The Angolan kwanza
Currency · AOA · Kz · 1 country
Angola has issued four currencies called the kwanza since 8 January 1977, when the Banco Nacional de Angola's first notes replaced the Angolan escudo at par. The present kwanza, code AOA, arrived on 1 December 1999 at one kwanza for a million kwanzas reajustados. It divides into 100 cêntimos and takes its name from the Kwanza River.
The abbreviation
Kz abbreviates kwanza, a name drawn from the Kwanza River, also spelt Cuanza. The same name has carried four currencies since 1977, each with its own ISO code: AOK, AON, AOR and the present AOA.
- ISO code
- AOA
- ISO number
- 973
- Subunit
- cêntimo, 1/100
An amount, written out
Kz 1,234.50
- Kz 1,234.50English
- 1 234,50 KzPortugueseAngola
In English the sign comes before the amount. Where the Angolan kwanza is used, it comes after the amount in Angola.
Where the Angolan kwanza is the official currency
Angola uses the kwanza by itself. Since a law of 1991 the Banco Nacional de Angola acts as a central bank alone and issues the currency.
About the Angolan kwanza
Who issues the kwanza and under what law
The Banco Nacional de Angola issues it. The bank began as the Banco de Angola, which the Portuguese set up in 1926 as a separate bank of issue for the colony. After independence in 1975 the government nationalised banking and renamed it. For years the BNA did everything at once: central bank, bank of issue and commercial bank, and the only legal holder of foreign currency in the country.
A law of 20 April 1991 cut that back. Since then the BNA has acted as a central bank alone, solely responsible for monetary policy and for issuing the currency, and banker to the government.
How four kwanzas followed one another
The first kwanza, AOK, replaced the escudo at par and was divided into 100 lwei. The changeover came with a confiscation. A person could convert at most 200,000 escudos, a company 1,500,000.
The novo kwanza, AON, followed on 25 September 1990. It too was set at par, but Angolans could exchange only 5% of their old notes for new ones and had to take government securities for the rest. Inflation ate into it, and on 1 July 1995 the kwanza reajustado, AOR, replaced it at 1,000 to one. No coins were struck for that one; its notes started at 1,000 kwanzas reajustados.
The present kwanza cut six zeros on 1 December 1999 and brought coins back, now divided into cêntimos. Coins of the first series lost legal tender status on 1 January 2015, and the 10 and 50 cêntimo pieces are no longer used because their value is so small.
What the series of notes show
The BNA issued a new family of notes in 2013, the 50 to 500 kwanza notes on 22 March and the 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 on 31 May, adding 5 and 10 kwanza notes in 2017.
The series that followed needed the National Assembly to approve a law before it could circulate. Its 200 kwanza note went out on 30 July 2020 and the others followed one by one, the 5,000 in January 2021. The 200 to 2,000 notes are polymer and the 5,000 is cotton paper, watermarked with the Pensador figure. Each design carries a place in Angola: the black rocks of Pungo a Ndongo on the 200, the Tundavala gap on the 500, the Serra da Leba on the 2,000. Microtext on the back prints the full words of the national anthem, and raised print lets visually impaired users tell the notes apart by touch. A 10,000 note was planned, then left out. The series has no coins, and the coins of the earlier series stayed legal tender.
Which portrait the notes kept
The notes of the earlier series carried two portraits: Agostinho Neto, who proclaimed independence, and José Eduardo dos Santos, who governed Angola for 38 years. The 2020 series kept Neto and dropped dos Santos. Speaking to DW África, one Angolan journalist backed the change and called keeping Neto acceptable, as the man who proclaimed independence. An economist and journalist complained of a lack of dialogue between the government and the governed over the currency's symbols, and some citizens pointed to Kenya, whose notes show animals and buildings instead of politicians.
Common questions
Questions about the Angolan kwanza
Why has Angola had several kwanzas?
Three times since 1977 a new kwanza has replaced the one before. The first, in 1977, swapped for the escudo at par. The novo kwanza of 1990 was also at par, but only 5% of old notes could be exchanged, the rest going into government securities. The kwanza reajustado of 1995 took off three zeros. The present kwanza, from 1 December 1999, took off six more and brought coins back.
What are kwanza banknotes made of?
Both materials are in use. In the 2020 series the 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kwanza notes are printed on polymer, which the BNA said would outlast paper, and the 5,000 kwanza note is cotton paper with a watermark and a security thread.
Where does the name kwanza come from?
From the Kwanza River, spelt Cuanza, Coanza or Quanza as well. The name went to the currency that replaced the escudo after independence and has stayed through every redenomination since, four currencies in all, each with its own ISO code. The first kwanza was divided into lwei; the present one is divided into cêntimos.
Is José Eduardo dos Santos still on Angolan money?
Not on the 2020 series. The BNA told parliament that the new family would carry only the face of Agostinho Neto, the first president, while the notes of the 2012 series had shown both men. Those older notes were left in circulation beside the new ones until the BNA judges the moment right to end their legal tender status.