Angola-South Africa Trade Rises 14% Through July, Chamber Says

Angola’s trade with South Africa rose 14 percent through July to about $228 million a month, mainly on oil shipments to Africa’s biggest economy, a business group that promotes commerce between the two countries said.

Trade between the two southern African nations reached $1.6 billion by the end of July compared with $2.4 billion for all of last year, said Teddy de Almeida, president of the Angola-South Africa Chamber of Commerce.

“People were worried before the Aug. 31 elections and we wanted to show to the business community the climate of stability,” De Almeida said today in an interview in Luanda, the capital. “Angola has oil and gas while trying to diversify, and South Africa has many products like in construction, helping us rebuild.”

President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s ruling party won a legislative election last month in Africa’s second-biggest oil producer after Nigeria, extending his 33-year rule by five years. Opposition parties have disputed some of the results while saying they will accept their seats in Parliament.

Angola pumps about 1.8 million barrels a day from offshore wells operated by Chevron Corp. (CVX), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), BP Plc (BP/) and Total SA (FP), among others. The country is rebuilding from a 27-year war that ended in 2002.

To contact the reporters on this story: Colin McClelland in Luanda via cmcclelland1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net