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Angola
27 years of civil war, 1.5 million dead and 4 million refugees after independence from Portugal in 1975, since 2002 Angola has had the peace needed to develop and explore its immense natural resources.
Having gained independence from its colonizing power, Portugal, in 1975, the three main Angolan parties – Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) fought a bloody civil war which ended only with the death of the UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi.
Angola was also the stage for one of the bloodiest episodes of the cold war, with the United States supporting UNITA and the invasion of Angola by the South African army and the former Soviet Union supporting the MPLA and the sending of Cuban troops to the West African country.
Having received initial support from the Portuguese military to set up government in Luanda, the colonial capital, the MPLA declared itself the legitimate government of Angola and took power. As well as this the South African army was unable to successfully combat the Cubans and MPLA soldiers.
A large majority of Angola’s 11 million people live from subsistence agriculture on the 1,246,700 square kilometers of its territory and most foodstuffs have to be imported.
Average Angolan life expectancy is of just 36.5 years and the infant mortality rate is 190 deaths to every thousand births.
Oil production accounts for around half of the Gross National Product and more than half of all exports. Official data points to Angola having confirmed reserves of 23 billion barrels of oil and 80 billion cubic meters of gas.
Apart from oil, Angola exports oil derivatives, diamonds, some agricultural products such as coffee, wood and cotton, and fish.
Interestingly, its main export markets after the United States are Continental China and Taipei, with 30 and 8 percent of the total, respectively.
Angola has a total labor force of 5.1 million people. More than half of these are unemployed, although the primary sector accounts for 85 percent with the remaining 15 percent in the service industry, agriculture represents no more than 8 percent of the country’s GDP. Industry supports the Angolan GDP and represents more than 67 percent of it.
Area: Total area 1,246,700 sq. km
Population: 14.3 million (2005 estimate)
Capital City: Luanda 4 million (2003 est)
People: The main groups are Ovimbundu, Mbundu, Bakongo, Lunda-Tchokwe and Ngangela. There is also a small mestico community.
Languages: Portuguese (official) and local African languages.
Religion(s): Christianity, (of which largest Roman Catholic), indigeneous African, and a tiny Moslem community.
Currency: 1 Kwanza (Kz) = 100 centimos
Major Political Parties: Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA)
Head of State: President Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS (assumed office 1979)
Prime Minister: Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, 'Nando'.
Foreign Minister: Dr Joao Bernardo Miranda
Membership of International Groupings/Organisations: UN, Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC), Community of Portuguese speaking countries (CPLP ), Organisation of Lusophone African countries (PALOP).
GEOGRAPHY
Angola is located in Southern Africa. It is bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and shares borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and Namibia. The enclave of Cabinda in the north, bordered by DRC and Congo (Brazzaville) is also part of Angola. The climate is tropical and humid in the north and subtropical with lower rainfall in the south. Temperatures are generally lower in the central plateau than in the low-lying coastal regions.
HISTORY
Angola was a Portuguese colony for 500 years. But until the 1920s, there was little investment and the Portuguese presence was confined to the coastal towns. There, a creole or mestico class evolved. The interior was exploited as a source of slaves. Even after the abolition of slavery, it was a source of contract labour. Angolans began to agitate for independence in the mid-1950s. Three nationalist groups were formed – the MPLA in 1956, the FNLA in 1958 and UNITA in 1966. In 1961, the armed struggle was launched. But, the principle of independence was not conceded until 1974, much later than most African countries. Portugal hastily arranged a conference with the three movements, all of whom had gained OAU recognition, to work out the transitional arrangements to independence. The agreement was set out in the Alvor Accord of January 1975. It provided for a transitional government to prepare a constitution and for elections to be held before independence day ,set for 11 November 1975. But the agreement broke down as the movements fought each other for the control of the capital. The Portuguese settlers left en masse. Elections were never held.
On independence day, it was the MPLA who controlled the capital. They declared themselves the government and imposed a one-party constitution to be guided by Marxist-Leninism. The other movements retreated to their rural bases. The MPLA’s victory was secured with military hardware from the Soviet Union and Cuban troops. The FNLA and UNITA had secured less help from their backers, the USA, apartheid South Africa and Mobutu’s Zaire. Although the FNLA soon gave up the armed struggle, UNITA continued to fight a guerilla war which was to last until 2002. Throughout this long civil war, UNITA moved with impunity in the countryside while the MPLA controlled the towns.
