"Structural reforms will contribute to economic recovery from 2020," a year in which the forecast points to expansion of 2.8 percent, reads the report on African Economic Prospects, released this Thursday in Abidjan, the headquarters of the ADB, which also reports that last year Angola's GDP is expected to have fallen 0.1 percent to 2.3 percent in 2021.
"Strategic investments in infrastructure, human capital and credit markets should diversify Angola's economy and generate international reserves, since around 98 percent of exports are oil and diamonds," the document notes.
In the chapter dedicated to Angola, the bank noted that "government support for diversification of exports and import substitution is identifying priority sectors to benefit from these initiatives, under the credit support programme announced in May 2019" and added that "improving investments in energy will stimulate growth.
This year's report, under the subheading 'Developing the African Labour Force for the Future', reports that in Angola, "the low qualification of the labour force is hindering private investment and economic diversification, with only 15 percent of girls and 21 percent of young people finishing secondary school.
Structural reforms and macroeconomic stabilization must be at the base of economic recovery, diversification and job creation," the ADB argues, warning that "the probability of more private investment and participation of this sector in the economy is limited, but should improve under the privatisation programme announced in August 2019.
