We are Shooting Ourselves in the Foot

By Jorge de Morais General Manager – Kaeso Energy Services

The recent decision to maintain the prohibition on paying Angolan service companies in U.S. dollars within the oil and gas sector is not just a policy choice, it is a strategic misstep with far-reaching consequences.

While the intention behind defending the Kwanza is understandable, the current approach is economically self-defeating. It penalizes those creating real value within the country, the local service providers, while favoring international players whose revenues are protected in strong currencies. This creates a structural disadvantage for Angolan enterprises and runs directly counter to the country’s objectives of diversification, industrialization, and local content development.

1. You Don’t Defend a Currency by Isolating It. You Anchor It in Real Wealth

A strong national currency is not built through restrictions or prohibition. It is built on trust, productivity, and underlying economic value. For Angola, this value lies in:

• Our abundant mineral and energy resources.
• Our potential to build competitive, transformative industries in-country.
• And our capacity to develop a diversified, export-oriented economy.

To defend Kwanza, we must go beyond rhetoric and link it to real, in-country economic engines. One such mechanism could be the pegging of the Kwanza to Angola’s mineral resource base, paired with strategic investment in local refining, manufacturing, and industrial capacity.

A currency becomes valuable when it is backed by real assets and productive capacity not when it is protected by closing the door on those trying to create that value.

2. Unfair Competition: Favoring Foreign Firms Over Local Champions

The current policy creates an unfair marketplace where international service providers, paid in USD, enjoy stable revenue streams, predictable costs, and higher competitiveness while local companies are exposed to volatile exchange rates, margin erosion, and limited access to foreign currency.

In practice, this means:

• The Angolan market boosts the strength of foreign currencies and the economies of origin of international companies.
• While local companies struggle to survive let alone grow, invest, or scale up their operations.

This is the opposite of what a national development strategy should aim for.

If our policies strengthen external players and weaken our own we are not defending our economy. We are handing it over.

3. We Cannot Diversify Our Economy by Disabling It

Angola has declared a clear intention to diversify its economy, reduce dependence on oil exports, and build local and regional champions in key industries. But how can we do that when:

• Local service providers are locked out of dollar-denominated transactions.
• Talent and capital are fleeing into more flexible markets.
• Millions of dollars generated in Angola remain parked offshore.

This is a system that rewards external structures and punishes domestic capacity. It stifles innovation and drives away entrepreneurs who could be building the next generation of Angolan industry leaders.

Diversification cannot happen without local empowerment.

4. A Rational Policy Would Use the Dollar Strategically

We are not calling for the wholesale dollarization of the Angolan economy. We are calling for a balanced, intelligent approach.

Allowing companies to receive dollar payments exclusively to cover import needs, equipment purchases, and international service costs would:

• Increase transparency and reduce the use of offshore structures.
• Bring more dollars into the formal banking system.
• Enable better tax collection and reserve accumulation.
• And create a more level playing field for local enterprises.

This is not about losing control of monetary policy, it’s about using it to create the conditions for local growth.

5. The Role of the State Is Not to Punish Competitiveness — It’s to Enable It

“You don’t develop a nation by restraining those who are building it.”

By preventing Angolan firms from competing on equal terms with international players, we are undermining the very agents capable of transforming our economy from within.

This policy is not just about currency, it’s about whether we believe in our own people and in our own capacity to grow.

If Angola is serious about building a diversified economy, attracting investment, and retaining its best talent, then we must stop placing artificial barriers in the path of national productivity.

6. Conclusion: Angola Must Choose Growth Over Control

Let us be clear: we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

A national currency is not protected through isolation, it is strengthened by anchoring it in the real economy, empowering its entrepreneurs, and allowing productive value to flow through formal channels.

This is a call for pragmatism, not ideology. For trust, not control. For building value here, rather than exporting it away.

The Angolan private sector is ready to do its part. Now, we ask for a policy framework that allows us and our economy to breathe.

Jorge de Morais is the General Manager of Kaeso Energy Services and a committed advocate for local content, industrial growth, and fair economic opportunities in Africa.