The United Nations warned on Thursday that the covid-19 pandemic again underlines the “urgent” need for Angola to develop reforms to diversify its economy and make it less dependent on oil price fluctuations in international markets.
“The stroke of the coronavirus pandemic (covid-19) on world oil prices again underlined the need for Angola to diversify its economy”, thus becoming less dependent on “volatile oil exports”, says the Conference of Nations Nations for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in a statement issued today.
In the note, UNCTAD explains that with the closure or slowdown in the production of companies worldwide, crude oil prices fell, in March, to a minimum of 18 years, which means even more “instability for the economy Angola, in recession since the collapse of oil in 2014-2016, which put a brake on a decade of exceptional growth “.
“Diversifying Angola’s economic structure, moving it away from its heavy dependence on oil, is fundamental to increasing competitiveness and helping the country to reduce its vulnerability to external shocks,” said Paul Akiwumi, director of the UNCTAD division for Africa and least developed countries, cited in the note.
For that official, “the current crisis of the covid-19 puts this need at the center of attention”, he stressed.
“Angola is rich in natural resources and has many other products to offer to consumers around the world. But local companies are struggling to be able to develop and export their products, due to the slow and costly import and export procedures,” said Akiwumi, emphasizing that Angolan producers face challenges in the circulation of their goods both within the country and abroad.
High costs
The note also underlines that Angola is ranked 177 out of 190 countries in the 2020 edition of the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report, according to which export procedures in the country cost $ 240 (almost 220 euros) and take 98 hours, against an average of $ 173 (158 euros) and 72 hours for sub-Saharan Africa.
But he also recalls that he is supporting, through a project financed by the European Union, the efforts of the Angolan government to diversify the economy.
The ‘Train For Trade II’ program for Angola helps authorities to identify promising non-oil sectors, to train entrepreneurs and business owners, to consider investment promotion policies and to improve commercial infrastructures, he reinforces.
Many of the reforms needed to improve conditions for Angolan companies, such as the automation of customs procedures or the creation of a one-stop shop, are addressed by the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, which Angola ratified in April 2019.
“Angola, with its high potential in terms of natural resources, including agriculture, fisheries and energy, has some of the greatest possibilities to benefit from the reforms included in the agreement,” said EU ambassador to Angola, Tomás Ulicný, also mentioned in the note.
Impact of covid-19
Angola recorded, until this Wednesday, a total of 19 positive cases of covid-19, with two deaths.
The new coronavirus, responsible for the covid-19 pandemic, has already infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide, of whom nearly 89,000 died.
Of the cases of infection, more than 312 thousand are considered cured.
After appearing in China in December, the outbreak spread across the world, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a pandemic situation.
The new coronavirus caused 572 deaths in Africa and 11,400 cases are reported in 52 countries, while 1,313 people have recovered, according to the latest data on the covid-19 pandemic in the continent.