The informal trading economy began to develop in Luanda in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The second wave of returnees from the Congo/Zaire in the early 1980s appears to have played an important role in developing informal economic activities, along with former soldiers of the MPLA who had been based in countries to the north before 1975. The breakdown of the colonial economy and the failure to effectively create a planned economy in the post-independence period mean that the population of Luanda had to create its own esquemas (strategies) to survive. Part of this informal economy was hidden (an informalisation of the formal economy as nominally formal enterprises deviated further from the rules in order to continue in operation) but it began to manifest itself on the streets of Luanda and other towns. Eventually the Government permitted the concentration of informal trading in the market of Roque Santeiro in an attempt to remove informal trading from the streets. However the informal trading economy continued to grow throughout the 1980s and 1990s, creating new market places while continuing to involve trading on the streets.

The main objective of this research has been to understand how the informal trading economy has evolved in the new context of Angola post-2002. It has attempted to understand whether the more favourable context for economic activity in Angola (free movement of people and goods, stable and realistic exchange rate, economic growth on the back of petroleum production, attempts to create a favourable business environment) have had any effect on the informal economy, and in particular on small-scale informal retail trade which makes up the bulk of the informal economy in Luanda. Has this aspect of the informal economy shrunk or grown or remained as important as before? Have any of the characteristics changed, in terms of who is involved in the sector, the locations of the informal and the type of products bought and sold. Three particular locations of the informal retail economy have been examined: trading in markets, trading in the street and trading at home.

This report is a description of the research carried out by Development Workshop, funded by IDRC, between September 2007 and June 2009. The report accompanies the reports of the three components of the research. Originally the programme was approved to start in September 2007 to March 2009, but Development Workshop Angola was granted a three-month no-cost extension to the research project, so that the programme ended in June 2009.

During this 27 month period, DW has carried out its proposal to expand and build upon its experience of both sector-specific and broad baseline research to develop a comprehensive and cross-sector integrated study of the Angolan informal economy. Specifically this research programme has aimed to:

• significantly increase quantitative and qualitative understandings of important sectors of the informal economy. The programme has pursued studies of two sub-sectors (water and housing) that are of vital importance to the rapidly growing, and largely unregulated peri-urban areas where over 50% of all Angolans currently live;
• conduct a literature review of all previous research and policy documents on the informal economy in Angola and a selective review of international research relevant to the three themes developed in the current programme. The review of Angolan literature was conducted by Development Workshop’s documentation centre CEDOC during the first quarterly phase of the programme. The background documentation on Angola is not extensive and DW has been involved with producing much of it. The international literature review with a focus on recent informal sector research in Africa and post-conflict situations, was conducted by an intern under the supervision of the research programme coordinator and largely drew on internet sources and the libraries of institutions of research advisors;
• carry out a cross-sector study that documented the strategic relationships, interactions, and inter-dependencies among different sub-sectors of the informal economy;
• foster knowledge-based approaches to public policy making through data organization, analysis, and dissemination activities that enhance knowledge access and utilization capacity of a broad range of public and policy-maker stakeholders; and by generating new knowledge about the mechanisms of governance that prevail in the vast peri-urban informal sector where both formal state and customary institutions are either absent or have lost legitimacy and relevance. The programme has tracked the impact and awareness of policy issues related to the informal economy by monitoring debate in the official and independent media.

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Field researchers being trained for informal rental market study:

Paulo Filipe, trouxe uma reflexão em torno da valorização da terra no seu todo, desde os aspectos mais profundas até as mais minuciosas. Questões estas, que estão reflectidas na sua obra literária, com o título ’’Nós e a Nossa Terra’’. Onde apela a sociedade angolana em geral a prestar maior atenção na terra como parte da nossa identidade cultural, social e linguística.

Aos 28 do mês de Abril de 2015, realizou-se no Anfiteatro da Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade Agostinho Neto, o Workshop sobre Promoção de Cidades Inclusivas e Sustentáveis
em Angola baseado nas Iniciativas de Pesquisa Urbana Africana. 

O encontro, realizado pela Development Workshop, contou com a presença de representantes do sector governal de Luanda tais como o GPL (Governo Provincial de Luanda), Comissão Administrativa de Luanda, MAT (Ministério da Administração do Território), Ministério da Construção, Ministério do Urbanismo e Habitação, bem como representantes de Universidades Angolanas, centro de pesquisa, ONGs e Instituições internacionais tais como o Banco Mundial, SOS- Habitat, Luanda Urban Poverty Network, Ordem dos Arquitectos, estudantes da Faculdade de Arquitectura- UAN, Faculdade de Arquitetura- UMA e Faculdade de Arquitetura – Lusíada.

O encontro teve como finalidade:

• Discutir a temática de Gestão de cidades
• Discutir sobre o Acesso á habitação digna
• Contribuir a compreensão da variabilidade climática e tendências climáticas nas zonas costeiras de Angola.

O evento contou com a presença de 69 participantes, e teve como moderadores o Sr. João Domingos, Gestor do Sector de Governação da DW e Sr. José Maria, Coordenador do Programa de Estágio da DW. 

Foram abordados os seguintes temas relacionados com a Promoção das Cidades Inclusivas e Sustentáveis em Angola:

• Programa de Habitação Social em Angola – Ministério do Urbanismo e Habitação, pelo Arquiteto António Gameiro
• Adaptação de Cidades Costeiras Angolanas à Mudança Climática, pelo Director da DW Angola Allan Cain
• Informalidade Urbana, pela arquiteta Suzana Guimarães (MATAG)

As apresentações dos temas foram seguidas de uma sessão de perguntas e respostas que permitiram uma interacção produtiva entre os participantes que no final chegaram as seguintes conclusões e recomendações.

Conclusões:

• Os processos de requalificações devem ser mais inclusivos e é preciso que as comunidades façam parte deste processo porque todos têm o direito a cidade.
• A prevenção do surgimento de novos musseques é mais económico do que as requalificações.
• A economia informal deve fazer parte dos objectivos e dos planos para o desenvolvimento das políticas Públicas
• A questão da urbanização e do crescimento urbano deve ser um processo mais inclusivo e sustentável.

A Development Workshop Angola e o Vice-Governador de Luanda para a Área Técnica, Agostinho da Silva, encorajam as comunidades e os seus agentes a estabelecerem uma relação alargada em relação as conclusões deste encontro, no sentido de divulgar com mais abrangência a Promoção de Cidades Inclusivas e Sustentáveis em Angola enraizadas nas Iniciativas de Pesquisa Urbana Africana.

Arq, António Gameiro – Programa de Habitação Social em Angola

Arq, Allan Cain – Adaptação de Cidades Costeiras Angolanas à Mudança Climática

Arq, Suzana Guimarães – Informalidade Urbana

Vice-Governador de Luanda para a Área Técnica, Agostinho da Silva