With a stock of assets corresponding to 70 billion Kz (US$6.8 billion), Angola is now the third largest financial market in sub-Saharan Africa, surpassed only by Nigeria and South Africa. According to the Angolan Minister of Economy, Abraão Gourgel, the financial market of the country grew modestly from 2002 and now lies in third place at the level of sub-Saharan Africa.
Tourism is restarting on the heels of the long ended stop in the civil war, and very few tourists venture anywhere in Angola yet due to lack of infrastructure.
Transportation:
Transportation infrastructure in Angola includes:
- Three separate railway systems totaling 1,716 miles.
- 47,613 miles of highway of which 11,903 miles is paved.
- 1,295 navigable inland waterways.
- Eight major sea ports.
- 243 airports, of which 32 are paved.
Air:
Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport, is the main international airport of Angola. It is located in the southern part of the capital Luanda, situated in the Luanda Province. Quatro de Fevereiro means 4 February, which is an important national holiday in Angola, marking the start of the armed struggle against the Portuguese colonial regime on 4 February 1961. In 2009, about 1.8 million passengers were counted.
The airport started to be constructed in 1951, to serve the capital of the then Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola. It was inaugurated in 1954, by the Portuguese President Craveiro Lopes. In honor to him, the official name of the airport became President Craveiro Lopes Airport (Aeroporto Presidente Craveiro Lopes). In August 1975 the airport hosted tens of thousands of mostly white Portuguese Angolans in transit, camping at the airport ahead of fleeing to Lisbon via “Operation Air Bridge“. Following the independence of Angola from Portugal in November 1975, the airport was re-baptized Quatro de Fevereiro Internacional Airport.
The airport resides at an elevation of 243 feet above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 05/23 is 12,192 feet × 148 feet and 07/25 is 8,530 feet × 197 feet. Starting no earlier than 2020, the airport will be replaced by the new Angola International Airport. Construction work has already started, but its opening was postponed due to financial difficulties on the part of the Angolan government.
Airlines Destinations
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Namibia Windhoek–Hosea Kutako
Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa
Kenya Airways Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca, Libreville