Two attempts at brokering a peace failed. Both, the Bicesse Accords of May 1991 and the Lusaka Protocol of 1994, were monitored by small UN peace-keeping forces, UNAVEM I and II. The UN Security Council also imposed a series of sanctions on UNITA from 1993. These too failed to stop the fighting. The MPLA therefore decided at its Party Congress in December 1998 to pursue a final military offensive against UNITA. It asked the UN to leave. After 3 years of fighting, government forces succeeded , firstly by killing UNITA’s leader in February 2002 and subsequently by coming to an agreement, the Luena Memorandum of Understanding of April 2002, with UNITA commanders to end the war. Isaias Samakuva was subsequently elected the new UNITA leader at the Party’s 9th Congress in 2003.
Although peace has been achieved on the mainland, the problem of Cabinda remains to be resolved. A low level guerrilla war has been conducted for over 30 years by rebel groups fighting for the independence of the Province. The Angolan government has used alternately negotiations and military force to no avail. A ceasefire agreement was signed on 1 August 2006 but it did not attract the support of all the Cabindan factions.
POLITICS
Angola was a one-party state, under the MPLA, until 1991. Then, as part of the Bicesse peace settlement, multi-party politics were introduced. Power is centralised in the President, who appoints all key public office-bearers including the Governors of the 18 Provinces. A total of 126 parties have since registered, but the majority are moribund. Less than a dozen parties have any real organisation or support base. Angola held its first ever elections in September 1992, an event intended to end the 18-month transition between war and peace, as provided for in the Bicessse accords. But many of the key tasks of Bicesse had not been completed by that stage. Notably, UNITA had largely not disarmed nor demobilised, and the proposed new integrated Angolan Army had barely got off the ground.
In spite of an election declared by the UN to be “generally free and fair”, UNITA contested the results and took the country back to war. In the Presidential election, the MPLA’s candidate, Eduardo dos Santos won 49.6% of the vote while UNITA’s leader, Jonas Savimbi secured 40 %. In the parliamentary elections, the MPLA won 129 of the 220 seats, UNITA 70, while 10 parties shared the remaining 21 seats. A government of national unity, GURN, was put in place some years later, in April 1997 as agreed by the Lusaka Protocol, and UNITA deputies finally took their seats in the National Assembly at the same time.
Following the passage of new Election Laws in April 2005, Angolans had anticipated that elections would soon follow, no later than September 2006. However, voter registration only started in November 2006 to be completed in June 2007. The government has since announced that Legislative elections will take place in 2008 and Presidential elections in 2009.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Angola’s human rights situation has improved since the end of the civil war. Both the Angolan Armed Forces and UNITA guerrillas committed atrocities, largely against civilians, during that period. Apart from thousands of deaths, the population in the countryside was displaced by the fighting several times over. By 2001, some 4million were displaced. Even in the cities, largely unaffected by the war, the security forces regularly used repression to keep any discontent, real or imagined, under control. In spite improvements with peacetime, there are still reports of extra-judicial killings and other human rights abuses.
A fledgling civil society and an independent press developed for the first time in the early 1990s when political space opened up following the Bicesse Peace Agreement. Their activities remain concentrated largely in the capital, Luanda. Access to justice is severely limited for most Angolans. Although political parties are allowed to operate, there are continued reports of intimidation and harassment of opposition supporters. Human rights abuses were reported during a major military offensive against rebels in Cabinda in late 2002–2003. The removal of illegal diamond diggers, largely Congolese, in 2004 is reported to have showed little concern for human rights.
ECONOMY
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: US 28.5 billion (2006)
GDP per head: estimate US 2000 (2006)
GDP Growth: 19.1% (2005)
Inflation: 13.2% (2006)
Major industries: Oil and diamonds
Major trading partners: Imports into Angola - South Korea, Portugal. US, China. Destination of exports - US, China, France, Chile.
Exchange rate: US 1 = 87.6 Kzs (May 2005)
The Angolan economy is highly dependent on oil, accounting for over half of GDP and 75% of government revenue (or some US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ 10.6 billion in 2005) and 90% of export value. It is the second largest producer, after Nigeria, in sub-Saharan Africa. It joined OPEC at the end of 2006. The current production, all offshore, of 1.4m bpd is set to rise to over 2m bpd by 2007, as investment in deep and ultra-deep blocks comes on stream. BP is a major player. Angola’s impressive growth rate, the highest in the world at a projected 20.8% by 2007, is driven by steeply rising oil production. A project to develop LNG facilities is a political priority and will have important environmental benefits. 85% of Angola’s gas is currently flared. An agreement with China’s Sinopec to build a second refinery has been concluded as part of the new China-Angola relationship. By early 2006, Angola had become China’s biggest source of imported oil, supplying some 15% of the total.
