Total transaction volume on the Bolsa de Divida e Valores de Angola (BODIVA) reached 10,328 in 2024, a 105% year-on-year surge that marked the busiest calendar year since the exchange commenced operations. The total value of instruments traded hit AOA 6.06 trillion (approximately $6.6 billion), driven by an aggressive government bond issuance calendar, expanding retail participation, and a string of high-profile equity listings that captured national attention.

Market snapshot

Five companies now trade on BODIVA’s equity segment, carrying a combined market capitalization of approximately $3.37 billion. That figure, modest by global standards, represents the fastest-growing frontier exchange in sub-Saharan Africa when measured by capital formation velocity since 2022.

The custody account figure deserves particular attention. When the Central de Valores Mobiliarios de Angola (CEVAMA) opened its registry in 2016, fewer than 660 accounts existed. By year-end 2024, that number had swelled to 58,389 – an expansion rate of 8,774% that reflects genuine grassroots appetite for capital market participation, not merely institutional account creation.

Trading breakdown by instrument class

BODIVA remains overwhelmingly a fixed-income market. Repos (acordos de recompra) dominated 2024 activity at 72% of total value traded, consistent with the central bank’s open market operations and commercial bank liquidity management. Securities registration – the initial placement of new government and corporate debt – accounted for 16.1%. Treasury instruments (Bilhetes do Tesouro and Obrigacoes do Tesouro) contributed 11.8%.

Equities represented just 0.1% of total value traded. That ratio, while low, is misleading in isolation. The equity segment only launched in November 2022 with BAI’s IPO, and three of the five listed companies completed their offerings in 2024-2025. The segment is nascent, not negligible – BFA’s September 2025 IPO alone was 5x oversubscribed and generated a 132% return from its offer price within the first weeks of trading. For a detailed breakdown of the equity listings, see the BODIVA equities dashboard.

Market infrastructure

Three institutions form the operational backbone of Angola’s capital markets:

BODIVA operates the Sistema Electronico de Transaccoes e Informacao de Cotacao (SETIC), the electronic trading platform through which all secondary market transactions are executed. BODIVA itself listed on its own exchange in 2024, a move designed to align the exchange operator’s incentives with its participants.

CEVAMA provides central securities depository services, holding all dematerialized instruments in book-entry form and managing the custody account registry. Settlement follows a strict T+2 cycle with delivery-versus-payment (DVP) finality, mirroring international best practice. Full details on the post-trade process are covered in the settlement and clearing guide.

The Comissao do Mercado de Capitais (CMC) serves as the independent securities regulator, responsible for licensing market participants, approving prospectuses, enforcing disclosure requirements, and conducting market surveillance. The CMC operates under the Angola Securities Code (Lei 22/15) and reports to the Ministry of Finance. For the full regulatory framework, see the CMC regulatory overview.

Sixteen licensed brokers – comprising both Sociedades Corretoras de Valores Mobiliarios (SCVMs) and Sociedades Distribuidoras de Valores Mobiliarios (SDVMs) – provide intermediary services to retail and institutional investors. Twenty-one settlement agents (agentes de liquidacao) facilitate post-trade processing. Major brokerages include subsidiaries of BAI, BFA, Standard Bank Angola, and BIC, all of which hold dual banking and brokerage licenses. A full directory is available on the market participants page.

Foreign investor access

International investors can access BODIVA through any licensed local broker. The regulatory framework was significantly improved in 2019 when the BNA issued Aviso 15/19, exempting capital markets transactions from the Contribuicao Especial sobre as Operacoes Cambiais (CEOC), the foreign exchange operations tax. This removed what had been the single largest friction point for cross-border portfolio flows.

Repatriation of dividends and capital gains is permitted under the Lei do Investimento Privado (LAIP), though foreign investors must register with the BNA and maintain a conta de investidor nao-residente. The Imposto sobre a Aplicacao de Capitais (IAC) applies at 15% on capital gains and interest income, with withholding handled at source by the custodian bank.

Strategic outlook

The Angolan government has articulated a target of 10 listed companies by 2027, consistent with the broader PROPRIV privatization programme that has earmarked dozens of state-owned enterprises for full or partial divestiture. The IPO pipeline includes Unitel (the dominant telecoms operator), Sonangol (the national oil company), TAAG (the flag carrier), and Endiama (the diamond monopoly) – any one of which would represent a transformational listing for the exchange.

Structural catalysts supporting the outlook include the BNA’s ongoing interest rate normalization cycle (the taxa BNA stood at 17.5% following three successive cuts from the July 2024 terminal rate of 19.5%), continued fiscal consolidation reducing government crowding-out of private capital, and BODIVA’s own technology modernization programme aimed at enabling mobile trading and real-time market data distribution.

The principal risks remain concentrated in foreign exchange volatility (the kwanza depreciated sharply in 2023 before stabilizing), thin secondary market liquidity in the equity segment, and the execution risk inherent in the PROPRIV pipeline timeline. For investors with a medium-term horizon, the combination of a captive domestic savings base, forced institutional allocation via pension fund regulations, and a still-compressed number of listed instruments creates a supply-demand dynamic that favors early movers.