Angolan kwanza

 ( Kwanza ) 

The kwanza (currency sign: Kz; ISO 4217 code: ) is the currency of Angola. Four different currencies using the name kwanza have circulated since 1977. The currency derives its name from the Cuanza River (which is also written as: Cuanza, Coanza, Quanza).

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Overview

		1 kwanza = 1 Angolan escudo
		1 novo kwanza = 1 kwanza
		1 kwanza reajustado = 1000 novos kwanzas
	present	1 kwanza = 1,000,000 kwanzas reajustados

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First kwanza, AOK, 1977–1990 The kwanza was introduced following Alvor Agreement. It replaced the Angolan escudo at Par value and was subdivided into 100 lwei. Its ISO 4217 code was AOK. Following a change in currency, a confiscation took place. Individuals could convert up to 200,000 escudos for kwanzas and corporations up to 1,500,000 escudos. This kwanza had a remarkably stable exchange rate of 29.918 kwanzas to the U.S. dollar for the entire period.

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Coins The first coins issued for the kwanza currency did not bear any date of issue, although all bore the date of independence, "11 de Novembro de 1975". They were in denominations of 50 lwei, 1, 2, 5 and 10 kwanzas. 20 kwanza coins were added in 1978. The last date to appear on these coins was 1979.

	50 lwei	copper-nickel	16 mm	2 g	1.5 mm	Reeded	1977-1979
	1 kwanza	copper-nickel	20.9 mm	3.91 g	1.8 mm	Reeded	1977-1979
	2 kwanzas	copper-nickel	23.2 mm	5 g	1.82 mm	Reeded	1977
	5 kwanzas	copper-nickel	25.5 mm	7 g	2.05 mm	Reeded	1977
	10 kwanzas	copper-nickel	27.5 mm	7.7 g	2 mm	Reeded	1977-1978
	20 kwanzas	copper-nickel	29 mm	10 g	1.9 mm	Reeded	1978

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Banknotes On 8 January 1977, banknotes dated 11 DE NOVEMBRO DE 1975 were introduced by the Banco Nacional de Angola (National Bank of Angola) in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 kwanzas. The 20 kwanza note was replaced by a coin in 1978.

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Novo kwanza, AON, 1990–1995 In 1990, the novo kwanza was introduced, with the ISO 4217 code AON. Although it replaced the kwanza at par, Angolans could only exchange 5% of all old notes for new ones; they had to exchange the rest for government securities. This kwanza suffered from high inflation.

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Coins

	50 kwanzas	copper	24 mm	5.5 g		Reeded	1991
	50 kwanzas	copper-plated steel	23.3 mm	5 g		Reeded	1992
	100 kwanzas	copper	27.3 mm	8 g		Reeded	1992

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Banknotes This currency was only issued in note form. The first banknotes issued in 1990 were overprints on earlier notes in denominations of 50 (report not confirmed), 500, 1000 and 5000 novos kwanzas (5000 novos kwanzas overprinted on 100 kwanzas). In 1991, the word novo was dropped from the issue of regular banknotes for 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000 and 500,000 kwanzas.

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Kwanza reajustado, AOR, 1995–1999 In 1995, the kwanza reajustado (plural kwanzas reajustados) replaced the previous kwanza at a rate of 1,000 to 1. It had the ISO 4217 code AOR. The inflation continued and no coins were issued.

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Banknotes Despite the exchange rate, such was the low value of the old kwanza that the smallest denomination of banknote issued was 1000 kwanzas reajustados. Other notes were 5,000, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000, 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 kwanzas.

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Second kwanza, AOA, 1999– In 1999, a second currency was introduced simply called the kwanza. It replaced the kwanza reajustado at a rate of 1,000,000 to 1. Unlike the first kwanza, this currency is subdivided into 100 cêntimos. The introduction of this currency saw the reintroduction of coins. Although it suffered early on from high inflation, its value became stable until 2016, when the currency started devaluing again. The currency suffered a devaluation of nearly 40% against the US dollar between May and June 2023 to a record low of 825 kwanzas to the US dollar.

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Coins

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First series

10 cêntimos	15 mm	1.5 g	Copper-plated steel	Plain	State title, Coat of arms, year	Value	1999
3 g
1 kwanza	21 mm	4.5 g	Cupronickel	Reeded	State title, Coat of arms, year	Value	1999
5 g
7 g

Coins in 10 and 50 cêntimo denominations are no longer used, as the values are minuscule. Coins of this series lost their legal tender status on 1 January 2015.

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Second series

50 cêntimos	20.6 mm	3.8 g	Cupronickel-plated steel	Plain	State title, Coat of arms, year	Value	2012
1 kwanza	22.1 mm	5.0 g	Brass-plated steel	Plain
5 kwanzas	25 mm	7.0 g	Bi-metallic coin Nickel silver centre in Cupronickel ring	Reeded
10 kwanzas	27 mm	8.0 g	Bi-metallic coin copper-nickel centre in nickel-brass ring	Reeded
20 kwanzas	28 mm	11.64 g	Bi-metallic coin steel centre in brass ring	Interrupted reeded	Rainha Njinga		2014
50 kwanzas	26 mm	7.6 g	Cupronickel-clad steel	Partially reeded	40 years of independence		2015
100 kwanzas	26.5 mm	8.6 g	Brass-clad steel	Partially reeded

During 2012–14, new coins were introduced in denominations of 50 cêntimos, 1, 5, 10 and 20 kwanzas.

