Angola: UNITA leader claims minimum wage fails to cover basic costs

Adalberto Costa Júnior, president of the opposition party UNITA, has criticized the current minimum wage in Angola, stating that 100,000 kwanzas is insufficient to cover basic living expenses.

A breakdown provided by Costa Júnior illustrates that essential costs for a worker in the outskirts of Luanda far exceed the nominal income. For instance, housing alone can consume 55,000 kwanzas, while food, water, electricity, and transportation costs create a significant deficit. The analysis suggests that basic necessities, including food staples and daily commuting, can total over 333,600 kwanzas, even before accounting for clothing, hygiene, or education.

Costa Júnior argues that economic policy must address these concrete realities and advocates for increasing national food production and reducing production and transport costs to improve purchasing power.