Angola’s food processing sector recorded an 11% growth in January this year, after expanding by 16% in the last quarter of 2025, the Minister of State for Economic Coordination, José de Lima Massano, announced on Monday in Luanda.
The official was speaking to the press during the inauguration of the Rafinole project, an integrated industrial complex for the refining, processing and packaging of vegetable oils, fats and food ingredients, located in the municipality of Cacuaco.
According to José Massano, these indicators reflect the country’s path toward economic transformation and the strengthening of food security.
He reiterated the Government’s commitment to integrating the agricultural and industrial sectors in order to reduce the need to import raw materials, in line with the Executive’s strategies for import substitution and the strengthening of exports.
The Minister of State highlighted that food products are essential goods and noted that investments such as the newly inaugurated industrial unit have been increasing. He also announced that additional factories are expected to begin operations later this year, which will contribute to stabilising the prices of essential goods.
He added that a tomato paste processing unit is being prepared in the Namibe province, alongside other initiatives under the “Transforma Aqui” programme, which is being implemented nationwide by the Agricultural Development Support Fund (FADA).
Massano also recalled that inflation is still heavily influenced by food products. For this reason, he stressed that creating conditions for greater autonomy in domestic production and ensuring a regular supply of food would help stabilise prices across the economy.
Regarding national production, he also highlighted that some industrial units are increasing their capacity and approaching the limits of their installed production capacity.
The Rafinole integrated industrial complex for refining, processing and packaging vegetable oils, fats and food ingredients has a production capacity of 110,000 tonnes per year.
Owned by the Webcor group, the complex has been operating on a trial basis for several months and has an installed daily refining capacity of 400 tonnes of crude vegetable oil, 18,000 tonnes per year of margarine and vegetable fats, 6,000 tonnes of mayonnaise and related condiments, and 7,000 tonnes of vinegar. It also includes a bottling system capable of processing up to 480,000 tonnes of oil.
The project represents an investment of 90 million dollars, part of which—26.4 billion kwanzas—was financed by Standard Bank under Notice No. 10/2024 issued by the National Bank of Angola (BNA), which sets the rules for credit to the national real sector.
In its first phase, the project created 130 direct jobs, with the expectation of reaching 400 by the end of the year.
Source: Angop
