Angolan Kwanza: Currency of Angola

The Kwanza was introduced in 1999, replacing the "Kwanza Reajustado" (AOK).  AOA is subdivided into coin denominations of 100 centimos, and is denoted by the symbol Kz.

Angolan kwanza
ISO 4217 Code	AOA
User(s)	Angola
Inflation	13.1%
Source	The World Factbook, 2009 est.
Subunit
1/100	cêntimo
Symbol	Kz
Coins
Freq. used	1, 2, 5 kwanzas
Rarely used	10, 50 cêntimos
Banknotes	10, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000 kwanzas
Central bank	Banco Nacional de Angola
Website	www.bna.ao

Angola declared independence from Portugal in 1975, following a bitter period in which Angola fought a war of independence while also becoming engulfed in a civil war. While Angola created its first national currency as an independent nation in 1977, this currency—called the Angola Kwanza (AOK)—soon saw its value rapidly eroded by inflation. The AON, introduced in 1990, was an attempt to deal with this severe inflation, but it too was devalued only 5 years later.

The second devaluation occurred in 1995, when the AON was replaced by a new currency called the “kwanza reajustado”. The devaluation was carried out at a rate of 1,000 new currency units for every 1 AON, reflecting the level of severity of Angola’s inflation crisis at that time. A third devaluation occurred in 1999, replacing the kwanza reajustado with the Second Kwanza (AOA), which is the currency that Angola continues to use today.