With peace consolidated, Angola has chosen the path of sustainable development. But with public support slow in arriving, it is the private sector that is taking the reigns
| President José Eduardo dos Santos’ government has struggled to gain international backing for Angola’s reconstruction efforts. |
ife is improving in Angola. Three years after the peace treaty brought a final resolution to two generations of war, the country is slowly reviving, and the Angolan government of President José Eduardo dos Santos deserves credit for a great deal of the progress that has been made, and for their heartfelt attempt to uplift a nation that had been literally shattered by the country’s prolonged conflict. As Special Advisor to the President for Regional Affairs Albina Assis Africano says, “We want Angola to have a stable economy and one that is able to provide a good life for its citizens. Given that we are a big country with a small population and bountiful resources, in my lifetime I would like to see the Angolan people enjoying a better life.”
Much has been achieved since 2002. Refugees have been brought back from neighbouring countries and ex-soldiers have been reintegrated into civilian life. The government has complied with International Monetary Fund requests to increase the transparency of the oil industry and improve fiscal policies. Hospitals have been built, doctors have been trained and more than one million children have re-enrolled in school. Railways lines have been re-established, bridges have been built, and roads and fields have been de-mined. Investment is on the rise, and the government has reigned in inflation, brought about macroeconomic stability, and created the conditions that allowed Angola to register 12 percent growth last year.
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But there is still a lot of work to be done. The Angolan population is struggling with endemic diseases and no major inroads have been made in reducing the country’s high poverty rates. The World Food Program, whose funding in Angola was cut by half last year, still feeds a million people in the country, and many others survive on subsistence farming. At the end of the day, Angola is still a very discouraging place to be if you are poor.
President dos Santos’ government has chosen the course of sustainable development, and by and large this is a positive choice and the correct policy, considering that World Bank estimates for the nation’s complete reconstruction over the next decade are ringing in at £16 billion (Angola needed £1 billion for the priority phase of its reconstruction from 2003-2006). Only foreign investment and private sector growth can generate such high figures. However, in the short term, Angola needs greater support from the international community. Aware of the importance that development has in the peace consolidation of post-conflict countries, the government would like to see much more rapid results. Paulo T. Jorge, Secretary for International Relations at the MPLA, says, “We need partners for the development of the country, the destruction, hunger, misery that was caused by many years of war must be reverted. Imagine how many years it would have taken countries like Germany and France to rebuild themselves after the Second World War if it hadn’t been for the Marshall Plan.”
Deputy Prime Minister Aguinaldo Jaime adds that Angola has worked hard in these past three years, yet there is a still a lag in the international perception of the country.
He comments, “The image that people have of Angola is sometimes an image of the past, an image from the cold war. And quite often our progress and successes are not reported in the international press – our political and economic reforms, or our democratisation of the market. But the International Monetary Fund has publicly acknowledged the efforts of Angola towards the macroeconomic stabilization, currency stability, and also transparency in the oil sector, and it’s important to remember that Angola is a country that can play an important role not only in the region, but also internationally.”
FACTS ON ANGOLA
GDP: £9.3 billion (2005 projected)
GDP per Capita: £491
Annual Growth: 11.7% (2005 estimate)
Inflation: 31% (2004)
Major Trading Partners: Imports into Angola - Portugal, South Africa, U.S., Brazil, and France. Destination of exports - U.S., China, EU
Export Commodities: Crude oil, diamonds, refined petroleum porducts, gas, coffee, sisal, fish and fish products, timber, cotton
Tel: +44 20 76296213, Fax: +44 20 74953707 - [email protected]