
Freight transport systems are essential for economic growth, trade competitiveness, and sustainable development. Demand for freight transport infrastructure and services expands in tandem with growth in population, urbanization, international trade, and economic development.
Despite the strategic economic importance of freight transport for trade and development, increased freight transport activity can, nevertheless, generate negative externalities and sustainability challenges. These include increased noise pollution, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, traffic congestion, road safety concerns, and environmental degradation.
If left unchecked, future freight transport growth can potentially undermine the effective achievement of the objectives set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Recognizing the strong linkages between sustainable development and freight transport and logistics, UNCTAD launched the Sustainable Freight Transport (SFT) Assessment tool.
The SFT Assessment enables the conduct of qualitative and quantitative analyses to generate a comprehensive assessment of the state of the freight transport sector. It assesses the sector’s performance as regards the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
This report sets out the main findings of the SFT Assessment in Angola. Angola’s SFT Assessment is carried out across the three pillars of sustainability, i.e., economic, social, and environmental.
Making use of the SFT Assessment, the current situation and performance of Angola's freight transport and ability to meet relevant sustainability objectives are analysed.
Assessing the state of play has helped to identify the main challenges and obstacles undermining the sustainability of Angola's freight transport sector and clarify their underlying causes. Special attention is also given to the role of freight transport and logistics in supporting the agribusiness and value chains as well as corridor development in Angola.
The report is structured as follows:
- Chapters II and III establish Angola's profile, including as regards its freight transport sector. An overview of existing national and transport policies is presented highlighting the broader context and underscoring the important role of sustainable freight transport for Angola.
- Chapter IV sets out the main findings of Angola's SFT Assessment based on UNCTAD methodology supported by quantitative and qualitative analyses.
- Chapter V features a number of policy recommendations put forward together with an action matrix.
- Chapter VI summarizes the findings and identified recommendations and concludes with UNCTAD's role in improving Angola's freight transport sustainability.
- The Annexes provide more details about the methodology behind the UNCTAD SFT Assessment.
The assessment was conducted under the EU-UNCTAD Joint Programme for Angola: Train for Trade II, with funding by the European Union, under the Transport and Logistics Component.