The history of Angolan banking is, to a large extent, intertwined with the country’s own economic and institutional development. Money, credit, deposits, payments and the ability to mobilise savings are more than merely technical matters. They are instruments of sovereignty, mechanisms for organising economic activity and essential elements of the relationship of trust between the State, institutions, businesses and citizens.

Between 1975 and 2025, Angola’s banking system underwent profound transformations. Beginning with a structure inherited from the colonial economy, it moved to a nationalised, centrally directed model, subsequently adopted a two-tier banking system, opened up to private enterprise, supported economic reconstruction following the end of the armed conflict and gradually incorporated new requirements for regulation, supervision, risk management and technological transformation.

This was not a linear journey. Banking evolved against a backdrop of war, high inflation, successive monetary reforms, dependence on oil revenues, periods of foreign exchange shortages, cycles of economic expansion and contraction, deteriorating credit quality and profound changes in the country’s productive and institutional structures. More recently, it faced the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid growth of electronic payments, increasing digital fraud and the need to strengthen cybersecurity, data governance and operational resilience.

Understanding this trajectory therefore requires more than listing banks, legislation, monetary units or financial indicators. It requires connecting institutional changes to the economic conditions in which they occurred, understanding how external shocks were transmitted to the financial system and assessing the extent to which banking modernisation has translated into greater financial depth, effective inclusion and the capacity to finance the economy. (...)

From the Introduction.

Contents

Foreword by António Bingue

Introduction

Chapter 1 — From Colonial Banking to Independence

Chapter 2 — Nationalisation and Financial Centralisation, 1975–1990

Chapter 3 — Reform and the Transition to a Market Economy, 1991–2001

Chapter 4 — Peace, Reconstruction and Banking Expansion, 2002–2008

Chapter 5 — Consolidation, Imbalances and New Risks, 2009–2014

Chapter 6 — The Oil Shock and Adjustment, 2014–2019

Chapter 7 — Banking During the Pandemic and the Recovery, 2020–2022

Chapter 8 — Uneven Recovery, Profitability and Structural Challenges, 2023–2025

Chapter 9 — Financial Inclusion: Access, Usage and Quality

Chapter 10 — Payments, Digitalisation and New Service Models

Chapter 11 — Regulation, Supervision and Financial Stability

Chapter 12 — Credit, Impairments and Asset Quality

Chapter 13 — Profitability, Efficiency and Business Models

Chapter 14 — Financing the Angolan Economy

Chapter 15 — Cybersecurity, Data and Artificial Intelligence

Chapter 16 — Horizons for the Next Decade

Conclusion — From Resilience to Economic Transformation

Glossary of Terms and Acronyms

Bibliographical References