Capital: Luanda
Currency: Kwanza (AOA)
Population: (2023 est.) 34,031,000
Official languages: Portuguese
Angola is a Southern African nation whose varied terrain encompasses tropical Atlantic beaches, a labyrinthine system of rivers and Sub-Saharan desert that extends across the border into Namibia. Their official language is Portuguese.
The public holidays in Angola are as follows;
Date & Holiday
- 1 Jan – New Year’s Day
- 4 Feb – Day of the Armed Struggle
- 20 Feb – Carnival Holiday
- 21 Feb – Carnival
- 8 Mar – International Women’s Day
- 23 Mar – Southern Africa Liberation Day
- 24 Mar – Southern Africa Liberation Day Holiday
- 3 Apr – Angolan Peace Day Holiday
- 4 Apr – Angolan Peace Day
- 7 Apr – Good Friday
- 1 May – Labour Day
- 17 Sep – National Heroes Day
- 2 Nov – All Souls’ Day
- 3 Nov – All Souls’ Day Holiday
- 11 Nov – Independence Day
- 25 Dec- Christmas Day
Unlimited employment contracts generally have a probation period of 60 days.
Angolan employees are generally entitled to 22 days of vacation per year. Employees with children are entitled to an additional vacation day per year until the child reaches the age of 14.
Female employees are entitled to three months of maternity leave, four weeks to be taken before the due date and the balance after, with 9 weeks after guaranteed, regardless of the due date. If there are multiple births, the mother is entitled to an additional four weeks. The employee may not return to work until at least 5 weeks after the birth. Employees on maternity leave are generally entitled to social security compensation, with supplementation by the employer.
There is no statutory paternity leave.
Employees may take unlimited days off of work for illness as long as they present a medical certificate. Medium and large companies must pay medical leave at 100% of the employee’s salary for the first two months. The third through the 12th months must be paid at 50% of base salary. The country has a universal, free health care system, but it’s hard to get access to quality care. Employers can offer employees a private health care plan to stay competitive or give them a stipend to source their own plan.
There is no severance pay
13th / 14th Month Pay: There is a statutory requirement to pay holiday bonus equivalent to 50% of the base salary. There is a mandatory 13th month vacation bonus which is paid before the holiday. And there is a mandatory Christmas Bonus which is paid in December. The principle demands that any company with more than 5 employees must employ at least 70% Angolan citizens and 30% foreign non-residents.
In line with the new legal regime for foreign nationals in Angola, various types of temporary visas may be granted to foreign nationals who intend to come to Angola. The type of visa depends on the reason and period of stay.
The tourism visas are issued by consular missions in the applicant’s place of origin or residency, and they can be used for family visits, business travel, participation in scientific or technological activity, as well as stays in Angola for leisure, sports, or cultural pursuits. Holders of tourism visas are permitted a 30-day stay, which may be double-extended for the same length of time. Tourist visa holders are not permitted to work or petition for permanent residency in the nation, which calls for a work visa.
Temporary Stay Visas, which are granted for 365 days, extendable for the same time period, until the end of the term of the reason that justified the visa, may be granted in the following circumstances:
- To accomplish missions within religious institutions or within nongovernmental organizations
- For scientific research, mobility or university extension
- To family members of study, medical treatment and work visa holders
- To family members of holders of valid residence permits
- To spouses of Angolan citizens
- The appropriate visa allowing a foreign national to undertake remunerated activities in Angola is the Work Visa.
The Work Visa is issued for 365 days and is extendable for further 365 days up until the expiration of the term of the work contract that served as the basis for the visa. The Angolan Consulate or Embassy in the applicant’s home country or place of residency is where the Work Visa application must be submitted. A favorable assessment from the organization in charge of the area of operation in Angola is required prior to applying for a work visa.
Some important documents mandatory for a work visa in Angola are added below. Note that each of these needs to be translated into Portuguese and authenticated by the Department of State. They are;
- Visa application form
- Work permit
- Letter from employer
- Necessary certificates
- Statement of pledging respect to the country laws
- Passport
- Passport-size photos
- Statement from Ministry of Public Administration, Employment, and Social Security on the activity of enterprise in question
- Criminal background check
- A photocopy of Diário da República
- Medical certificate
- Curriculum Vitae
One of the complicated aspects of working in a foreign country is understanding entitlement and termination terms. Adding these terms to an employment contract before choosing an Angola payroll option will help you stay compliant. Angolan employment laws protect employees over employers, and you need to carry out administrative and reporting duties if you want to avoid facing fines. Litigation over termination is common, and employers should think carefully about terminating an employee before giving notice.
Employees who have worked for your company for at least one year are typically entitled to two bonuses: a holiday bonus and a Christmas bonus. The holiday bonus is 50% of the employee’s base salary calculated based on what they would earn during the holiday period. The Christmas bonus is 50% of the employee’s base salary for December. Other benefits like, public holidays, annual leaves, sick leave, maternity leaves, paternity leaves, health insurances and other social security benefits are also included.
The normal working week in Angola is 44 hours with each day limited to 8 hours. The work week can be extended to 54 hours or 9 hours per day.
Overtime is limited to 2 hours per normal day of work, 40 hours per month of work, 200 annual hours. Overtime of up to 30 hours per month is paid at an additional 50% rate. Additional overtime is paid at an additional 75%.
Angolan employment law is structured to offer a high level of employee protection. For employees with unlimited employment contracts, terminations must follow strict rules, and in general, employees may only be terminated for a serious infringement or an objective and economic reason that is not the fault of the employer.
Litigation over termination is common. For fixed-term employment contracts, employers must serve employees with two weeks’ prior written notice before their contract expires. Further, a 30-day notice period applies to individual termination for objective reasons and a 60-day notice period applies to collective dismissal.
For fixed-term employment contracts, employers must serve employees with two weeks’ prior written notice before their contract expires. Further, a 30-day notice period applies to individual termination for objective reasons and a 60-day notice period applies to collective dismissal.
In the long-term, the Angola Personal Income Tax Rate is projected to trend around 17.00 percent in 2022, according to our econometric models. In Angola, the Personal Income Tax Rate is a tax collected from individuals and is imposed on different sources of income like labour, pensions, interest and dividends.
Expatriate- Only locally earned income is subject to tax, regardless of whether expats are considered residents for tax purposes or not. This means that foreigners do not have to pay tax on money earned outside of Angola, even if they live there permanently.
Social Security is mandatory for all employees working in Angola who are Angolan nationals or foreign residents, The Social Security Rate in Angola stands at 11 percent.
The 8% social security contributions (supported by the employee) are allowed as a deduction to the taxable income for PIT purpose of the employee. For individual wage-earners, some of the most used deductibles are mortgage interest payments, state and local tax payments, and charitable deductions. There is a deduction for out-of-pocket medical costs. Self-employed people may also be able to deduct many of the related expenses.
Angola utilizes a progressive income tax scale that ranges from 0 to 25% of an employee’s monthly earnings. Both employees and employers must contribute to social security at 3% and 8% respectively. Employers also must pay the country’s high corporate income tax rate of 25%.
Angola levies withholding tax (WHT) on payments for services provided to resident and non-resident entities at the rate of 6.5%.