : Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages

Area : 1,246,700 sq km

Land Use : arable land: 2.41%; permanent crops: 0.24%; other: 97.35% (2001)

Natural Resources : petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium

Population : 11,190,786 (July 2005 est.).

Labour force : 5.41 million (2000 est.)

Labour force participation rate : 48.34% of population (2000)

Population below poverty line : 70% (2003 est.)

International Organisation participation : ACP, AFDB, AU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO 

GDP per capita : U$2,100 (2004 est.)

GDP Real Growth Rate : 11.7% (2004 est.)

GDP sectoral composition : agriculture: 8%; industry: 67%; services: 25% (2001 est.)

Investment (gross fixed): 34.5% of GDP (2004 est.)

Industries: petroleum; diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, feldspar, bauxite, uranium, and gold; cement; basic metal products; fish processing; food processing; brewing; tobacco products; sugar; textiles, ship repair

Industrial production growth rate : 1% (2000)

Agriculture - products : bananas, sugarcane, coffee, sisal, corn, cotton, manioc (tapioca), tobacco, vegetables, plantains; livestock; forest products; fish

Exports : U$12.76 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities : crude oil, diamonds, refined petroleum products, gas, coffee, sisal, fish and fish products, timber, cotton

Exports - partners : US 39.8%, China 30.3%, Taiwan 8.1%, France 7.1% (2004)

Imports : U $ $4.896 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities : machinery and electrical equipment, vehicles and spare parts; medicines, food, textiles, military goods

Imports - partners : Portugal 18.4%, US 13.1%, South Africa 10.7%, Japan 6.9%, France 6.3%, Brazil 5.6%, UK 4.9%, China 4.5% (2004)

QUALITATIVE TRADE PROFILE

The Angolan economy is heavily reliant on fuels and mining products. Indeed, its reserves of oil and natural gas account for close to 90% of its exports. Angola has bound all its tariff lines. Agricultural products were bound at an average rate of 52.8%, while non-agricultural products were bound at an average rate of 60.1%. Angola's applied tariffs are however significantly lower with the applied simple average rate being 8.8%. The average applied tariff for agricultural goods is 9.4% while the average applied for non-agricultural goods is 8.7%. Approximately 1% of tariff lines are subject to non ad-valorem duties.

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 

The Ministry of Commerce is responsible for trade policy formulation and implementation.

TRADE AGREEMENTS

Bilateral

To date, it has not been determined if Angola has signed any bilateral trade agreements.

Regional

Angola is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the African Union (AU). Angola is negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU through the SADC configuration.

Multilateral

Angola is a member of the WTO and grants at least MFN treatment to all its trading partners. It has GATS commitments in 5 sectors.

NEED PRIORITIES 

Angola needs assistance with research and analysis for specific issues under EPA negotiations and in particular assistance for formulating SADC negotiating position on agriculture and fisheries. Additionally, Angola would benefit from assistance in training public and private sector officials in trade policy issues and negotiations.

Source: Commonwealth Yearbook 2005, World Fact Book, WTO Secretariat.