Angola's Fragmented State: Exploring The Country's Complex Dynamics

A fragmented state is a country made up of at least two non-contiguous territories. Angola is an example of a fragmented state, as it is divided into two parts by the Congo proruption. There are independence movements to detach Cabinda as a separate state from Angola because its population belongs to a different ethnic group. Other examples of fragmented states include Indonesia, the Philippines, and Fiji, which are all archipelagos.

Angola's two parts

Angola is a fragmented state, divided into two parts by the Congo proruption. The province of Cabinda is an exclave that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The population of Cabinda belongs to a different ethnic group, and there are independence movements to detach it as a separate state from Angola.

The Republic of Angola, located in southwestern Africa, has a maximum width of about 800 miles (1,300 km), including the Cabinda exclave. The country is bordered by Namibia to the south, Zambia to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north and northeast, the Republic of the Congo to the northwest, and the South Atlantic Ocean to the west.

Angola's landscape varies from a semidesert Atlantic littoral bordering Namibia's "Skeleton Coast" to the sparsely populated rainforest interior and the rugged highlands of the south. The coastal plain, which varies in width from about 125 miles (200 km) in the area south of Luanda to about 15 miles (25 km) near Benguela, rises abruptly to the east in a series of escarpments leading to the rugged highlands.

The Bié Plateau, located east of Benguela, forms a rough quadrilateral of land above the 5,000-foot (1,500-metre) mark and covers about one-tenth of Angola's surface. To the north-central part of the country lies the less extensive and lower-elevation Malanje highlands, while the smaller Huíla plateau in the south rises steeply to an elevation of approximately 7,700 feet (2,300 metres). The eastern two-thirds of Angola is covered by an almost featureless plateau that gradually slopes down toward the centre of the continent.

Angola has a tropical climate with a marked dry season, largely influenced by the seasonal movements of the rain-bearing intertropical convergence zone and the cold Benguela Current off the coast. Rainfall, which is the key determinant of climatic differentiation, decreases rapidly from north to south and in proximity to the coast. The Maiombe forest in the northern part of the Cabinda exclave receives the greatest amount of rainfall, about 70 inches (1,800 mm) per year, while Huambo, on the Bié Plateau, receives 57 inches (1,450 mm). In contrast, Luanda, on the dry coast, receives only about 13 inches (330 mm), and the southernmost part of the coastal plain gets as little as 2 inches (50 mm).

The Congo-Cabinda proruption

Angola's exclave province of Cabinda, formerly known as Portuguese Congo, is separated from the rest of the country by a strip of land belonging to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is bordered by the Republic of the Congo to the north and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the east and south. Cabinda has a unique cultural and ethnic background, with a history that is distinct from that of Angola.

The Congo-Cabinda protrusion is a result of the Berlin Conference in 1884, which established that Leopold of Belgium's personal property, the "Congo Free State", would extend along the Congo River to the Atlantic. This territorial discontinuity created the protrusion, with Cabinda being separated from Angola by a narrow strip of land.

Cabinda has a rich history, having been formed from the fusion of three kingdoms: N'Goyo, Loango, and Kakongo. It was designated a Portuguese protectorate through the Treaty of Simulambuco in 1885, known as the Portuguese Congo, and was administratively separate from Portuguese West Africa (Angola). Over time, Portugal gradually merged Cabinda and Angola into a single colony.

The discovery of vast oil reserves off the coast of Cabinda in 1967 has significantly influenced the region's economy and politics. Oil has become the dominant export, contributing to around two-thirds of Angola's oil revenue. This has made Cabinda a highly valuable province for Angola, with some even referring to it as the tiny oil-rich corner of Africa.

The desire for independence in Cabinda has led to a prolonged struggle. The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) has waged a secessionist struggle against the Angolan government, advocating for the province's independence based on its historical status as a separate protectorate. The conflict has persisted for decades, with FLEC employing guerrilla tactics, including attacks on economic targets and kidnappings of foreign workers.

Despite a ceasefire agreement in 2006, the situation in Cabinda remains tense, with sporadic skirmishes and attacks continuing to occur. The province's status remains disputed, with the Angolan government insisting on its sovereignty over the region, while separatist groups continue to advocate for independence.

Angola's independence movements

In the 1940s and 1950s, groups of urban and educated Angolans began forming socialist resistance groups that engaged in anti-state agitation. The 1950s were characterised by state repression of suspected nationalists, using arbitrary imprisonment and physical abuse.

The Angolan War of Independence broke out in March 1961, when revolts on coffee plantations against forced labour and inhumane working conditions left thousands dead. The independence movements were: the Marxist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA); the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), which was formed in 1958 and received financial and military support from the CIA, China and the Congolese government; the Union of Angolan Peoples (UPA), which launched its military actions from Zaire and merged with the FNLA in 1962; and the Ovimundu-dominated UNITA movement, which emerged in 1966.

The pro-independence movements were riven by competition for access to supplies, territory and popular support. The Portuguese aggravated these divisions to further their own goals.

The independence movements capitalised on the Carnation Revolution of April 1974 in Portugal, which put an end to its empire and terminated the Portuguese Colonial War in Angola. The three movements opened negotiations with the new Portuguese authorities, leading to the Alvor Agreement of January 1975, which recognised all three liberation movements as the "sole legitimate representatives of the people of Angola". However, the various Angolan factions soon found new international backers as they competed to control the emerging state.

Angola's ethnic groups

Angola is a fragmented state with several non-contiguous pieces of territory. The country is divided into two parts by the Congo River, with the population of the Cabinda region belonging to a different ethnic group to the rest of Angola.

Angola's population is made up of three main ethnic groups, each speaking a Bantu language. The Ovimbundu make up 37% of the population and live in the Bié Plateau, as well as in the cities of Benguela, Lobito, and Luanda. The Ambundu, or Mbundu, make up 25% and dominate the capital city of Luanda and the Malanje highlands. The Bakongo, or Kongo, make up 11% and live in the far north of the country, including the city of Luanda, as well as in parts of the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.

Other ethnic groups include the Chokwe and Lunda, the Ganguela and Nyaneka-Khumbi, the Ovambo, the Herero, the Xindonga, and the San. There is also a mixed-race population of about 7%, with nearly 1% of the population being white, mainly of Portuguese ethnicity.

Angola's communication issues

Angola is considered a fragmented state due to its division into two parts by the Congo proruption. Cabinda, one of the two parts of Angola, has seen independence movements aiming to establish it as a separate state because its population is of a different ethnic group.

This fragmentation leads to communication issues within the country. Angola's shape impacts its politics and economy, and the communication challenges it presents are significant. The country's non-contiguous territories hinder the integration of people living in remote areas, similar to the challenges faced by other fragmented states such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Angolan government has attempted to address these issues by encouraging migration from populated areas to less populated ones. However, the inherent difficulties in governing a fragmented state, where parts are separated by water or land, remain a challenge.

Communication issues in Angola are further exacerbated by the country's history and infrastructure. The country's recent civil war, which ended in 2002, left much of the country's infrastructure destroyed or damaged, including transportation and communication networks. The rebuilding process has been ongoing, but the task is immense, and many areas remain cut off from easy access.

Additionally, Angola's geography, with its varied terrain and vast size, presents physical barriers to communication and transportation. The country's landscape includes deserts, mountains, and plateaus, which can make building and maintaining roads and communication lines difficult and expensive.

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