Angola Bean Purchases are made by Elite Class Buyers

A recently concluded trade mission to Angola reveals that the country continues to struggle with access to currency as oil prices remain low and Kwnaza to dollar conversion is restricted. Historically Angola has been one of the world’s leading dry bean importers, buying 50-60,000 mt/yr of mostly pinto and black beans from Canada, USA and Mexico but the current situation has seen bean purchases all but dry up. However, with elections this fall, the Angolan government, in order to moderate popular criticism in the run-up to the October 2017 presidential elections, is making foreign currency available to certain companies with close ties to government and military leaders specifically for the importation of basic food items such as beans, corn, rice, wheat flour, chicken hindquarters, oil and sugar. This has created a dual system whereby importers with government connections and very little experience are doing almost all of the importing of basic commodities and traditional companies have continued to face tight foreign currency restrictions. Traditional importers are unable to compete with these new importers and must now sell products below cost in order to maintain market share and generate cash flow.

The same trade mission made a stop in Mozambique and learned that dry beans are an important crop and food item in the country. Mozambique does not publish production figures but it looks to be fairly self-sufficient in bean production, mostly ccowpeas, pigeon peas and various common beans (white, black and colored). Customs figures show that Mozambique imports some beans commercially from South Africa and Portugal, and sometimes for food aid from the US.

Market year (April-March) exports to Angola of all pulses (customs code 0713) of which 99% are beans (Source global Trade Atlas).