Dev Pydannah
Managing Partner at Kreston Mozambique
Angola airport; a new gateway for Africa
July 3, 2025
Africa is investing heavily in its aviation industry as individual nations seek to drive job growth and inward investment. For Angola, a country looking to move its economy away from its dependency on oil and agriculture, a new airport will be the country’s main gateway to the world, and a chance to become an important air hub for Africa.
Angola airport to become a key African hub
‘The Dr Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport (AIAAN), is designed for 15 million passengers annually and 130,000 metric tons of cargo,’ said Dev Pydannah, Managing Director of Kreston Mozambique. ‘To put this into perspective, the five busiest airports in Africa handle 7.5 to 28 million passengers per year. While recognising that the new airport will have a much larger capacity than is needed in 2024, the government considers it to be a bet on the future, hoping to facilitate increased trade within Africa, especially for air cargo.’
The government also intends to develop an airport city around AIAAN, aiming to stimulate economic growth and attract investment to the region.
Angola airport city plans and trade growth
At the moment, Africa only represents 2 % of global air passengers, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual Review for 2024, which means the sector has huge potential for growth. It saw a 39.3% growth in international Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK) in 2023 compared to previous year, and a 14.2% year-over-year evolution in air cargo markets, showing that demand is growing.
E-commerce and the impact of Angola airport
While just about every sector of African economies will be lifted by aviation growth, e-commerce will be the one to watch. While it may not be as developed as in other regions, the African e-commerce market is growing rapidly. More Africans are gaining access to the internet, expanding the reach of e-commerce platforms and Africa has one of the youngest populations globally, with a significant proportion under 30. Amazon opened operations in South Africa in May 2024, while local e-commerce companies are expanding operations.
Angola itself is finding its economy is on the rebound. After a modest 1% GDP growth in 2023, real GDP grew by 4.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024. This marks the most significant annual expansion in the past nine years. The rebound was driven by a recovery in oil production and a robust performance in the services sector, particularly in domestic trade and transport and storage.
Economic diversification
The problem for the Angola economy is its dependency on oil revenue, which has created volatile growth. It needs to diversify its economy away from oil revenues and aviation is a key part of promoting other sectors, from tourism and trade to agriculture and logistics.
It is one of the most stable countries in Africa and it has tremendous potential to become a logistical hub. The new international airport is vital not only for Angola’s economy, but also for supporting the region and continent.
As well as putting the physical infrastructure to boost the economy, the EU-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (SIFA) came into force in September 2024. The SIFA will create a more transparent, efficient, and predictable business environment for investors in Angola and to promote sustainable investment by EU businesses in Angola.
Angola is on the cusp of exciting times and it offers a wealth of untapped opportunity. Kreston will be on the ground for all these changes, through the extension of its Mozambique office under the leadership of Managing Partner, Dev Pydannah.
Kreston’s involvement in developments
Kreston Angola is signing an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with a local firm in Angola so that both Kreston Angola and the local firm can collaborate together for the smooth running of the accounting practice.
With the support of Kreston Mozambique, which already works with some clients in Angola, this will add value to the Kreston Angola firm. ‘There is no doubt that we can easily penetrate the Angolan market for professional services such as audit, tax and advisory due to our strong relationship especially being a member firm of Kreston Global,’ said Pydannah. ‘Kreston Angola will work with our clients at all stages of the business lifecycle, whether it be building or managing portfolios, assessing risks, developing exit strategies, realising value, planning to expand or restructuring.’
A significant advantage for Kreston Angola will be the expertise it will be able to tap into to help public sector clients. ‘We are ready to advise the beneficiaries of funds submitted by international multilateral agencies in order to assist them in the global development of their plans,’ said Pydannah. ‘We have worked for government, believe in government and are focused on making it more efficient, transparent and effective. We strive to make government better.’
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