Economic diversification has long been at the top of Angola’s agenda, but so far government plans have delivered little. While the country's non-oil economy is growing, it is not doing so quickly enough to create jobs on a large scale.
It was hoped that a controversial new customs regime introduced on March 1 would change the situation by kick-starting Angola's domestic manufacturing and agricultural output. The new system applies hefty import tariffs of up to 50% on various items and thus encourages them to be produced domestically.
