ANGOLA- Banco Angolano de Investments (BAI) has partnered with investment partners like the Industrial Association of Angola (AIA), the Credit Support Program (PAC), Simplica, and Express to facilitate a 500 million Kwanza (US$584,000) credit line for micro-enterprise projects in the Huíla region.
The Huíla Provincial Directorate of AIA made the announcement at an event attended by more than 50 businesspeople from the region.
BAI encouraged potential beneficiaries to certify their companies with the Institute of Small and Medium Enterprises (INAPEM) and join the AIA. Certification and membership are prerequisites for potential beneficiaries.
The bank also revealed the projects and SMEs that would benefit from the credit line are those in the fishing, commerce, agriculture, agro-processing, finance, and livestock husbandry.
Beneficiaries will be given a 3-6-month grace period before repayment. The credit will be repaid over a period of 3 years to help minimize non-compliance.
Government officials present at the credit line’s launch, reiterating it will not only improve the agriculture sector in the South, but also improve the lives of entrepreneurs in Angola.
Lisender André, Lubango’s Municipal Administrator, said, “A line of credit is available to young people that will allow and facilitate the materialization of projects, some of them shelved due to lack of financial resources, where more responsibility is required to achieve success.”
The investment is part of the consolidated effort by the public and private sector in Angola to revive the country’s agriculture sector, whose potential remains untapped since the civil war of the 1990s. Angola cultivates only 10% of its 35 million hectares of arable land. The country remains dependent on food imports.
In 2022, the World Bank approved the Angola Commercial Agriculture Project (PDAC), a US$230 million program targeting Angolan farmers. The initiative supports farmers by providing technological and extension assistance to boost agriculture production while enhancing access to local and international markets.
The World Bank also approved the Smallholder Agricultural Transformation Project (PROTAF) in late 2023, a US$300 million program targeting smallholder farmers and struggling SMEs to increase agricultural production and market access.
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