AIPEX AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE INVESTMENT ENVIRONMENT IN ANGOLA: REFORMS, OPPORTUNITIES, AND NEW HORIZONS

Abstract

Angola is undergoing a significant process of economic and institutional transformation, marked by the deepening of reforms aimed at improving the business environment, promoting economic diversification, stimulating domestic production and strengthening private sector participation in national development. Within this process, the Agency for Private Investment and Export Promotion (AIPEX) plays a strategic role in promoting, facilitating, monitoring and supporting private investment, as well as in promoting exports and the internationalisation of national companies.

The institutional development of AIPEX forms part of a broader process of modernising Angola's legal and administrative framework for private investment. Law No. 10/18 of 26 June, subsequently amended and republished by Law No. 10/21 of 22 April, consolidated principles, guarantees and mechanisms aimed at facilitating private investment in Angola, including the Prior Declaration, Special and Contractual Investment Regimes. In parallel, the establishment of the Investment One-Stop Shop and the approval, in 2026, of AIPEX's new Organic Statute have reinforced the country's commitment to administrative simplification, institutional coordination, project monitoring and improved quality of services provided to investors.

Data released in 2026, from institutional and press sources, indicate a relevant investment dynamic. During the preceding five-year period, approximately 600 private investment projects were registered, with an estimated value exceeding USD 21 billion and the potential to create more than 125,000 jobs. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, 42 projects were registered, with a combined estimated value exceeding USD 900 million.

This qualitative article, based on documentary and bibliographic research, examines the evolution of Angola's legal and institutional framework for private investment, identifies opportunities in strategic sectors and argues that the country has significant potential to deepen its transformation from an economy heavily dependent on extractive resources towards a more diversified, productive economy integrated into regional and international value chains.