As China Buys Less Oil, Angola Struggles To Repay Debt

 September 7, 2024

By Africa Defense Forum

Angola’s long-running financial relationship with China has been built on a simple equation: Angola would repay its growing Chinese debt with oil, a strategy that became known as the Angola Model.

The strategy is faltering, however, as China has begun importing less oil from Angola and other African nations and more from Russia, the Persian Gulf and Asia. The shift has been driven, in part, by African countries’ lack of investment in new oilfields and infrastructure. Aging equipment and shrinking oilfields make the continent’s oil producers, including Angola, less reliable as exporters, according to researchers with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The shift also reflects the lopsided relationship between China and African countries. While China remains the largest export market for Angola and other African nations, Africa as a whole amounts to less than 5% of China’s imports, according to Carnegie Endowment researchers.

“The case of Angola is particularly striking,” the researchers wrote in a recent report on China’s shifting relations with African nations. In 2010, Angola was China’s second-largest oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia. By 2023, Angola had fallen to eighth place. Between 2019 and 2023, Angola’s exports to China fell 20%, according to the Carnegie report.

“Without stability and significant investment in secondary recovery of mature oilfields, it’s a trend that is set to continue,” Luke Patey, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told the South China Morning Post.

During that same 2019 to 2023 period, Angola’s oil production fell 22% from 1.42 million barrels per day to 1.1 million barrels per day.

China receives nearly 72% of Angola’s oil exports, making it Angola’s largest oil importer. However, the recent drop in business is straining Angola’s ability to keep up with its Chinese debt. Since 2002, Angola has borrowed more than $45 billion from China, more than half of that going into its energy sector, according to Boston University.

Angola still owes Chinese lenders $17 billion. Chinese loans constitute about 40% of Angola’s total debt. Overall, debt payments consume about half of Angola’s national budget every year, placing it among African countries most vulnerable to a potential debt crisis, according to international credit rating agency S&P Global.

Chinese lenders gave Angola a three-year reprieve on loan payments that ended in 2023 — just as Angola’s economy took a downturn. As oil revenues have declined, Angola has been forced to cover interest payments on its debt by tapping into a Chinese-held $1.5 billion escrow fund that was mandated as part of its loans. This year’s debt payment to Chinese leaders is estimated at $10.1 billion.

Angola recently left OPEC, the cartel of oil-producing countries, after a dispute over quotas. Angolan authorities hope that step will encourage more direct investment by China and other countries in its oil sector. In the meantime, the country’s leaders are trying to diversify their economy to reduce the impact of fluctuating oil prices.

Angolan Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa recently told the Financial Times that Angola agreed with its largest creditor, the China Development Bank, to release cash held as collateral for its billions of dollars in loans.

Daves de Sousa said the escrow will release $150 to $200 million a month to meet those debt obligations. The plan does not include a restructuring on the debt which other African nations have requested. Such restructurings often extend the payment period, ultimately increasing the amount of the repayment as interest continues to mount.

Instead, Daves de Sousa said, the plan is designed to pay off the Chinese debt more quickly and avoid default.

“We understand that it is not restructuring, because we didn’t ask for a change of maturities and we didn’t ask for a change of payments,” Daves de Sousa said.

Africa Defense Forum
The Africa Defense Forum (ADF) magazine is a security affairs journal that focuses on all issues affecting peace, stability, and good governance in Africa. ADF is published by the U.S. Africa Command.

Angola caught in tug-of-war between China, US

Chrispin Mwakideu

DW

October 11, 2024

Rich oil and gas reserves, along with a strategic position for natural resource extraction from Africa's interior, make Angola a focal point for both China and the US.

US President Joe Biden was scheduled to visit Angola this week, but the trip was postponed at the last minute due to the looming threat from Hurricane Milton in Florida.

While a new date for Biden's visit remains uncertain, his tentatively planned trip to the oil-rich country — which would be his first visit to Africa as US president — underscores the growing importance of Angola for the United States.

"From a more historical perspective, the US has always been present in Angola, even though it seems as if it has been indirectly within the oil sector," said Edmilson Angelo, a researcher and specialist in African studies focusing on Angola.

Biden (right), seen here meeting with Angolan leader Joao Lourenco in 2023, postponed his trip to Germany and Angola to oversee storm preparation and responseImage: Yuri Gripas/ABACAPRESS/picture alliance

Angelo told DW that Angola's leadership has been trying to establish closer ties with Washington.

