Improving human and institutional capacities to foster economic diversification in Angola
The EU-UNCTAD Joint Programme for Angola: Train for Trade II is a $7.5 million multi-sectoral programme of support to Angola, funded by the European Union. It started in May 2017.
The programme supports the development of productive capacities in Angola to help the crude oil-dependent country to diversify its economy and exports and improve its integration into regional and global value chains.
The programme offers training, opportunities for experience-sharing and exposure to international cooperation fora, policy advice and support for policy development and implementation. It builds the basis for policy coherence in Angola by providing simultaneous support across seven different but inter-linked areas (components), implemented by four different UNCTAD divisions working cooperatively.
The areas covered are:
- Commercial diplomacy
- Creative economy
- Empretec - Entrepreneurship training
- Investment policy review
- National green export review
- Trade facilitation
- Transport and logistics
So far, UNCTAD has helped 1,650 Angolans by providing training, policy development and implementation technical support, and exposure to international meetings. Half of the beneficiaries come from the public sector, 40% from the private sector and the remainder from academia and NGOs.
The number of trained people greatly exceeds targets set at the onset of the programme. A third of the beneficiaries are women. With a gender equality strategy in place, the programme is well on track to reach its 40% female participation target.
Key results of 2021
At the end of 2021, the programme was set to deliver its policy-level targets, with 60% of the targeted policy documents delivered, and 140% of delivery expected by the end of the latest cycle.
The programme is also building sustainability beyond the term of the initiative. For example, it established an online knowledge hub, which is already delivering online training modules on the creative economy. UNCTAD is also working closely with national training institutions to embed key elements of the programme's training sessions into their curricula.
In December 2020, considering its promising results, the programme received additional funding of $1 million from the European Union and an 18-month extension of the implementation period. It was also listed among the global SDG Good Practices compilation collected and evaluated by UN DESA.
