LUANDA, February 5, 2024 – The Institutional Capacity Building Project for Private Sector Development, which was implemented in Angola between 2014 and 2023, delivered better-than-expected outcomes as shown in the recent Project Completion Report published days ago by the African Development Bank [AfDB].
The growth rate of Angola’s non-oil exports, a key project target, reached 5.9 percent in December 2022 and 4.9 percent in June 2023 against targets of 2.8 percent set in 2018 and 5 percent [revised] set in 2020.
Financed by a US$ 24 million loan from AfDB, the project was designed to assist private sector growth and diversification of the Angolan economy. Along with a rise in non-oil exports, the project also drove a remarkable surge of business start-ups in Angola, which rose from 2,700 in 2012 to 38,715 in 2022.
During the same period, the AfDB report says the number of cooperatives with access to services rose from 240 to 12,870. In addition, 23,776 farmers, including 3,148 women, worked in coffee production.
“This progress is thanks to Project initiatives to promote entrepreneurship and was achieved despite the Angolan economy entering recession and despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a significant reduction in the number of start-ups in 2020,” the report states.
The project also supported micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, inclusive formalisation transition under the Informal Economy Reconversion Programme [PREI] in Angola and reinforced action under the Support for Production, Export Diversification and Import Substitution [PRODESI] programme, where actions included: setting up the PRODESI management office; implementing the Agro-PRODESI programme [accelerating investment in inclusive and sustainable agro-industry sectors to foster economic growth], and studies of the value chain in key industries — agriculture, forestry and livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, mining and construction, tourism and leisure, textile, clothing, leather, and footwear.
A total of 3034 agro-entrepreneurs and managers of agricultural cooperatives from all 18 of Angola’s provinces were trained in agribusiness management and in the preparation of agribusiness projects as part of the PRODESI programme, says the report.
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