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Banknotes

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First Series The banknotes are quite similar in design, with only different colours separating them.

		1 kwanza	Pink	Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Women picking cotton	Sculpture	October 1999	1 December 1999
		5 kwanzas	Light green		Serra da Leba
		10 kwanzas	Red		2
		50 kwanzas	Lime		Off-shore oil rig
		100 kwanzas	Yellow-brown		Banco Nacional de Angola
		200 kwanzas	Lilac		Aerial view of Luanda		November 2003	19 July 2004
		500 kwanzas	Orange		Cotton
		1000 kwanzas	Rose		Coffee plantation
		2000 kwanzas	Lime		Sea shore

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Second series The Banco Nacional de Angola issued a new series of kwanza banknotes on March 22, 2013, in denominations of 50, 100, 200 and 500 kwanzas. The other denominations (1000, 2000 and 5000 kwanzas) were issued on May 31, 2013. Angola new 50-, 100-, 200-, and 500-kwanza notes confirmed BanknoteNews.com. April 11, 2013. Retrieved on 2013-04-11. Angola new 1,000-, 2,000-, and 5,000-kwanza notes confirmed BanknoteNews.com. June 24, 2013. Retrieved on 2013-06-27. In 2017, the Banco Nacional de Angola issued 5 and 10 kwanzas banknotes as part of the family of banknotes first introduced in 2012. Angola new 5-kwanza note (B550) confirmed Banknote News (banknotenews.com). January 19, 2017. Retrieved on 2017-01-19. Angola new 10-kwanza note (B551) confirmed Banknote News (banknotenews.com). January 19, 2017. Retrieved on 2017-01-19.

		5 kwanzas	Gray	Embroidery; Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Ruacana waterfall		October 2012	2017
		10 kwanzas	Red	Embroidery; Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Luena waterfall		October 2012	2017
		50 kwanzas	Yellow-orange	Carvings; Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Cuemba waterfalls		October 2012	22 March 2013
		100 kwanzas	Light brown	Carvings; Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Binga waterfalls		October 2012	22 March 2013
		200 kwanzas	Light violet	Embroidery; Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Tchimbue waterfalls		October 2012	22 March 2013
		500 kwanzas	Orange	Embroidery; Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Aundulo waterfalls		October 2012	22 March 2013
		1,000 kwanzas	Light red	Embroidery; Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Kalandula waterfalls		October 2012	31 May 2013
		2,000 kwanzas	Lime green	Embroidery; Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Dande waterfalls		October 2012	31 May 2013
		5,000 kwanzas	Light purple	Embroidery; Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Kapanda hydroelectric dam, Kwanza River		October 2012	31 May 2013
		10,000 kwanzas	Teal	Embroidery; Agostinho Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos	Giant sable antelopes		October 2012	Not issued

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Third series In 2020, the Banco National de Angola introduced a new family of kwanza banknotes in denominations of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 kwanzas. The new banknotes have a portrait of the first president of Angola, António Agostinho Neto. Banknotes of 200 to 2,000 kwanzas are printed on polymer substrate, while the 5,000 and 10,000 kwanzas banknotes are printed on cotton paper, with a 10,000-kwanza note to only be issued if necessary. Angola new note family reported to be introduced in 2020 BanknoteNews (banknotenews.com). December 20, 2019. Retrieved on 2019-12-23.

		200 kwanzas	Blue	Agostinho Neto	Pedras Negras de Pungo a Ndongo, Malange			20 July 2020
		500 kwanzas	Brown	Agostinho Neto	Tundavala gap, Huila			17 September 2020
		1,000 kwanzas	Violet	Agostinho Neto	Planalto Central mountain range, Huambo			1 October 2020
		2,000 kwanzas	Green	Agostinho Neto	Leba mountain range, Huila			11 November 2020
		5,000 kwanzas	Purple	Agostinho Neto	Ruins of the Cathedral of São Salvador do Congo			4 February 2021

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Historical exchange rates

• 1977–1990: 29.918 kwanzas (AOK) or novos kwanzas (AON) per US dollar

34,200 to 850,000

1,000,000 to 2,100,000

1000 AON → 1 AOR (kwanza reajustado)

2,100 to 13,000

13,000 to 210,000 to 194,000

194,000 to 253,300

253,300 to 594,000

594,000 to 5,400,000

1 million AOR → 1 AOA (kwanza)

5.4 to 16.3

16.3 to 31.12

31.12 to 57.47

57.47 to 86.88 to 78.61

78.61 to 85.90

85.90 to 88.97 to 80.58

80.58 to 89.01 to 80.57

80.57 to 74.78 to 75.16

75.16

165.09

238.801 to 308.61

308.61 to 482.23

482.23 to 649.49

On several occasions during the 1990s, Angola's currency was the least valued currency unit in the world.

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Production The Angolan kwanza banknotes have been produced by De La Rue in England.

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See also

• Economy of Angola

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External links

• Coin Types from Angola Lists, pictures, and values of Angola coin types
• Collection of coin - Angola

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