"President [Joao] Lourenco was received by President Biden at the White House in November 2023," said Angelo. "It's just a continuation of something that has already been established between Angola and the US.

Is US seeking to limit China's influence in Angola?

Some observers view the warming of US-Angola relations as a larger plan by Washington to counter China's influence in Africa.

As part of the G7, the US wants to boost infrastructure investments in Africa through programs like the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI), which officially unveiled its first strategic economic project in Africa, known as the Lobito Corridor, earlier this year.

"Angola has been trying to redefine its global image from one of corruption, and is trying to attract foreign investment," said Angelo, adding that in terms of foreign policy, the US and Angola see each other as strategic partners.
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Earlier this year, President Xi Jingping (right) welcomed Angola's Lourenco to ChinaImage: Li Xueren/Xinhua/Imago

Lobito Corridor vs. China's Belt and Road Initiative

The Lobito Corridor links the port of Lobito in Angola to landlocked mineral-rich countries like Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which have major deposits of cobalt and copper — essential for producing electronic devices, smartphones and laptops.

Beijing has massively invested in mining activities in both Zambia and Congo.

Simultaneously, Angola is key to China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — often dubbed the New Silk Road — a massive infrastructure plan that aims to smooth trade links with dozens of countries and strengthen China's economic influence.

"The Americans don't want to give up the region's valuable to the Chinese. But the question is if they can even match the Chinese, who have invested in the region for decades and have a massive advantage," Claudio Silva, a political analyst on Angola, told DW.

Edmilson Angelo also believes investment in the Lobito Corridor will bring tangible benefits to Angolans.

"It's not just investment for infrastructure, it's also coming with investment for social assistance and the environment," he said.

Already, there are two significant solar power plants in Angola's Benguela province designed to produce renewable energy.

Crude oil in exchange for infrastructure development

China's significant investments in Angola, particularly in its oil industry, emphasize the importance of Angola in the BRI project. Angola is one of China's top crude oil suppliers.

In exchange for oil, China has provided Angola with substantial loans for infrastructure development that have helped speed up the country's economic recovery following three decades of civil war that ended in 2002.

Beijing's loans to African nations last year were their highest in five years, according to the Chinese Loans to Africa Database, which is managed by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center. Top borrowers were Angola, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya.

Earlier this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed Beijing's ties with the African continent, saying they were at their "best period in history." He made the comments at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation — the biggest summit Beijing has hosted in years.

Xi pledged over $50 billion (€45.12 billion) in financing for Africa over the next three years and promised to help create 1 million jobs on the African continent.

China is reportedly aiming to establish a naval base in Angola, which would be China's second military installation in Africa after Djibouti, on the Gulf of Aden in eastern Africa.

Such a critical military asset on the Atlantic coast would significantly increase Beijing's capability to project force and defend its trade routes.

Eddy Micah Jr. contributed to this article

Edited by: Keith Walker

‘Business as unusual’: a new era in ties between China and Angola

Beijing was a key player in the African country’s reconstruction after decades of civil war

But the oil-backed loans that drove that recovery are ebbing as both nations look for other partners

Jevans Nyabiage
+ myNEWS
Published: 6:00pm, 12 Feb, 2023

Angola’s dependence on oil leaves the country vulnerable whenever prices fall.

 Photo: AFP

When Angolan President João Lourenço met Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Luanda last month, he was all praise for a series of landmark projects – from airports to hydropower stations – funded and built by China.

China had played “an indispensable role in Angola’s post-war reconstruction and economic and social development”, Lourenço said as the two countries marked four decades of diplomatic ties.

“Chinese enterprises have made positive contributions to the improvement of infrastructure and people’s livelihood in Angola.”

But even as the tributes flowed, the Chinese financing boom was already over.

Last year, Angola, which had once been Africa’s top destination for Chinese capital, did not receive any funding from Beijing’s massive infrastructure programme, the Belt and Road Initiative.

The shift is a result of a combination of factors, including commodity prices and changes within China and Angola, observers say.

Angola looks at refinancing as it faces higher repayments on Chinese loans
11 Mar 2022

In 2002, as Angola emerged from a 27-year civil war, China was on hand to advance cheap money that the West was reluctant to give in exchange for oil – an approach that became known as the “Angola model”.

Between 2000 and 2020, Chinese lenders had advanced 254 loans worth US$42.6 billion to Angola – more than a quarter of China’s total lending to African countries, according to data compiled by the Boston University Global Development Policy Centre. The result was an infrastructure boom, especially in housing, roads and power plants.

