Angola's Success: What Led To The Country's Triumph?

Angola is a country located in southwestern Africa with a population of over 33 million people. It is a large country with a vast coastline and central plateau, bordering Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Angola has a diverse economy, but its success is largely attributed to its abundant natural resources, including minerals and petroleum reserves. Since gaining independence in 1975, Angola has faced challenges such as civil war, poverty, and economic inequality. However, in recent years, Angola has made significant progress, becoming one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, particularly due to its oil exports. The country's success can be attributed to its vast natural resources, strategic trade partnerships, and efforts to diversify its economy and improve infrastructure.

Angola's economy: oil, agriculture, and trade

Angola's economy is heavily reliant on its oil sector, which contributes about 50% of its GDP, more than 70% of government revenue, and over 90% of exports. The country is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and produces around 1.16 million barrels of oil per day. Angola's oil production has been declining, and the country has not fully exploited its oil and gas resources, estimated at 9 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves and 11 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. The petroleum industry is vital to the country's economy, but it faces challenges due to the volatile global oil demand, which has resulted in high poverty and inequality levels.

Angola's agricultural sector plays a significant role in providing livelihoods for the population, with subsistence agriculture being the main source of income. However, the country still imports more than half of its food. Angola has abundant agricultural potential, with 58 million hectares available for agricultural development, including 35 million hectares of arable land. The government has implemented various initiatives to boost agricultural production and reduce dependence on food imports, such as the National Development Plan for 2018-2022 and the Presidential Decree, PAPE (Action Plan for Employability Promotion). These efforts have been hindered by budget constraints and a lack of commercial credit and foreign exchange, impacting the importation of necessary agricultural equipment and inputs.

Angola's trade is closely linked to its oil sector, with crude oil accounting for over 90% of its exports. The country's main export partners are China, the United States, India, France, Taiwan, and South Africa. Angola's total exports in 2022 were valued at US$45.4 billion, while imports reached US$16.93 billion. The United States is a significant trade partner, with exports to Angola totalling US$653 million in 2022, including food products, machinery, and chemical products. Angola's imports come primarily from China, Portugal, India, Togo, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Angola's economy faces challenges due to its dependence on the oil sector, and efforts to diversify into agriculture and other sectors have been hindered by budget constraints and a difficult business environment. The country's success is closely tied to its natural resources, particularly oil, but structural issues and external shocks have impacted its economic growth and development.

Angola's government: political history and future

Angola's government has been a presidential republic since 2010, with the President of Angola acting as both head of state and head of government. The country has a multi-party system, with general elections held every five years. The President is automatically the leader of the winning party or coalition, and has the power to appoint and dismiss members of the government, judiciary, and military, among others.

Political History

Angola has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age and its formation as a nation-state can be traced back to the Kingdom of Kongo, a hegemonic state alongside other Kikongo-speaking kingdoms that flourished from the 14th century. The Portuguese first landed in what is now northern Angola in 1482 and gradually took control of the coastal area, with their interest in the region quickly turning to the slave trade. By the 19th century, Angola was the largest source of slaves for the Americas.

Portugal granted independence to Angola on November 11, 1975, after a protracted anti-colonial struggle from 1961 to 1974. However, competing movements continued to struggle for power in the new nation, leading to a devastating civil war that lasted from 1975 to 2002. The civil war was fought between the ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba; the insurgent National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), supported by the US and South Africa; and the National Liberation Front of Angola, backed by Zaire. The MPLA remained in power throughout the civil war.

Future

Since the end of the civil war in 2002, Angola has emerged as a relatively stable constitutional republic. The current President, Joao Lourenco, was elected to a second five-year term in 2022. While Angola's economy has grown significantly since achieving political stability in 2002, largely due to the oil sector, the country still faces huge social and economic challenges. These include high poverty rates, blatant social inequality, and a lack of economic diversification.

To address these issues, Angola needs to reduce its dependence on the oil sector and promote economic diversification to support growth, job creation, and poverty reduction. Agriculture, with its abundant arable land and favourable climatic conditions, is the sector with the highest potential to drive this diversification. Additionally, the government needs to address issues such as corruption, human rights violations, and diamond smuggling to attract more foreign investment.

