"There is no great alternative for the Angolan economy. It has to rely on oil revenues to finance diversification and enable the development of an economy in which there are other exports besides oil," said José Miguel Cerdeira.
In an interview with Lusa regarding the Angola Oil & Gas conference, which is taking place this week in Luanda, the BFA chief economist argued that although the energy transition and economic diversification are progressing in Angola, the country is still very dependent not only on oil revenues in terms of value, but also on what it represents for the quality of life of Angolans.
"Oil is important for what it represents and for the foreign currency it brings, because if there is less foreign currency, the exchange rate depreciates or there is a shortage and this worsens the quality of life and purchasing power of Angolans," he pointed out, adding that the impact is also negative for companies.
"The ability of companies to finance their activities is greatly conditioned by lower oil revenues," he stressed, noting that although exports of Angolan goods or the substitution of imports are increasing, this process will still take many years.
"I hope there are still 15 or 20 years of relevant oil exports in terms of value, because if non-oil and non-diamond exports are worth 50 million dollars per month, that is very little compared to imports of 1.2 billion dollars per month," he explained.
The economist gave the example that "if these exports grow at the rate they have been growing up to 2021, they will need five years to reach 100 million dollars, which is the level of diamonds, and 10 years to represent a third of current imports."
Oil, therefore, will continue to be central to the Angolan economy: "If this is not the case, the living conditions of people who need to import goods and services will be even worse, in addition to the very difficult conditions in which Angolan families are currently living, it would be worse and in crisis, because the country is dependent on what the market dictates about the price of oil", he concluded.
The Angola Oil & Gas Conference will be held at the Talatona Convention Centre on Wednesday and Thursday and is considered "Angola's main event for the oil and gas sector, with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Oil and Gas, Sonangol, the African Energy Chamber and the Petroleum Derivatives Regulatory Institute."
With the theme 'Boosting Exploration and Development Towards Increased Production in Angola', the conference brings together the entire value chain of the sector to discuss the way forward for the industry, according to the conference website, which recalls that last year more than 2200 delegates from 41 countries were received and seven agreements were signed.