The first EU-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement

Today, the EU and Angola signed the Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (SIFA), the first EU agreement, at the EU-Angola Business Forum in Luanda. This is a response to Angola’s ambition to diversify its economy beyond the oil and gas sector, which has historically attracted the majority of foreign investment.

Through its commitment to improving the business environment and economic sustainability, the agreement is expected to attract new EU investment in sectors where Angola’s potential is currently untapped. The EU-Angola Business Forum confirmed investment opportunities, especially in the areas of green energy, agri-food value chains, digital innovation, fisheries, logistics and critical raw materials.

The main objective is to increase sustainable investment by EU companies in Angola, so that Angolan companies benefit from support measures and better relations between foreign investors and domestic suppliers.

In summary, the EU-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement will contribute to attracting and expanding investment by focusing on the following aspects:

• Increasing the transparency and predictability of investment-related measures, for example by publishing all investment rules and regulations and encouraging the use of a single investor information portal
• Simplify investment approval procedures and support electronic public administration
• Support of interaction between investors and management, establishment of points of contact and consultation with stakeholders The parties

The EU-Angola SIFA Agreement also includes, through specific provisions, environmental, climate and labor rights commitments in EU-Angola relations, including:

• Commitment not to weaken environmental or labor laws and standards to attract investment
• Commitment to the effective implementation of international labor and environmental agreements, including the Paris Agreement
• Support corporate social responsibility and responsible business practices
• Increase bilateral cooperation in aspects of climate change and gender equality in investment

The EU will provide technical support to help implement the EU-Angola SIFA and help improve Angola’s investment environment for foreign and local investors, including SMEs. The new €2.8 million regional program created by the EU in collaboration with UNCTAD will help Angola identify priority implementation needs, followed by specific measures to support trade and investment in the country and meet SIFA commitments.

Today’s signing of the agreement strengthens the EU’s bilateral relations with Angola and at the same time is a strong signal of the EU’s ambition to deepen cooperation with the African continent in line with the Global Gateway strategy. By improving the national regulatory framework, SIFA will help attract more sustainable investment to Angola, which is also the goal of the Global Gateway strategy and its projects.

This development is in line with the Commission’s commitment expressed in its 2021 Trade Policy Review to “propose new sustainable investment initiatives to partners or region in Africa and the Southern Environment’ which shares the same ambitions. This initiative will help strengthen sustainable trade and investment ties between the two continents and within Africa itself, thereby meeting the main objectives of EU-Africa relations.

The next step

Following the signing of the agreement, the EU and Angola will notify each other of the completion of their respective internal procedures, including the European Parliament’s approval for side EU.

Context

Angola is the EU’s sixth investment destination in Africa and accounted for 7% of EU foreign direct investment in the continent in 2021, equivalent to €14.1 billion. ^{Angola’s investment in the EU in 2021 reached 3.5 billion euros. The EU is Angola’s main trade and investment partner.}

On November 18, 2022 the EU and Angola complete negotiations on the Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (SIFA). On 9 October 2023, the Council of the European Union adopted a decision on authorization to sign this agreement.

Further information

Text of the EU-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (in English)

EU-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement fact sheet

An informative overview of investment facilitation in Africa

Trade negotiations between the EU and Angola

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