The Angola-Nigeria Business Council will help to provide businesses with a powerful collective voice in influencing policies.
The Council will actively advocate for the interests of their members, promoting pro-business initiatives and addressing a challenges faced by them.
The Angola-Nigeria Business Council (ANBC) will provide feedback to the Embassy with regard to members’ opinions of government policies and shall basically give suggestions to the government to promote and safeguard interests of the business community in different enormous fields.
Commerce allows us to trade what we have for what we need or want, enables us to specialize in certain areas and trade with different resources and skills.
This specialization and exchange will allow for more efficiency and productivity, ultimately leading to an increase in wealth and prosperity for both nations. We shall hold bilateral events for the private sector and government officials.
ABOUT ANGOLA
Angola is situated in Southern Africa, bordered by Namibia to the South and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the North. Zambia to the Fast and the Atlantic Ocean to the West. It is home to about Thirty-five (35) Million People. It is a founding member state of the community of Portuguese language countries (CPLP) also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth. It is the second largest Lusophone (Portuguese Speaking country) in both total area and population. Relations between Angola and Nigeria, primarily based on their roles as oil exporting nations, are cooperative, Both are members of the Organization o the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the African Union and other multilateral organizations. In 1975, Nigeria was a driving force within the Organisation of African Unity (OAL) to recognize the legitimacy of the new Angolan regime. During the 1980s and 1990s, the countries' economic interests were linked to different Western powers, preventing them from forming significant alliances.
Angola is rich in Natural resources, particularly oil and diamonds. As one of Africa’s leading oil producers, it has significant oil reserves.
The country possesses reserves of minerals like Iron Ore, Copper, gold and bauxite. Its coastal waters are also abundant in marine resources. Its wealth of natural resources offer huge economic potentials.
Angola is considered to be one of the richest African nations regarding mineral resources. Some of Angola's most important minerals include Diamonds, Gold, Iron Ore, Copper, Manganese, Bauxite and Tin Ore. The mining industry is one of Angola's most important in the country due to the high quality of the country's minerals.
ANGOLAS NEW POLICIES AND REGULATIONS
The Angolan government implemented several ambitious policies to ensure economic reform, and as a result of the policies, the country's gross
domestic product grew by approximately 20% from 2005S to 2007. The Angolan economy is considered one of the most rapidly growing economies in the
world. Angola's economic success is partly attributed to the proper utilization of the country's natural
resources. Some of Angola's most vital natural resources include the arable land, petroleum, and diamond.
ANGOLA'S NATURAL RESOURCES
ARABLE LAND
According to information from the World Bank, in 2014, arable land in Angola accounted for close to 4% of the nation's total area. The data indicates that the percentage of arable land in Angola has been increasing steadily since 2004. Angola's soils are some of Africa's most fertile and its climate is exceptionally conducive to agriculture. In the past, Angola was nearly agriculturally self-suffcient with wheat being the only exception. The civil war signifcantly affected the sector and limited the country's agricultural output. Currently, some of the main crops grown in Angola include coffee, bananas and cassava. Data from the government indicates that close to two-thirds of the Angolan people rely on agriculture either directly or indirectly for their livelihoods.
OIL & GAS
Angola is the second largest producer of oil in Sub-Saharan Africa and is producing about 1.55 million barrels in a day, which is about 1000 barrels below its capacity. The country is a member of the OPEC and also produces natural gas of about 17,904.5 million cubic feet. The country has about 9 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and approximately IT trillion cubic feet of natural gas. As a result, the drop in global oil prices and the lack of foreign currencies in the country has led to limited investments in new Exploration. About 75% of the oil produced in the country is from the felds in the offshore and produces light sweet crude oil coming with low sulfur content, which is suitable for processing light refned petroleum. The country planned to increase its output by 2020, and also embarked on restructuring the industry.
FORREST
In Angola, forests cover close to 18.4% of the nation's total area and form one of the country's most critical natural resources. One of Angola's significant forests is the Maiombe forest which is situated in Cabinda. Some of the trees exported from Angola include cypress, pines, and eucalyptus.
FISH
One of Angola's most important natural resources is fish. The importance of fishing to the Angolan economy dates back to the colonial period. During the early 1970s, government records indicate that there were close to 700 fishing vessels within Angola's territorial waters. At the time, nearly 300,000 tons of fish were caught each year within Angola's waters. The civil war greatly diminished the value of Angola's fishing sector. Like most of the country's industries, the government has invested vast sums of money in ensuring that the fishing industry is revitalized. As part of its revitalization program, the Angolan government allows foreign nations to fish within its territorial waters. Some of the foreign nations that are allowed to fish in Angola's waters include Italy, Japan and Spain.
DIAMONDS
Diamonds are the most vital of Angola's mineral resources. Angola's modern diamond mining industry traced its roots to the colonial petiod in 1912 when significant deposits of diamond were found in the country's northeastern edge near a region known as Lunda. During the colonial period, diamond mining in Angola was carried out by an independent company known as Diamang, After the nation attained its independence, the government put in place a law to ensure that only it had the right to exploit the country's mineral resources. During the civil war, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola targeted the diamond mining industry, and due to its attacks, the industry was crippled. The organization managed to cripple diamond mining in the most important region, along the Cuango River. To combat the organization, the government strengthened the security around the Cuango River, and mining could resume in the region. After the civil war, the Angolan government was able to put in place different measures to strengthen i its diamond mining industry. One of the measures that it implemented was putting in place an anti-smuggling campaign dubbed Operation Brilliant. The operation was relatively successful as it led to the apprehension of more than 250,000 smugglers over three years from 2003 to 2006. Before the operation was put in place, it was estimated that diamond smuggling cost the government of Angola approximately $350million worth of revenue in losses.
COFFEE
Since the colonial era, coffee has been one of Angola's most important natural resources. During the colonial era, Angola was one of the world's leading producers of coffee. During this period, coffee was mainly grown in the northwestern edge of the country. Angola's civil war neatly decimated the nation's coffee industry since most of the Portuguese coffee farmers fled to Brazil. At the end of the civil war, the government immediately instituted reforms in the coffee sector in an attempt to return production to colonial levels. Industry experts believe that the relevant reforms are likely to cost the government $230 million. One of the main reforms meant to revitalize the coffee sector is the improvement of the transport sector particularly the roads.
MINERALS
Angola is considered to be one of the richest African nations regarding mineral resources. Some of Angola's most important minerals include diamonds, iron ore, manganese, and tin. The mining industry is one of Angola's most important in the country due to the high quality of the country's minerals.
NIGERIA'S NATURAL RESOURCES
The Proven Nigeria oil reserves are 23 Billion barrels; the gas reserves are 160 Trillion cubic meters. Nigeria is one of those countries in Africa that has a wide variety of different natural resources including Oil and Gas. Nigeria is richly endowed with a variety of Natural Resources ranging from precious metals and various stones to industrial such as Barites, Gypsum, Kaolin and Marble. Most of these are yet to be exploited. Statistically, the level of exploitation of these minerals is very low in relation to the extent of deposits found in the country. One of the objectives of the new National Policy on Solid Minerals is to ensure the orderly development of the mineral resources of the country. There are tremendous opportunities for investments in the solid mineral sector of the Nigerian economy. Prospecting licenses for investors (both local and foreign) to participate in the exploitation of the vast mineral resources in Nigeria is granted by the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
SOME SOLID MINERAL DEPOSITS IN NIGERIA
- Gypsum Gold
- Iron Ore
- Bitumen
- Lead/Zinc
- Coal
- Bentonite and Baryte
- Rock Salt Gemstones