Oil is central to the whole equation, making up 90 per cent of Luanda’s exports. In all, 70 per cent of Angola’s oil is exported to China and those sales are tied directly to debt repayments.

But in recent years, China has been buying more oil from the Middle East and less from Africa. For many years, Angola was neck and neck with Saudi Arabia as the main source of Chinese oil exports, but it has now been overtaken by Russia and Iraq.

Angola’s dependence on oil leaves the country vulnerable whenever prices fall – as they did in 2014, when prices plummeted to below US$50 per barrel from a high of US$115, pushing the economy into recession and a debt crisis from which it is still to emerge.

At the same time, Chinese policy lenders such as the Export-Import Bank of China have become more cautious in general as a growing number of African countries – from Zambia to Kenya – fell into debt troubles.

Dominik Kopinski, an associate professor at the University of Wroclaw in Poland who studies China’s dealings with Africa, said the low oil prices resulted in serious economic imbalances in Angola, weakening the currency, the kwanza, and plunging the country into economic recession.

“Then came Covid-19, China’s growing isolationism, and loans drying up,” he said.

Christoph Nedopil Wang, director of the Green Finance & Development Centre at the Shanghai-based Fudan University’s Fanhai International School of Finance, said Angola used to be one of the main partners in Africa for belt and road engagement, particularly in fossil fuel-related projects.

“[But] with more diversified sources of fossil fuels for China, such as the Middle Eastern countries or Russia, Chinese developers seem to spread these engagements also to other countries,” Wang said.

Why Angola struggles to end its economic dependence on China
8 Nov 2021


Since becoming president in 2017, Lourenço has been trying to diversify the economy away from oil and to reduce Angola’s dependence on China. He has tried wooing investors from the West, especially the United States, which has pledged US$2 billion to build solar energy projects in the country.

Tim Zajontz, Research Fellow, Centre for International and Comparative Politics, Stellenbosch University in South Africa, said Chinese economic presence had waned markedly under Angola’s current government which had actively tried to diversify Angola’s international partnerships.

However, Zajontz said a rebound in Chinese investments in Angola was expected in coming years in strategic sectors, such as energy, transport and information technology. He said that a few weeks ago the Angolan government signed a US$249 million loan for its national broadband internet project with its Chinese counterpart.

Export-Import Bank of China will provide the funding to support the Angolan national broadband network project under a concessional loan framework agreement. It will fund the building of a 2,000km (1,240-mile) terrestrial optical cable in Angola as well as a submarine line connecting the enclave of Cabinda, and an upgrade to the country’s telecommunications network.

The funding is seen as a response to the US, which is backing Africell, an American company, to compete with Huawei for the control of 5G technology in the country.

Kopinski said Gang’s visit in January was meant to reassure Angola that it continued to be a strategic partner of China on the continent. He said the timing was particularly important, as the famous marriage of convenience had “experienced a marital burnout of sorts in the past years”.

“Chinese loans have dried up, Chinese state-owned enterprises switched to a standby mode and many of them left, and the Chinese community has shrunk from 350,000 in the peak time to a mere 20,000-30,000,” Kopinski said.

He said within this “business as unusual”, the visit indicated an emergence of the new normal in the Sino-Angolan ties with a less intrusive role for Chinese state actors backed by credit lines, and a more dominant role for private investors answering to the logic of capitalism rather than state-to-state policy.

Kopinski said Lourenço had signalled that the “Angola model” and heavy dependence on China were not in the country’s best interest – “and rightly so”.

But despite decoupling from China being sometimes depicted as Angola’s new master plan and a calculated shift in foreign affairs, there were various factors at play.

“We need to remember that in October 2018, Lourenço returned from his trip to China disillusioned as his Chinese friends did want to play along and bluntly said no to more loans that he had requested,” he said.

“There is, therefore, a combination of things behind this new development – Angolan internal politics, China’s policy recalibration, and a host of external factors, rather than an elaborately executed plan by Angola – or China for that matter.”

From War Zone to China's Poster Child, to Economic Despair

https://www.orfonline.org › research › from-war-zone-t...

Jan 28, 2021 — Since its independence in 1975, Angola has had a tumultuous journey: from being a war zone, to becoming a poster child for Chinese ...

