The Angola SDG Investor Map highlights key investment opportunities to accelerate the SDGs

8 de July de 2024

Context

The report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) released in May 2024 highlighted that only seventeen per cent of SDGs targets with trend data are on track to be achieved. Nearly half are showing minimal or moderate progress, and progress on over a third has stalled or even regressed.

The SDG financing and investment gaps are wide. The Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2024 estimated that developing countries need between $2.5 trillion and $4 trillion annually to fill those gaps. The UN Secretary-General launched the SDG Stimulus, a call for action for a significant increase in financing for sustainable development of at least $500 billion per year.

Within this context, the private sector plays a crucial role in meeting the SDG financing and investment gaps. To accelerate private sector activity and investment towards the SDGs, this SDG Impact initiative is being launched.

The SDG Investor Map is a market intelligence tool that provides private investors with information on investment opportunities and business models that respond to both advancing the SDG needs and prioritiesthat are aligned with government policies and sustainable national development needs.

The Angola SDG Investor Map

The Angola SDG Investor Map was elaborated in partnership between the Ministry of Planning, the Angolan Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (AIPEX) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Drawing on the consultation of over two 200 stakeholders from 86 entities – including ministries, business associations, development partners, UN agencies, civil society and academia – nine Investment Opportunity Areas (IOAs) were identified in Food and Beverage, Renewable Energy, Infrastructure, the Financial Sector and Tourism (see Table below). The detailed information on the IOAs will be released on the SDG Investor Platform, which already includes over 600 IOAs from more than forty countries across the world.

The Angolan Map also includes eight IOAs that are considered as emerging because they are aligned with the national development needs; there has been limited progress in policy development and significant private sector involvement, primarily due to the absence of viable business models, or a combination of both factors.

Table 1. Investment Opportunity Areas identified in the Angola SDG Investor Map

The Angola SDG Investor Map highlights four national strategic initiatives to stimulate private investments: the National Plan to Promote Grain Production (PLANAGRAO), the National Plan for the Promotion and Development of Livestock (PLANAPECUARIA), the National Plan for the Promotion of Fisheries (PLANAPESCAS) and the National Plan for the Promotion of Tourism (PLANATUR). These plans are complemented by the Private Investment Law which includes fiscal incentives to companies investing in specific sectors and regions.

Notably, Angola is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and has joined the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The country also benefits from trade-related international support measures for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The Map highlights that Angola is emerging as an attractive investment destination due to progressive improvements in the business environment and favorable market conditions such as peace, stability, natural resources and strategic geography.

On the flip side, some potential reforms noted by the stakeholders, include a revision of the Land Law to facilitate access to agricultural investments, enhancement of technical assistance and access to credit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), improvement of the Single Investment Window and strengthening alternative dispute resolution, to name a few.

The publication of the SDG Investor Map is anticipated to catalyze forming partnerships among private, philanthropic, and public actors, facilitating business and investment meetings, especially business-to-business engagements. This could create a pipeline for impact investments involving the private sector and financiers.

UNDP remains committed to collaborating with the Ministry of Planning, AIPEX and all stakeholders to scale up private investments in Angola while enhancing their impact on the SDGs.

By: Lorenzo Mancini, UNDP Economist