Angola is the prototype of an African country – beautiful and rich in natural resources but also dogged by conflict and corruption.
It is now at peace after more than four decades of war. After gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, Angola was plunged into a devastating civil war between the government led by the MPLA and the rebel UNITA forces. In February 2002 the rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi, was killed and a definitive peace accord was signed two months later.
But peace has brought prosperity to only a few in this country rich in oil and diamonds.
The rich are getting richer...
The boom in the price of oil saw Angola exporting nearly $30 billion of oil last year – a bonanza for a country with a population of 14-17 million people. Yet 70% of its citizens live in abject poverty – on less than $2 a day. One in four children dies before their fifth birthday.
Inequality
The capital Luanda is changing fast: new houses and office blocks are springing up, and the rich are getting richer. Angola’s economy grew by more than 15% in 2005, spurred in the main by a global hunger for oil and minerals, led by China and India.
Yet the majority of Angolans are not benefiting from the oil. This discrepancy is most apparent in Luanda, whose population swelled from 600,000 at independence to more than four million today. The shantytown of Boa Vista, which is perched on a huge waste dump overlooking the bay, boasts some of the most extreme poverty in the world.
Most of the residents in Boa Vista have no formal title to the land and are often the victims of forced evictions as the government seeks to modernise the city. Christian Aid partner SOS Habitat says 20,000 people were evicted from their homes during 2002-2006. The government claims the evictions are carried out to improve Luanda’s living conditions.
Corruption
Angola, which is the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, is dogged by allegations of corruption and mismanagement. In its 2007 corruption perceptions index of 179 countries, Transparency International ranked Angola 147th.
Angola is the world’s fourth-largest producer of diamonds.
Oil provides close to half of its gross domestic product – more than one million barrels of oil are extracted every day and volumes are expected to double by 2008. Angola is also the world’s fourth-largest producer of diamonds.
In recent years the government has become more transparent, making public details of billions of dollars in bonus payments it has received from oil companies. However, it does not fully disclose how it spends these funds.
All the while its revenues have grown because of new oil bonus payments, substantial loans from China and the high price of oil. It joined the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in January 2007.
All of its oil is offshore, which leaves the source of its wealth hidden from its citizens. Unlike Nigeria, there is little chance of civil disobedience against the oil companies. The closest Angolans get to their vast potential wealth is the sight of the oil platforms on the horizons, their flares burning day and night.
HIV
Angola’s HIV rates are still low – UNAIDS estimates that infection rates are anywhere between 2-5% of the population.
However, studies show that the peace that follows war can be deadly.
In Angola, the decades of war destroyed roads and bridges so people lost contact with the outside world. HIV rates started to climb when refugees and soldiers returned home.
The future?
Following the completion of voter registration in mid-September, long-delayed legislative elections are due in late 2008 with presidential elections to follow in 2009.
But until their leaders put the country’s interests ahead of their own, the vast majority of Angolans are unlikely to see a change in their lives.