Angola's society: demographics, health, and education

Angola has a population of over 33 million people as of 2022. The population is growing by 3.52% annually, with a total fertility rate of 5.76 children per woman. The population is relatively young, with 47.83% of people under the age of 15 and only 2.3% aged 65 or older. The country has a low life expectancy, with the average person living to 62.11 years, and a high infant mortality rate of 67.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Angola has a diverse population, with three main ethnic groups: the Ovimbundu (37%), the Ambundu (25%), and the Bakongo (11%). Other groups include the Chokwe, Lunda, Ganguela, and Nyaneka-Khumbi, as well as mixed-race and white populations. The official language of Angola is Portuguese, but many people also speak Bantu and other African languages. The literacy rate in Angola is low, with only 71.1% of the population over the age of 15 able to read and write in Portuguese.

Education in Angola has six years of compulsory schooling, but the system has faced challenges due to a lack of resources, qualified teachers, and infrastructure. The quality of teaching is generally reasonable at the primary level, but secondary school teachers are often unqualified or underpaid. As a result, enrolment rates are low, especially in rural areas and among girls.

Angola's health system struggles with high child and maternal mortality rates and a high fertility rate. Malaria is the leading cause of death in the country, and while HIV/AIDS rates are low, it remains a significant issue. The government has implemented plans to improve health outcomes, with goals including reducing malaria morbidity and increasing access to family planning services.

Angola's environment: natural resources and climate change

Angola has a varied natural environment, with four principal natural regions: an arid coastal lowland, a belt of green hills and mountains, a large high inland plateau of dry savanna, and a rainforest in the north and in the Cabinda exclave. The country has a tropical and tropical highland climate, with distinct rainy and dry seasons. The rainy season in the north can last for up to seven months, while in the south it begins in November and lasts until February. The dry season is characterised by heavy morning mist.

Angola's natural resources are considerable, with vast mineral and petroleum reserves. It has large reserves of petroleum and natural gas, concentrated in the maritime zones off the coast and the Congo River estuary. Angola has become one of the largest exporters of petroleum in sub-Saharan Africa, and production has nearly tripled since independence. Diamonds are also a significant resource, with alluvial diamonds occurring widely in the northeastern quarter of the country. There are also large reserves of iron ore in the southwestern part of the country, as well as copper, manganese, gold, phosphates, uranium, feldspar, and platinum.

Angola's economy is highly dependent on the oil sector, which has made it vulnerable to external shocks and undermined macroeconomic stability. The country also faces significant environmental challenges, including overuse of pastures, soil erosion, deforestation, and inadequate supplies of potable water. Climate change is expected to increase water scarcity, raise temperatures, and extend dry seasons, negatively impacting agricultural productivity.

Angola's development: infrastructure and poverty reduction

Angola's development has been tied to its oil sector, which has brought volatile growth and high levels of poverty and inequality. However, the country has been taking steps to improve infrastructure and reduce poverty.

Infrastructure Development

Angola's infrastructure development is focused on improving transportation and energy infrastructure. The Angolan government operates three separate railway lines, with plans to construct three additional lines totalling over 10,000 km. The government allocated $62 million to support the development of the rail sector and spur economic growth in 2023. In addition, Angola has six ports along its coastline, with plans to develop two new greenfield ports to increase cargo capacity and competitiveness.

To support the country's goal of 60% electrification by 2025, Angola is partnering with Power Africa and the African Development Bank to build critical transmission infrastructure. These collaborations aim to improve access to electricity and strengthen the financial viability of the power sector.

Poverty Reduction

Despite being the second-largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, Angola faces high poverty rates, with a projected poverty rate of 12.4 million in 2024. The World Bank and the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework have identified education, infrastructure, and medicine as key areas for poverty reduction.

Education is a top priority, with efforts to improve school governance, teacher training, and educational resources. However, there is a lack of resources in schools, and less than 1% of Angolans attend university in the country. The government has also implemented cash transfer programs and social protection initiatives to support vulnerable populations.

Medicine and healthcare access is another critical area, with challenges such as drug shortages and high costs. The National Health Service in Angola is working to enhance primary healthcare services and address issues such as malnutrition and vaccine deployment.

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