Cuanza-Norte province requires more bank branches, particularly in its most productive agricultural municipalities, according to provincial governor João Diogo Gaspar, who warned that the absence of banking infrastructure in those areas reflects a failure of strategic vision.
Speaking in Ndalatando on Friday, Gaspar identified the municipalities of Ambaca, Quinculungo, Ngonguembo, Bolongongo, Samba Cajú and Banga as priority locations for new banking services, describing them as highly productive localities that are currently underserved by the financial sector.
The governor was outlining the provincial government's development strategy and economic potential for Cuanza-Norte during a podcast produced under the project 'Know Local Administration Through the Governor's Voice', an initiative implemented by Angola's National School of Public Administration.
Gaspar singled out Samba Cajú as a compelling case for banking expansion, noting that the municipality has significant potential in maize, beans, soya and coffee cultivation, making it — in his words — 'a good space' for a bank branch that could generate strong returns.
He further emphasised that Samba Cajú records the highest output of cocoa and coffee in the entire province, alongside other crops, reinforcing his argument that the presence of a bank there would be commercially justified as well as developmentally necessary.
The governor stressed that the need for greater banking coverage extends across the province as a whole, not solely to the municipalities he named, and called for urgent action to bridge the gap between available financial services and economic activity on the ground.
Gaspar also directed a call to action at the commercial banks already operating in Cuanza-Norte, urging them to step up lending to the private sector, which he described as the engine of the economy.
'It is necessary for banks to believe more in the private business sector and to finance farmers and other local entrepreneurs in the agricultural and hospitality sectors,' he said.
Cuanza-Norte currently hosts a limited banking network. In addition to a branch of the National Bank of Angola (BNA), the province is served by Banco Internacional de Crédito (BIC), Banco Angolano de Investimento (BAI), Banco Millennium Atlântico, Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA) and Banco de Poupança e Crédito (BPC) — with the majority of these institutions concentrated in the provincial capital, Ndalatando.
Cuanza-Norte is one of Angola's 21 provinces, located in the north-central region of the country, with its administrative capital in the city and municipality of Cazengo.
Source: ANGOP / Original article: https://www.angop.ao/noticias/economia/cuanza-norte-precisa-de-mais-instituicoes-bancarias-governador/
