Africa-Press – Angola. Angola and some African countries continue to import most of their agricultural products from outside the continent, due to poor connectivity between African markets, low mechanisation of subsistence farming and declining integration of the agri-food value chain, revealed yesterday in Luanda the head of the Department of Studies and Market Monitoring of the Competition Regulatory Authority (ARC). Guy Kialanda, who was speaking during the public presentation of the Study on Trade Flow Patterns and Value Chain in the Agricultural and Agro-Processing Sector, pointed out that poor connectivity between African markets remains one of the biggest obstacles to trade integration on the continent.
The official gave the example of over 90 percent of the wheat imported by Angola originating outside Africa, a scenario that is repeated in many other countries on the continent.
The study, which began in 2023 and ended in 2024, also covers the period from 2017 to 2022, presenting a detailed analysis of the agricultural and agro-industrial reality in Angola.According to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), family farming represented around 89 percent of the country’s agricultural holding area by 2022.
For Guy Kialanda, this is essentially a subsistence type of production, with low levels of mechanization and few technical qualifications among farm workers.
The expert defended the need to improve logistics infrastructures and expand access to credit, both domestic and foreign, to facilitate agricultural operators.
Role of the ARC
The official clarified that the ARC does not implement measures, but rather formulates guidelines to be considered by the competent bodies of a cross-cutting nature. He highlighted that the body collects concerns from its main stakeholders to forward to the responsible ministerial entities.
To reduce imports and stimulate national production, Guy Kialanda argued that imports should not be forcibly stopped, because in his opinion this could result in a shortage of goods in the domestic market, since purchases are mostly external. ARC’s proposal is to improve the connection between producers and consumers, creating a functional market environment that encourages the natural replacement of imports with national products.
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