Angola

The Republic of Angola became independent of Portugal on November 11, 1975. Angola, which is located in Southern Africa between Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, borders the South Atlantic Ocean for 1,600 km.

Principal government officials

 * President: Jose Eduardo dos Santos
 * Prime Minister: Fernando da Piedad Dias dos Santos "Nando"
 * Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs: Aguinaldo Jaime
 * Minister of External Affairs: João Bernardo de Miranda
 * Minister of the Interior: Roberto Leal Monteiro Ngongo
 * Minister of Finance: José Pedro de Morais
 * Minister of Defense: Kundi Paihama
 * Minister of Petroleum: Desidério da Graça Veríssimo da Costa
 * Minister of Planning: Ana Dias Lourenço
 * Ambassador to the United States: Josefina Perpetua Pitra Diakite
 * Permanent Representative to the United Nations: Ismael Gaspar Martins

Source: U.S. Department of State, May 2006.

Lobbying
In 2009, the Angolan government signed a lobbying contract with the Washington, DC-based firm Samuels International Associates. As part of the $675,000 contract, the firm will assist "the flow of open source information to facilitate Angola's public image, facilitating U.S-Angolan military-to-military relations, facilitating 'sister city relationships,'" reported O'Dwyer's. The firm will also "arrange English language training sessions for Angola's diplomats."

Economic overview
According the CIA The World Factbook, as updated May 16, 2006, Angola's "high growth rate is driven by its oil sector, with record oil prices and rising petroleum production. Oil production and its supporting activities contribute about half of GDP and 90% of exports. Increased oil production supported 12% growth in 2004 and 19% growth in 2005. A postwar reconstruction boom and resettlement of displaced persons has led to high rates of growth in construction and agriculture as well. Much of the country's infrastructure is still damaged or undeveloped from the 27-year-long civil war. Remnants of the conflict such as widespread land mines still mar the countryside even though an apparently durable peace was established after the death of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in February 2002. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for half of the population, but half of the country's food must still be imported. In 2005, the government started using a $2 billion line of credit from China to rebuild Angola's public infrastructure, and several large-scale projects are scheduled for completion by 2006. The central bank in 2003 implemented an exchange rate stabilization program using foreign exchange reserves to buy kwanzas out of circulation, a policy that was more sustainable in 2005 because of strong oil export earnings, and has significantly reduced inflation. Consumer inflation declined from 325% in 2000 to about 18% in 2005, but the stabilization policy places pressure on international net liquidity. To fully take advantage of its rich national resources - gold, diamonds, extensive forests, Atlantic fisheries, and large oil deposits - Angola will need to continue reforming government policies and to reduce corruption. The government has made sufficient progress on reforms recommended by the IMF such as promoting greater transparency in government spending but continues to be without a formal monitoring agreement with the institution."

Natural resources
Angola's natural resources include petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, and uranium. 

Population
Angola's population is 37% Ovimbundu, 25% Kimbundu, 13% Bakongo, 2% mestico (mixed European and native African), 1% European, plus 22% designated as "other". The population is 38% Roman Catholic and 15% Protestant (estimated in 1998), with the majority 47% participating in indigenous beliefs. 

Angola's official language is Portuguese, but Bantu and other African languages are spoken there. 

In July 2006, Angola's estimated population is 12,127,071, with a median age of 18 and life expectancy at birth for the total population is 38.62 years. 

Cabinda
Cabinda, according to The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2006, is an Angolan exclave administered as a province within c.2,800 sq mi (7,300 sq km) in West Africa. The town of Cabinda, with an estimated provincial population of 163,000 (1991), is the "chief population center." 

"The territory is bounded on the N by Congo (Brazzaville), on the E and S by Congo (Kinshasa), and on the W by the Atlantic Ocean. Cabinda was once geographically part of Angola but was separated from it in 1885 when the Belgian Congo (Congo [Kinshasa]) acquired a corridor to the sea along the lower Congo River.

