Social Protection

Building social protection floors
and comprehensive social security systems

Angola

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Situation and Priorities

Social protection situation

Social protection coverage is low in Angola, with only 9.2 per cent of the total population benefiting from at least one form of social protection (excluding health) (SDG Indicator 1.3.1, 2022), six percentage points below the average in sub-Saharan Africa (15.4 per cent, 2023). In 2023, Angola spent just 1.1 per cent of its GDP on social protection (SDG 1.a.2), down from 1.4 per cent in 2019 and nearly one percentage point below the sub-Saharan African average of 2 per cent.

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. This legislation structures the social protection system into three levels: basic social protection (non-contributory), compulsory social protection (contributory), and complementary social protection (contributory). The law is currently being updated (2024-25), with social partners and civil society involved in consultations.

Non-contributory

A National Policy for Social Action was adopted in 2023, following an 18-month Assessment Based National Dialogue (ABND) process, with the Ministry of Social Action, Family and Promotion (MASFAMU) responsible for its coordination and implementation.

In a country where 41.6 per cent (2022) of the population lives below the national poverty line, non-contributory social protection covers just 5 per cent of the poor population, of which only 2 per cent of the poor received a non-contributory cash transfer in 2022 through the Kwenda programme (294,300 beneficiaries). The programme, launched by the government through the Social Action Fund (FAS – under the Ministry of Territorial Administration) with support from the World Bank, provided cash transfers to over 1 million low-income households in rural and underprivileged communities from 2020-2024. It also strengthened the unique social registry (CSU), with over 4.7 million beneficiaries now migrated onto the Social Action information and management system (SIGAS). A second phase of Kwenda with an expanded scope will begin in 2025.

Contributory

Currently comprising family benefits, maternity protection, old-age and survivors’ pensions, it is administered by the National Social Security Institute (INSS) under the Ministry of Labour, Public Administration and Social Security (MAPTSS). Despite an annual growth rate of over 7 per cent from 2018-2022 for individuals covered by compulsory social protection, overall coverage in Angola remains low due to widespread informality (79.9 per cent of employment in 2022), affecting mostly women (almost 90 per cent) and rural areas (over 95 per cent). Only 13.8 per cent of the labour force is covered, with the government aiming to reach 31 per cent by 2027 in the National Development Plan 2023-27. Work is currently ongoing (2025) for the possible introduction of unemployment protection, invalidity pensions, and sickness benefits.

Significant gender disparities persist, partly due to women's overrepresentation in the informal economy. Male pension coverage (20.3 per cent) is nearly three times higher than female coverage (7.7 per cent), reflecting broader inequalities in access to social protection.

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

  • Weak economic dynamics—an unstable economy dependent on oil revenues.
  • High debt and inflation—these weaken the country's ability to generate fiscal revenues domestically, limiting effective investment in the sector.
  • A bureaucratic administrative structure that makes it difficult for effective social protection governance, affecting coordination between institutions and limiting the potential for the integration of both contributory and non-contributory schemes.
     
    • See also ISSA country profiles
    COVID-19 and other crises

    The COVID-19 crisis, worsened in Angola by falling oil prices, led to a 4.1 per cent economic decline in 2020, according to IMF. In response, the government enacted legislative reforms, including the National Policy for Social Action (PNAS) and its Operationalization Strategy in 2021, to mitigate the crisis. Key measures included the APROSOC project, piloting decentralized social protection models; the municipalization of social services to support vulnerable populations; the Valor Criança cash transfer programme for children; and the expansion of Integrated Social Assistance Centres (CASIs) from six to over 50. Additionally, the KWENDA project, backed by the World Bank and domestic funds, provides monthly cash transfers of 8,500 kwanzas (US$13, which currently is around US$25) while developing a national Single Registry (SIGASSIG) for efficient social protection management.

    Visit the Social Protection COVID-19 Monitor
    Government and social partner priorities

    The National Development Plan (NDP) 2023-2027 aims to extend social protection coverage to at least 31 per cent of the economically active population by 2022. It aims to achieve this through:

    • improving analytical capacity to verify data irregularities through the use of more sophisticated software and staff training.
    • improving the coordination and sharing of data between the INSS, AGT, and other entities, in order to better monitor irregularities in terms of contributions to the SS.
    • carrying out nationwide awareness campaigns on the importance of the social security system.
    • carrying out inspections in companies to check the formalization status of employed workers.
    • promoting the formalization of business cooperatives.
    • reducing SS debt through enforced debt collection.
    • creating various legal regimes, namely the eventuality of illness, absolute incapacity, the system of verification system in conjunction with the Ministry, unemployment protection, non-contributory benefits (allowances/subsidies), etc. benefits (allowances/subsidies), the regulation of Presidential Legislative Decree no. 2/19 (collection of debts owed to SS) and the validity of SS acts and electronic processing.
    • revising the legal regimes for the eventuality of death, family benefits, SS crimes and contraventions, statute and career of the SS inspection services, technical reserves and assets of the SS (SS Stabilization Fund) and economic incentives.

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    Results

    Angola has launched the 1st Bulletin of Social Protection Statistics of Angola in December 2024, which aims to present the evolution of social protection coverage in the 2018-2022 period and to serve as an important source of information for evaluating the public policies developed in this period, which coincides with the implementation of the National Development Plan (PDN 2018-2022).

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    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

    US$ 4,000,000

    Formalize 1 million rural agricultural workers through providing access to social security, including through partnering with agri-processing companies to support formalizing workers in their supply chains.

    Support the ILO

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