The new 200 kwanzas, 500 kwanzas, 1000 kwanzas, 2000 kwanzas and 5000 kwanzas banknotes enter the market in stages until January 2021.
Blue, brown, pink, green and lilac, from the lowest to the highest denomination, are the predominant colours of the banknotes presented this Tuesday in Luanda.
The 200 kwanzas banknote will be the first banknote to enter into circulation on 30 July, then it will gradually follow the 500 kwanzas banknote on 17 September, the 1000 kwanzas banknote on 1 October, the 2000 kwanzas banknote on 11 November and the 5000 kwanzas banknote in January 2021.
According to the BNA, the new 200 kwanzas to 2000 kwanzas banknotes, made of polymer material (plastic), contain "innovative security features that prevent counterfeiting, have greater durability and show lower levels of wear and deterioration".
The 5000 kwanzas banknote, with the highest denomination of the 2020 series, is made of cotton material and also has "high security" elements such as a security thread and watermark with the representation of the figure of the "Thinker", symbol of Angolan culture.
The new series of the Angolan coin does not include the 10,000 kwanza banknote as initially planned.
It is a common feature on the reverse side of all banknotes the insignia of the Republic, the geographic and cultural diversity of Angola, as well as a microtext with the full letter of the National Anthem of Angola "Angola Avante".
Without the face of the former President, José Eduardo dos Santos, as in the notes of the 2012 series, the "new family of the kwanza" will simultaneously live with the old notes "until the BNA understands that conditions are in place to put an end to its legal course".
With a size of 120 to 138 centimetres, the new kwanza banknotes also have a raised print that allows them to be identified with tactile perception, especially for the visually impaired.
The 2020 series does not include coins, only banknotes. The 2012 series of coins, namely 5 kwanzas, 10 kwanzas, 20 kwanzas, 50 kwanzas and 100 kwanzas "remain valid and in circulation".
For the Angolan central bank, the kwanza has assumed the role of one of the identity elements of the Angolan nation, "deserving the confidence of the whole society that must be reinforced with continuous improvements that protect its integrity".