"Largely tropical forest, the region produces hardwoods, coffee, cacao, crude rubber, and palm oil products. Petroleum production from large offshore reserves began in 1968 and now accounts for most of Angola's output. The region, however, has not benefited from the oil wealth, fueling resentment of the government and persistent fighting by Cabindan separatists. The Angolan army, which has been accused of human rights abuses in Cabinda, gained the upper hand in the fighting in 2002. Cabinda was the scene of heavy fighting during the war for independence from Portugal (1961-75)." 

Disease
The risk of disease in Angola is very high, originating from food or waterborne diseases (bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever); vectorborne diseases (malaria, African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) are high risks in some locations); respiratory disease (meningococcal meningitis); and water contact disease (schistosomiasis (2005)). 

The adult prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS was estimated at 3.9% in 2003 and 240,000 people were estimated in 2003 to be living with HIV/AIDS. The number of deaths due to HIV/AIDS was estimated at 21,000 in 2003. 

Also see World Health Organization information on Angola.

Media
The BBC says of the country's media:


 * The state controls all media with nationwide reach, including radio, the most influential medium outside the capital. Television, the private press, and internet access are very limited outside Luanda. Angola's only daily newspaper, Jornal de Angola, and the terrestrial TV service TPA are state-owned and rarely criticise the government.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * African Oil Policy Initiative Group
 * AirScan Inc.
 * Angola APPG
 * Angola's oil industry
 * Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa
 * Conflict Diamonds
 * Front for the National Liberation of Angola (FNLA)
 * globalization
 * Horn of Africa
 * Movement for the Popular Liberation of Angola (MPLA)
 * Patton Boggs
 * Sean Cleary
 * St. Lucia Airways
 * Tepper Aviation, Inc.
 * UNITA (National Union for Total Independence of Angola)

Profiles

 * "Angola" in the CIA The World Factbook, updated May 16, 2006; accessed May 18, 2006.
 * Background Note: Angola, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of African Affairs, May 2006.
 * "A Country Study: Angola," Library of Congress.
 * Country Profile: Angola (updated April 27, 2006) and Timeline: Angola: A chronology of key events (updated December 8, 2005), BBC.
 * MBendi Profile: Angola.
 * Angola, Human Rights Watch.
 * Angola in the Wikipedia.
 * Angola Chamber of Commerce website.

Maps

 * Angola Maps, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas.
 * Angola, WorldAtlas.com.

Media links

 * allAfrica.com (Angola) website.
 * AngolaNews website. French and English language.
 * AngolaPress website.

External articles

 * Alex Vines, "Oil and diamonds fuel war in Angola," Amnesty International (UK), Autumn 1999/Winter 2000.
 * William Minter, "Angola After Savimbi," The Nation, April 11, 2002 (posted), April 29, 2002 (issue).
 * Declan Walsh, "Catastrophe threatens Angola," The Scotsman, July 7, 2002.
 * Phillip van Niekerk and Laura Peterson, "Greasing the Skids of Corruption," Center for Public Integrity, November 4, 2002.
 * "De-mining Angola annually costs US$ 88 million," afrol News, January 19, 2005.
 * "Angola registers 17,000 AIDS cases since 1985," Xinhua (People's Daily Online (China)), July 15, 2005.
 * John Donnelly, "Oil wealth helping few of Angola's poor. Vast reserves cannot undo legacy of war, corruption," Boston Globe, December 11, 2005.
 * Sarah Grainger, "Making way for Angola's middle class," BBC, February 28, 2006.
 * "Angola seeks to increase investments in mining," afrol News, March 3, 2006.
 * "Surviving on a low income: Angola," BBC, March 15, 2006.
 * Sarah Grainger, "Israelis bring high-tech food to Angola," BBC, March 21, 2006.
 * "Seven million land mines still hidden in Angola," The Scotsman, March 29, 2006.
 * "China, Angola sign 9 cooperation agreements," afrol News, April 7, 2006.
 * "Angola set up development bank against IMF advice," afrol News, April 10, 2006.
 * "99.4% of Angola's exports are oil, diamonds," afrol News, May 2, 2006.
 * "Angola 're-launches' coffee production," afrol News, May 15, 2006.
 * "Worst cholera outbreak in Angola," BBC, May 17, 2006.
 * "Cholera in Angola - update," World Health Organization, May 18, 2006.

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