Angola

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Situation and Priorities

Social protection situation

The Basic Law on Social Protection (Law 7/04 of October 15, 2004),is the main social protection policy in Angola, providing the first legal framework to organize the sector. As such, this legislation structures the social protection system in three levels: basic social protection; compulsory social protection; and complementary social protection. The last two, based on the premise of social insurance, are associated with employment and financed by the contributions of workers and their employers.

The coverage of all basic social protection programmes is minimal, covering only 5.09% of the poor population (874 261 beneficiaries) where one in every two people are poor (54% of the population lives in poverty). Additionally, the scope of the informal economy according to the “Employment Survey in Angola” (August 2022) conducted by INE, represents 79.2% of the economically active population (which is 70.5% among men and 87.8% among women, also higher in the rural area than in the urban area 95.0% vs 65.4%), which in practice means that the compulsory social protection system only benefits a minority of the employed population, accounting for 11% of the working population between 15-60 years of age, far short of Target 1.1 of Program 1.5.3 of the National Development Plan 2018-2022 which envisaged by 2022 to have 40 % of the economically active population covered by compulsory social protection schemes. 

Thus, when taking into consideration the total social protection coverage, overall, only 10% of the total population is covered by one social protection scheme compared to 17,4% in African Continent or 46.9% worldwide, with a breakdown of priority groups benefiting only 5.2% of women, 0.09% of children aged 0-4 years and 7.06% of the elderly (60 years or more) of the whole population of Angola.

Main challenges to the consolidation of the social protection system in Angola

  • Weak economic dynamics - unstable economy dependent on oil revenues
  • High Debt/Inflation - weakens its ability to generate fiscal revenues at domestic levels to effectively invest in the sector
  • Unemployment, informality and poverty high and with a tendency to increase 
  • Very low generalized levels of coverage - special attention to children's coverage 
  • Broad legal basis for all types of social protection program but volatility of the Decrees is worrying by calling into question the sustainability of the PS system 
  • Very low funding levels and difficulty in realizing the focus of funding when analysing State Budget 
  • Little information available, dispersed and confidential to formulate more sustained political options 
  • The bureaucratic administrative structure makes it difficult for effective social protection governance - affecting the coordination between institutions and limiting the potential for the integration of both contributory and non-contributory schemes
     
COVID-19 and other crises

The economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19 was aggravated in Angola due to the falling oil prices upon which the Angolan economy is dependent, with the IMF predicting growth to decline 4.1% in 2020. The Angola government made legislative reforms including the approval of a National Policy for Social Action (PNAS) and the respective Operationalization Strategy in February 2021 that would support the implementation of a range of measures to mitigate the crisis, including:

  • The Social Protection project (APROSOC), implemented by the government with funding from the European Union and technical support from UNICEF, piloted two innovative models of Social Protection in Angola 
    • Municipalisation of social services, which is a decentralized social protection service model focused mainly on social assistance/non-contributory social protection where the main objective, allowing registration and monitoring of vulnerable people, facilitating their access to basic public services already provided by the State, such as health, education, registration, justice, among others, and to social aid projects and programmes.; and
    • The cash transfer programme (Valor Criança), formulated with an universal approach to all children from 0-4 in 3 provinces of the country, with 'plus' components, meaning that caregivers and child beneficiaries had access to support services for birth registration, child education, nutritional counselling, citizenship initiatives and income-generating activities, among others.
  • The Municipalisation of Social Action (MAS) inaugurated  the country's first six Integrated Social Assistance Centres (CASIs) in 2018 under APROSOC project and now , scaled up with resources from the Government and other partners such as the World Bank as a response to COVID-19 impact and today Angola has more than 50 CASIs created;
  • The implementation of the KWENDA project marks the financial commitment the Government of Angola, through World Bank financing complemented with domestic resources, for a national cash transfer program, providing a monthly benefit of 8,500 kwanza (US$13), that allows for an increase in geographical and beneficiary coverage, as well as investment in the management and information system with the goal of having a Single Registry in the country(– SIGASSIG -registry, payments, complaint and case management mechanisms, among other functions)). 
Government and social partner priorities

The National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2022 aims to extend social protection coverage to at least 40% of the economically active population by 2022. It aims to achieve this through:

  • Promoting the social and productive re-integration of the most vulnerable and excluded groups.
  • Contributing to equitable and sustainable development, promoting the reduction of social, economic, cultural, and territorial asymmetries.
  • Re-adapting the institutional architecture supporting the social action of the Government.
  • Supporting initiatives that provide social services to people with disabilities and their families.

The NDP 2018-2022 has three programs in particular: supporting the victims of violence, improving the welfare of former combatants and Veterans, and modernizing the social insurance system. Formalizing the informal economy through the extension of social insurance is also a top priority, especially since the onset of COVID-19
 

ILO Projects and Programmes

Results

Funding gaps / Support the ILO

US$ 2,000,000

Build a Social Protection Floor with strong emphasis in more adequate, sustainable and gender-sensitive domestic social protection financing

Support the ILO

Workspaces

Multimedia

ILO Experts

IMG
Simeon Bond
Technical Officer, Social Protection
Antonio Gonga
Communication and Partnerships Officer
Lizeth Jesus Joaquim
National Project Officer
IMG
Denise Monteiro
Technical Officer