Joy and relief as first market opens in refugee settlement in Angola
Joy and relief as first market opens in refugee settlement in Angola
Phillipe Lombairo nods to himself as he inspects a pair of shoes at a footwear stall in the Lovua settlement market. The 18-year-old is happy to find decent shoes right inside the settlement, where he lives.
Before, he would have had to travel some 100 kilometers to Dundo, the capital of Lunda Norte province, to buy shoes.
“It’s the only market in Lovua, which is a good thing for the whole community,” says Phillipe. “I can buy clothes, food and many other things.”
Just like his father who’s a radio technician in the settlement, many refugees in Lovua are business owners and Phillipe believes the market, which opened in September will be good for their businesses and the local economy.
“It’s the only market in Lovua, which is a good thing for the whole community.”
Improving refugees’ access to jobs and markets is a key objective for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Angola. More than 6,000 refugees and Angolans living in and around the settlement receive UNHCR support to help them be self-reliant. The settlement has been active since 2017 when refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai regions fled political and military instability.
Informal shops selling a range of goods sprung up after the refugees arrived, with refugees taking up open spaces to sell their goods. Locals often walked into the settlement to trade with refugees and eventually, sanitary conditions in the settlement started to fall.
UNHCR decided to build an organised market with 90 shops, a large commercial area and security to ensure trade takes place in a clean and safe manner. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the market’s structured design has allowed for the installation of eight hand washing facilities, spacious stalls manned by one person and guards at each of the six entrances, to ensure preventative measures are observed by traders and customers.
Additionally, refugees and Angolans can protect themselves by readily buying masks sewn by refugee tailors in the settlement, for between 22 and 30 cents apiece.
“I’m glad that more businesses understand the importance of hygiene and that there are enough hand washing facilities in different parts of the market,” says Mama Dady, a Congolese restaurant owner, who’s built a reputation in Lovua for tasty local and Congolese dishes.
She started an eatery in the settlement three years ago, using a plastic tent.
“When I heard about the market, I signed up for a stall immediately,” says the 31-year-old. “My new restaurant is much better, it’s more spacious and I can serve more clients now.”
She especially loves that she has larger cooking equipment to work with, which results in more meals, hence more income. The market’s location is also convenient as it is close to her husband’s workplace.
Restaurants like Mama Dady’s provide an opportunity for refugee farmers to make money as business owners in the settlement source produce locally. Farmers like Mama Antho, who has three small plots of land that she cultivates, are enjoying the new marketing opportunity.
“I don’t have to travel far to sell my maize and rice,” she says. “Even the locals come to the settlement to buy their goods.”
“The market will significantly enhance trade, self-reliance and peaceful coexistence.”
Vito Trani, UNHCR’s Representative in Angola believes that there is an important link between the market and the community’s ability to earn a decent living.
“The market will significantly enhance trade, job opportunities, self-reliance and peaceful coexistence between the refugees and their host,” he says.
Augustino Fino, a community leader of Najinga, one of the closest and largest villages to the settlement, has welcome the opening of the market.
“It is closer to my village than the shops in the capital. We can now walk to the settlement and get everything we need,” he says happily.
