For the vice-president of the AIA, Eliseu Gaspar, the scenario of closure and suspension of activities of Angolan industries "is a consequence of a non-diversified national production, because until now the Angolan economy revolved around oil".
The official recalled that when the war in Ukraine broke out, oil was on the rise, "but lately the price has dropped, exceeding the level proposed in the OGE [General State Budget]", he stressed.
"Therefore, there is this consequence, there are no exports, there is no internal production that serves as a balance for the currencies that come from the sale of oil and this is the result", said Eliseu Gaspar, in statements to Lusa.
"It is worrying, because there are companies closing and, for the most part, the industries that make up our business fabric live on imports, the raw materials are all imported and to import you need foreign exchange, we are talking about industries and even the own population", he stressed.
Angolan brewer Nocal, belonging to the French group Castel, which also produces Cuca, has temporarily suspended its activity due to lack of foreign currency for the import of raw material and Eka, from the same business group, should also stop for an indefinite period, reported the weekly Expansão.
According to the economic publication, the lack of foreign exchange for importing raw materials conditions the maintenance of production at both factories and constitutes the reasons for the suspension of activities.
Lusa tried to contact the Castel group for more information, with no response so far.
The AIA says it is aware of the reality of both breweries, a concern that, according to Eliseu Gaspar, "is not new".
"Therefore, this is just a consequence of this exchange rate instability that our country is going through at the moment", he stressed, admitting that the current situation could lead to the closure of more companies.
"If preventive measures are not taken and solutions are found to stabilize the supply of foreign exchange, we could watch other industries close or suspend their activity", he observed.
He also defended the intervention of the National Bank of Angola in the market, as a preventive measure to curb the shortage of foreign exchange, as well as the need for oil companies operating in the country to make purchases in the local market.
"What we are witnessing now is that all purchases by oil companies are made abroad and also payments are made, all in foreign currency, here they only make residual expenses, but the bulk of the foreign exchange is not seen", he pointed out.
"And, finally, we really set out to diversify the economy, duly oriented, with the computerization of procedures obeying a logical sequence of actions to be carried out in the most varied branches of activity in order to have the situation stabilized", concluded the vice-president of Angola's industrialists.