ABSTRACT The purpose of the sudy was to ascertain the extent to which Staff Monitored Program (SMP), initiated by the Government of Angola, has affected the performance of firms based in Angola. This study focused on Angola because of several reasons: first, it appears that there is no academic study that examined the proposed relationship in Angola; second, the vast majority of studies have concentrated on Common Independent States (CIS), China, and India, but a few in the African Continent; and finally, Angola is one of the newest countries embracing the concept of economic reform. Certainly, the study provides insight into the role of free-market policies on firms' market performance in the transition economy. Based on the data obtained from 180 firms representing domestic and foreign businesses with most of their headquarters in Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Sao Tome, the USA and the UK, multiple regression analysis indicated that foreign exchange reform policy and international trade reform policy were the major determinants of firms' performance. Further, the study found little support for the hypotheses that investment, and infrastructure development reform policies have led to improved firm performance. Finally, managerial implications of the findings and the limitations of the study are discussed along with future research directions.