The World Bank has published its latest Angola Economic Update, arguing that inclusive financial development is critical to translate the 2024 rebound into sustained growth and poverty reduction. The report notes that real GDP grew 4.4% in 2024, but projects average growth of 2.9% in 2025–2027, which it says is unlikely to materially lift living standards without further diversification away from oil amid heightened global uncertainty and falling oil prices. The update attributes 2024 growth to the oil sector’s recovery and diamond extraction, alongside expansion in commerce and fishing, while highlighting the legacy of prolonged stagnation including an estimated 10.4% cumulative contraction in 2016–2020. It identifies significant inequality and exclusion in access to formal financial services, particularly in rural areas, with women and older adults especially affected, and points to gaps in credit, savings, and digital financial services relative to peers. Recommended reforms include scaling and improving the usability of digital payments, creating a supportive regulatory framework for microcredit and micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) finance, strengthening MSME lending and the transparency and market alignment of MSME financing initiatives, implementing the Financial Action Task Force action plan to address Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing deficiencies, and widening insurance access including weather-based index products for agriculture, with a focus on expanding services beyond Luanda as development activity increases along the Lobito Corridor and in secondary cities.

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