MICROCAPITAL STORY: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Angola Allocates $32m for Economic Growth Programs Which will Include Microfinance Activities and Economic Training for the Youth to be Implemented in Partnership with Banco Nacional de Angola, Chevron Corporation, and Development Workshop Angola

MacauHub, a free news service based in Macau, China, reported on February 25th that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Angola, a part of the United Nations’ (UN) global development network, has allocated USD 32 million for “programs aimed at the social and economic growth of Angola.” In particular, a two-year old poverty reduction program will benefit, which “aims to provide youngsters working in the informal market with training on the economy, making it possible for them to access credit to create their own business.” The program, for which no official name is given in the article, is in partnership with Banco Nacional de Angola (the Central Bank of Angola), the energy giant Chevron Corporation, and Development Workshop Angola (DW Angola), a non-profit organization working in Angola since 1981.

Based in the Angolan capital of Luanda as well as Benguela, the project has benefited 23,000 people since its inception in 2006 and MacauHub reports that the UNDP plans to expand the program as well as establish another one focusing on the development of sustainable businesses. Implementing the project is a local institution (name not given) which is creating group cooperatives in conjunction with the training offered. Gita Honwana Welch, the UNDP Country Director in Angola, is cited as MacauHub’s source.

The UNDP has been operating in oil-rich Angola since 1977, after an official request by the Government of Angola, and designates poverty reduction as a “key area” of its work in the country.

DW Angola is the African center of an organization of the same name based in Canada. The non-profit began microfinance activities in Luanda in 1996 practicing group-lending techniques and in 1999 DW Angola increased its microfinance activities through the Sustainable Livelihoods Project (SLP) as well as expanded to the city of Huambo in 2002 with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Mary A. Tidlund Charitable Foundation. DW Angola launched the microfinance institution (MFI) KixiCredito in November 2004 to replace the SLP.

As reported by the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse, KixiCredito is a non-profit organization which had nearly 9,100 borrowers in 2006, 64 percent of whom were women, and reported total assets of USD 5.2 million as well as a loan portfolio of USD 2.9 million. The MFI has return on assets (ROA) of 16.1 percent, a debt to equity ratio of 63.8 percent and MicroCapital last reported on KixiCredito here.

By Anthony Busch, Research Assistant

Additional Resources:

Banco Nacional de Angola: Home

Chevron Corporation: Home

Development Workshop Angola: Home, Annual Report

Development Workshop Canada: Home

MacauHub: Home, “Angola: United Nations Agency Supports Micro Businesses”, February 25, 2008

The Mary A. Tidlund Charitable Foundation: Home

MicroCapital article, February 15, 2007, “Angolan Microfinance Institution KixiCredito Gains Independence from its Canadian Nonprofit Parent Organization, Development Workshop”

Microfinance Gateway: Home, “Sustainable Livelihoods Project, Angola – Microfinance for Urban Poverty Reduction”, by Mayroux, L., Jiri, M., and Cerqueira, M., 2002

MIX Market: Home, KixiCredito

United Nations Development Programme: Home, Angola, Who is Who, Legal Authority