Country profile: Angola | New Internationalist

analysis

August 30, 2022

Angola’s soil, like most of sub-Saharan Africa, is red. Long blowing dust kacimbo (dry season) is red. The mud that covers half of the capital city of Luanda during the rainy season is also red. If you walk around all day, it’s likely to stain you – that’s why the rich don’t.

But while its good land hasn’t changed in ages, Angola certainly has. It is now the third largest economy in southern Africa, with much of its new infrastructure built by the Chinese government in exchange for oil loans – of which Angola, in the top three African oil producers , can offer a lot.

In this part of the world, the interests of some of the largest developing economies meet: China wants its gasoline and its timber; Brazil shares the same former colonizer, language and a centuries-old trade relationship; and Russia have inherited close diplomatic relations that began when the USSR gave its support to the national liberation movement in the 1970s.

But although there is a growing middle class, poverty is still widespread. Slums continue to grow in Luanda alongside gleaming skyscrapers and a charmingly regenerated waterfront. Sanitation, electricity supply and water distribution are often supported by parallel markets. Where the state fails, Angola’s entrepreneurs – big and small – come to the rescue, providing goods and jobs.

Many blamed former president José Eduardo dos Santos for fueling corruption. He ruled the country for 38 years, appointing his family, friends and allies to key positions. His daughter, Isabel dos Santos, was at one point the richest woman in Africa. That was until her dirty dealings at the state oil company Sonangol and various financial institutions were exposed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in 2020. Despite the anti-corruption rhetoric of his successor João Lourenço, monopoly power continues to reign unfettered .

Angola’s history is a tapestry of European encroachment and African reinvention. The ports of Luanda and Lobito were vitally important as departure points for the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. Portuguese and Dutch colonizers fought over the nation for nearly 70 years in hopes of controlling the lucrative trade routes. Later, the Portuguese – who, with some British support, eventually triumphed in this war – refocused the economy around the coffee trade, with former slaves reclassified as indentured labour. Systematic racial discrimination and laws remained until Angola’s independence in 1975.

Sanitation, electricity supply and water distribution are often supported by parallel markets. Where the state fails, Angola’s entrepreneurs come to the rescue

Since then, the once Soviet-backed People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has reigned supreme – albeit challenged in a civil war that raged, on and off, for three decades after independence. UNITA, the opposing force in the civil war, forms the main opposition and at the time of writing was set to win the August 24 election as part of a new coalition threatening to break the MPLA’s stranglehold on power. But the two sides are probably more alike than they care to admit.

New social movements, meanwhile, have faced brutal repression and self-censorship is widespread. A friend who returned to Angola after two decades living in Europe complained to colleagues about the troubles at work, thinking nothing of it until an uncle pulled him aside a few weeks later, saying: “The walls have ears: be careful”.

My friend’s uncle was not related to her employer or co-workers. Someone in the office must have told someone at home, who in turn knew someone else who must have known her uncle. In any case, his message was clear: Angola is a tight-knit society where your complaints are likely to reach powerful people who might offend. And offense is not taken lightly in Angola.

Leader: President João Lourenço (polls predict he will be ousted by UNITA’s Adalberto Costa Júnior in the August 24 election).

THE ECONOMY: GNI per capita $2,140 (in 2020) (Namibia $4,500, UK $39,830).

Monetary unit: First (1 AOA = $0.0023).

Main exports: Oil accounts for about 95% of Angola’s exports and is a third of the country’s GDP. Also diamonds and oil derivatives.

POPULATION: 33 million. Annual population growth: 3.2%. People per square kilometer 26 (Namibia 3, UK 278).

HEALTH: Under-5 mortality rate: 72 per 1,000 live births (Namibia 40, UK 4). Maternal mortality per 100,000 live births: 241 (Namibia 195, UK 7). HIV prevalence: 1.8%. While public healthcare provision is scarce, the private healthcare sector is growing in urban centres. Vaccination against Covid-19 is done with the COVAX initiative.

ENVIRONMENT: The climate is divided between rainy and dry seasons, with the rains lasting longer in the north. Temperatures are usually higher in coastal areas and lowlands. Deforestation and desertification have had an impact on both temperatures and the length of the seasons.

CULTURE: About 95% of Angolans belong to the Bantu ethnic groups, with the Ovimbundu (37%) and Ambundu (23%) making up the majority of Angola’s population. Other important ethnic groups include mestiços (mixed African and European, 2%), Chinese (1.6%) and Europeans (1%). Angola’s modern culture combines local heritage with a decisive influence from European, Latin American and South American trends.

RELIGION: Roman Catholics 56.4%, Protestant Christians: 13%; Pentecostal: 10.4%; other Christians: 13.6%; Traditional African religions: 4.4%; no religion: 1%. There is also a small immigrant Sunni Muslim community.

LANGUAGE: Portuguese (official), plus Kimbundu, Umbundo, Kikongo and Chokwe (national languages).

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX: 0.581 (Namibia: 0.646; DRC: 0.480), ranked 148 out of 189 countries.

Star ratings

Distribution of income ★✩✩✩✩

Inequality in Angola is still high (GINI index 51.3) with almost half of the population living on less than $2 a day. A staggering 49% of the urban population lives in muses (informal settlements).

writing reading ★★★✩✩

Angola’s literacy rate is low at 66% and shows a large gender disparity (males 80%, females 53%). But youth literacy stands at 77% (young males 85%, young females 71%), suggesting progress is being made.

Longevity ★★★✩✩

62 years in 2022 according to UN projections which do not take into account the impact of Covid-19 (Namibia: 64), up from 48 in 2002.

The position of the woman ★★★✩✩

Women make up 30% of Angola’s parliament, and many prominent positions in the country’s political, industrial and cultural life are held by women. But violence is still high, with 25% of Angolan women aged 15-49 reporting abuse by a former or current partner. The percentage of women married before the age of 18 is also high at 30%.

Freedom ★✩✩✩✩

The latest Freedom House report rates Angola as ‘Not Free’, with the country scoring 10/40 on political rights and 20/60 on civil liberties. Protests are often met with violent crackdowns by police and security forces. Angola ranks 99 out of 180 in Reporters Without Borders’ annual press freedom ranking.

Sexual minorities ★★✩✩✩

Homosexuality was decriminalized in 2019. But Angolan LGBTQI+ groups say the communities they represent still face prejudice, discrimination and barriers to access to education, health care, justice and work.

politics ★★✩✩✩

Angola ranks 122nd in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s global democracy index. Former president José Eduardo dos Santos reigned for 38 years until 2017. His successor, João Lourenço, belongs to the same party, the MPLA. The next presidential election was to be held on August 24.