At a Glance
- Proparco provides $17.6 million guarantee to boost Angola food imports and trade finance.
- Facility supports SMEs importing rice, wheat, sugar, flour, and vegetable oils.
- Deal eases foreign currency pressure amid Angola’s oil-linked economic slowdown.
Banco Millennium Atlântico (BMA), one of Angola’s leading universal banks, has secured a €15 million ($17.6 million) trade finance guarantee from French development lender Proparco to support food imports.
The facility will help finance essential commodities including rice, wheat, sugar, flour, and vegetable oils, easing pressure on Angola’s import-dependent food supply. At least half of the beneficiaries are expected to be small and medium-sized enterprises, according to the bank.
Banco Millennium Atlantico Proparco deal
At least half of the beneficiaries are expected to be small and medium-sized enterprises, helping to ease supply pressures in an economy that still imports roughly 50 percent of its food needs.
For Angola, the deal comes at a sensitive time. Falling oil prices since 2022 have tightened access to foreign currency, complicating trade finance for local businesses and exposing gaps in the country’s food supply chains. The Proparco guarantee is structured to help BMA cover trade risks and extend financing where local markets fall short.
African banking and food security
The transaction aligns with France’s broader push to deepen economic ties with Angola following President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Luanda in November 2025. It also sits within the Food & Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM) launched in 2022 by France, the EU, the G7 and the African Union to strengthen food security in vulnerable economies.
Banco Millennium Atlântico said the facility strengthens its role as a strategic partner to Angolan businesses engaged in international trade. Proparco, meanwhile, views the deal as an entry point into Angola, with scope to expand support for agriculture, trade and value-chain development as the partnership deepens.
For Angola’s import-dependent food sector, the financing provides timely relief, and a signal of renewed international confidence.
