Assembling chairs and finishing wood at a small furniture factory

By 1986 light industry, which included textiles, clothing, tobacco, soaps, matches, and plastic and wood products, had almost been restored to its preindependence level of production. The largest investments in light industry have been in two large textile projects: the Africa Têxtil plant in the city of Benguela (US$15 million), completed in 1979, and the Textang-II plant in the city of Luanda (US$45 million), completed in 1983. They each had a production capacity of more than 10 million square meters of cloth per year but have produced far less because of shortages of cotton. Other notable investments have been in wood processing (US$12 million), with projects in Cabinda and Luanda.

The state-owned National Textile Company (Emprêsa Nacional de Têxteis--Entex) has also suffered from a shortage of cotton. Founded in 1980, Entex had factories throughout the country and the capacity to produce 27 million square meters of cloth per year. By 1987, however, the company was turning out only 12 million square meters. Likewise, the production capacity of blankets was nearly 1.7 million per year, but only 900,000 were produced in 1986. Adding to Entex's problems, one of its major factories, Textang-I, was shut down in 1986 because of a lack of treated water and damage from mud. By 1987 no stocks of raw materials or spare parts had been replaced.

Similarly, plastics production under a state-run company was only about half of installed capacity. Operating factories abandoned by the Portuguese after 1976, the state agency suffered from a lack of materials and from aging equipment. It employed foreign technical assistants but had also been training Angolan workers at home and overseas.

Data as of February 1989