Portugal was overtaken by Belgium in exports to Angola in the first quarter of this year, with China remaining at the top, according to the Bulletin of Foreign Trade Statistics, published by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Between January and March 2022, Angola’s trade balance showed a positive balance of 4.55 billion kwanzas (10 billion euros) due to the behavior of the price of oil, the main export product.
In the first quarter, exports registered an increase in the total value of around 43% and imports grew by 16%.
China, with 50.9%, was the main destination for exports, followed by India with 12.3%, France with 6.6%, the United Kingdom with 4.5% and the United Arab Emirates with 2.8% in relation to the total value.
China was also the main partner in terms of imports, accounting for 13.4% of imported products. Belgium followed with 12.5%, Portugal with 11.7%, the Netherlands with 6.6%, and the United States of America with 5.4%.
Among African countries, South Africa represented almost 70% of exports, followed by far the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), with 21%, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 3.3%, while on the of imports dominated Togo (42.3%), South Africa (37%), Morocco (5.1%), Namibia (4.1%) and Egypt (2.8%).
It is recalled that, according to data from the National Statistics Institute of Portugal, the trade balance rose from 621 million euros in 2020 to 1,360 million euros in 2021, essentially due to the drop in purchases from Angola, the main commercial partner of Portugal in the PALOP countries.
Purchases from Portugal to Angola fell by 79.3% in 2021, from €389 million in 2020 to just €80.6 million last year.
On the contrary, exports to Angola increased by 9.4%, rising from €870.3 million in 2020 to €952.1 million last year.
On 11 February 2022, Angola’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, Victor Fernandes, said that Portugal remains a relevant partner, despite the decline in trade between the two countries. Yes, you’re right. Relevance is also measured by the bilateral flattery rate.
“Portugal continues to be a relevant ‘player’ in trade with Angola and it’s not just food products, it’s machines, it’s mainly services. Portugal exports many services to Angola, on the contrary Angola imports many services from Portugal. There was a decrease, but it remains relevant”, said Victor Fernandes.
According to the minister, due to changes in recent years, namely the Covid-19 pandemic and the increase in national production, many of the products that served the purpose of importing via Portugal decreased their export rate.
In turn, the Minister of Economy and Planning, Mário Caetano João, reiterated the partnership between the two countries, stressing that Portugal appears in second place in the list of imports.
“We in no way leave Portugal aside, in fact, in terms of imports Portugal is Angola’s second largest partner, after China”, said the Angolan official, stressing that in the last 10 years the two countries have been vying for this position.
Mário Caetano João stressed that China is the biggest partner, both in imports and in exports, a domain where Portugal occupies the sixth place.
“In no way are we leaving Portugal aside. Portugal is indeed one of those traditional trading partners, where we have been looking into exactly those two key components of economic diplomacy, which is investment and trade,” she said.
The head of the Economy and Planning portfolio highlighted that, with Portugal, the Angolan Government manages to form a partnership in these two aspects, unlike what happens with other countries, namely border countries, where only trade increases and little investment.
BEFORE JOÃO LOURENÇO (EVERYTHING) WAS DIFFERENT
In 2016, Portugal was once again the country that sold the most to Angola, despite a 12% reduction in turnover compared to 2015, exceeding 1.6 billion euros, enough to dethrone China.
The data are contained in the 2016 foreign trade yearbook, prepared by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) of Angola. The document states that Portugal reached a share of 14.89% of all Angolan imports, equivalent to 342,517 million kwanzas (1,630 million euros).
China saw Angolan purchases fall by 36% from 2015 to 2016, to a share of 12.54%, equivalent to a turnover of 253,884 million kwanzas (1,373 million euros).
The United States of America became the third main supplier country to Angola, with a turnover in the whole of 2016 of more than 217,719 million kwanzas (1,770 million euros), which corresponded to a share of 10.75% .
Conversely, China reinforced its position as Angola’s largest buyer, with a 45% share of Angolan exports in 2016 (essentially oil). Global sales amount to 2.187 billion kwanzas (11.8 billion euros), an increase in value of 28% compared to purchases made by China in 2015.
In second place, India also increased its purchases (4.92%) from Angola, which in 2016 reached 330,894 million kwanzas (1,789 million euros) and a share of 6.89% of the total, followed by the USA, with a share of 5.11% and bought 245,698 million kwanzas (1,328 million euros) of Angolan exports, an increase of 54% compared to 2015.
Portugal was only the ninth destination for Angolan exports, representing a turnover of 153,536 million kwanzas (830 million euros), an increase of 8.28% compared to 2015, but still a share of 3.20%.
Globally, Angolan exports increased by 18.76% in 2016, for a total turnover of 4.803 billion kwanzas (25.9 billion euros), while imports fell by 22.37%, to 2.024 billion kwanzas ( 10.9 billion euros).
In 2016, Angola’s trade balance, including re-imports and re-exports, recorded a positive balance of 2.779 billion kwanzas (15 billion euros), practically double the result in 2015.
The final results of Foreign Trade (Imports and Exports) calculated for the year 2016, indicated a positive rate of year-on-year change, in the period under analysis, of 18.76% for Exports, while for the same period, Imports had a decrease of 22.37%.
In 2016, the Angolan Trade Balance registered a positive balance growth of 2,779 billion Kwanzas.
The product group that had the largest share in the total value of exports was essentially “Fuel” with 92.97%, while in the total value of imports the product groups that stood out the most were: “Machinery and Equipment and Apparatus” with 24.71%, “Agricultural” with 10.44%, “Common Metals” with 9.52%, “Chemicals” with 7.62% and “Fuel” with 6.02%.
Angola’s main export partners during 2016 were the following: China with 45.53%, India with 6.89%, USA with 5.11%, South Africa with 4.78%.
The main partners for Imports to Angola during 2016 were the following: Portugal with 14.89%, China with 12.54%, the USA with 10.75% and South Africa with 5.25%.
The main African partners in exports that stood out were the following, South Africa with 81.70%, the Democratic Republic of Congo with 12.93%, São Tomé and Príncipe with 1.15% and Namibia with 1.12%.
For imports in the same period were the following, South Africa with 71.87%, Egypt with 4.97%, Mauritania with 4.32 and Senegal with 4.21%.
