Over the past five years, Angola has received 596 investment proposals valued at around $21.8 billion, with investors from China accounting for 80% of the total, according to the president of the Angolan Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (AIPEX), Arlindo das Chagas Rangel.
While Portuguese companies submitted only 72 proposals valued at $92.6 million, Chinese investors dominated the market, highlighting China’s growing influence in the Angolan economy. This strong interest reflects Beijing’s strategy of securing priority access to energy and mineral resources in Africa.
According to the Ecofin Agency, Angola has adopted a new private investment law to strengthen the framework for attracting financing, reducing minimum capital requirements, facilitating the repatriation of capital, and eliminating the 35% local participation requirement for investors.
The country’s vast oil reserves and growing mining potential make it a strategic target for China, which has been giving increasing priority to long-term resource security amid pressures on global supply chains.
Investments in infrastructure, privatization programs, and mining concessions offer Chinese companies strategic entry points into high-value sectors, including energy, transportation, and industrial minerals.
Reforms in Angola open doors to foreign investors
Competition for Africa’s resources is intensifying. The privatization of more than 100 public companies in Angola since 2019, along with reforms such as the One-Stop Investment Shop and the new private investment law, has improved transparency, simplified processes, and reduced minimum capital requirements.
Projects such as the Lobito Corridor, a 1,300-kilometer railway line connecting the port of Lobito to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, illustrate how strategic infrastructure is improving access to resources and regional trade.
The United States (US) and Russia are also seeking opportunities in the country’s energy and mining sectors, but China’s combination of state-backed financing, infrastructure expertise, and willingness to make long-term concessions gives it an advantage.
African nations with abundant oil and mineral reserves are increasingly seen as strategic assets, essential for energy security, industrial production, and geopolitical influence.
As Angola continues to modernize its investment framework and expand its mining and energy sectors, China’s dominance in investment proposals underscores the growing role of Asian capital in Africa and the intensifying competition for the continent’s natural wealth.