Angola is now the fourth largest producer of rough diamonds in the world, largely gemstone quality. Output declined during the war from smuggling, illegal digging and the absence of government control. This has since been reversed. Angola was the first to join the Kimberley Process in 2000, an attempt to outlaw 'conflict diamonds'. By 2005, output had reached over 7m carats, with exports valued at some US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ 949m, This represented 95% of the country's non-oil exports and about 10% of non-oil GDP. A large number of new prospecting licences were issued in 2005 and 2006 which will boost future output. A diamond polishing centre has been set up to add value.
Angola is also endowed with large expanses of prime agricultural land but the proliferation of land mines during the war (recent estimates put the number laid at 4 million) has been one of the main reasons for the reduction in the area under cultivation to 3%. Once the bread basket of Angola, the Central Highlands has reverted to subsistence agriculture.
Decades of central planning, mismanagement, corruption , and the war have long distorted the economy. In 2000, Angola began tentative economic reforms. It has since made significant progress in achieving macro-economic stability and reducing inflation (from over 300% in 1999 to about 23% by the end of 2005.) Basically a dollar economy, the government intervenes heavily to support the Kwanza. Angola does not have a formal agreement with the IMF. It has increasingly turned to oil-backed or commercial loans to finance expenditure. Since 2004, China has agreed oil-backed loans valued at US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$3 bn , thus far used largely for the rehabilitation of infrastructure.. The size of these credits dwarfed those from traditional creditors (Spain, Brazil, Israel). High oil prices and increased oil production have eliminated the longstanding fiscal deficit and at least temporarily reduced the need for external assistance or a formal programme with the IMF.. The government had hoped for a Donors Conference to raise finance for post-war reconstruction. But so far donors have been reluctant to provide funds until transparency is assured.
In spite of economic progress, Angola remains a difficult country for investors due to excessive bureaucracy. In the World Bank’s publication “Doing Business in 2007”, Angola ranked 156 out of 175, scoring poorly on a number of indicators including stifling business regulations.
DEVELOPMENT
In spite of its oil wealth, Angola is poor. Its GDP per capita figure of over US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ 2000 is misleading. In 2005, it ranked 166 out of 177 countries on the Human Development Index. 95% of the population live in poverty (under US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$1 per day) or extreme poverty (less than 76 US cents per day). All the socio-economic indicators are among the worst in Africa. Nearly 60% of the population is illiterate while over 60% have no access to potable water. Since independence, military expenditure was high , often over 40% of the budget, and took precedence over social and development spending. At the end of the war, the scale of the humanitarian crisis became apparent as access to the countryside was opened up. Some 4 million were displaced, 500,000 UNITA combatants and their families had to be resettled, while neighbouring countries hosted over 350,000 refugees. WFP (World Food Programme) reported at the end of 2004 that there was still a 47% food security deficit, and 1.1 million people still needed emergency food supplies. This dire situation has since improved to the extent that WFP reckons over the 2006-2009 period that less than 500,000 Angolans will need some food support.
The UK, through DFID, runs a small assistance programme in Angola, valued at some £5m per annum for 2006-07. The funds are channelled through international NGOs or UN agencies. In addition DFID provides some £750,000 per year for demining.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
During the 27 years of war, Angola’s relations with its neighbours, particularly Mobutu’s Zaire and Zambia, were poor because both countries had links with UNITA. Relations have since been normalised. Relations with its southern neighbour, Namibia, have always been excellent since Angola allowed SWAPO to use Angolan territory during its liberation struggle. In 1997, Angolan and Namibian troops went in to Kinshasa to support Laurent Kabila against Ugandan/Rwandan forces. They have since withdrawn although Angola is still engaged in training the new Congolese army. In August 2002 Angola brokered an agreement between the DRC and Uganda on the withdrawal of Ugandan troops from the DRC. Relations with South Africa, traditionally cool politically, improved in 2005 with the signature of a series of trade and cooperation agreements.
For long, Angola’s natural allies were the countries of the Soviet Bloc, including Cuba. At the height of their engagement, there were 60,000 Cuban troops in Angola. They left in 1990. Western investment in the oil sector has changed the balance. For example, the USA supported UNITA for two decades and did not recognise the MPLA government until 1993. It is now a strong ally of the MPLA through the American oil majors. Angola's membership of lusophone organisations has brought her close to Brazil, a key commercial partner ,as is Portugal. Relations with China, long cool because of China’s early support for UNITA, have been significantly enhanced by the new US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ 3bn lines of credit agreed since 2004.
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