China's Third World Foreign Policy: The Case of Angola and ...

https://www.cambridge.org › china-quarterly › article

by SF Jackson · 1995 · Cited by 124 — How do the Chinese organize their relations with Third World revolutionary organizations and their post-independence governments? This article

Angola to quit OPEC over oil production quotas disagreement


Mario Paiva
Thu, 21 December 2023 

Angola is one of the largest oil exporters in Sub-Saharan Africa, alongside Nigeria (Rodger BOSCH)

Angola said on Thursday it would leave OPEC over a disagreement on production quotas following the oil cartel's decision last month to further slash output next year.

Mineral Resources and Petroleum minister Diamantino Azevedo said that the decision was not taken lightly, but OPEC membership no longer served the African country's interests.

"We feel that at this moment Angola gains nothing by remaining in the organization and, in defence of its interests, it decided to leave," the presidency quoted Azevedo as saying in a statement.


The presidency said the decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Joao Lourenco in the capital, Luanda.

After the meeting, Lourenco signed a decree to officialise the matter, it said.

Azevedo told state broadcaster TPA that Angola is unhappy with OPEC's decision last month to further slash production next year in an effort to prop up volatile prices.

"We think the time has come for our country to be more focused on our goals," he told state broadcaster TPA.

"If we remained in OPEC... Angola would be forced to cut production and this goes against our policy of avoiding decline and respecting contracts."

OPEC, headquartered in Vienna, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

- Diplomatic shift -

Angola's departure would hurt OPEC's international standing less than if it was a bigger producer such as Iraq or Saudi Arabia, said ActivTrades analyst Ricardo Evangelista.

The African country has a comparatively small output of about 1.1 million barrels per day.

But the timing couldn't be worse "when the cartel is working hard to convince its members to voluntarily reduce production in order to support prices," Evangelista said.

Angola is one of the largest oil exporters in Sub-Saharan Africa, alongside Nigeria.

Both countries expressed dissatisfaction with their quotas at the November OPEC ministerial meeting as they seek to step up production to secure vital foreign currency.

The meeting had to be postponed for several days because of disagreements.

"When we see that we are in organisations and our contributions, our ideas, do not produce any effect, the best thing is to withdraw," Azevedo said.

The announcement caused a further drop in oil prices already weighed down by expectations of sluggish economic demand. The main international and US crude contracts fell more than 1.5 percent before trimming their losses.

Crude prices are sitting near their lowest level in nearly six months despite the cartel's announcement in November to further cut output.

They have jumped in recent days as cargo shippers and oil firms say they will avoid using the Red Sea and Suez Canal because of drone and missile attacks by Huthi rebels. But they still remain below $80 a barrel.

Nevertheless, crude prices remain above the average of the past five years.

In an effort to prop up prices, the OPEC+ alliance has implemented supply cuts of more than five million barrels per day (bpd) since the end of 2022.

Founded in 1960, the 13-member OPEC cartel in 2016 partnered up with 10 other producers to form OPEC+ to gain more clout.

Discord among members has added to the challenges faced by the OPEC+, which is already contending with rising competition from increasing US crude production and a looming transition away from fossil fuels.

Angola's move fell in line with a recent diplomatic shift that has seen Luanda -- long close to China and Russia -- moving towards the United States, said independent analyst Marisa Lourenco, who specialises in the region.

Leaving OPEC "shows where Angola's foreign policy interests lie, and which it is pursuing with great intention," she told AFP.

Earlier this month nearly 200 states approved a first-ever call for the world to transition away from fossil fuels during the COP28 climate talks in Dubai.

str-lul-ub/rl

Angola departure a blow for OPEC+ as cartel tensions rise

Emeline BURCKEL

AFP
Thu, 21 December 2023

The expansion of OPEC has proved to be a double-edged sword for the cartel as it means decision-making has become more difficult, according to Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya (JOE KLAMAR)

Angola's departure from OPEC exposes the tensions with the oil cartel as it seeks to cut output to maintain prices just as the United States ramps up production.

Despite slashing oil production for months on end and announcing new cuts in late November, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its ten allies have struggled to boost flagging prices.

Moreover, the wider OPEC+ group faces pressure on multiple fronts, as rising US crude production, a looming transition away from fossil fuels, and discord within its ranks have added to the challenges.

Prices are sitting at their lowest level in nearly six months despite the cartel's announcement in November to further cut output.

They jumped briefly as cargo shippers and oil firms said they will avoid using the Red Sea and Suez Canal because of drone and missile attacks by Huthi rebels. But they still couldn't break above $80 a barrel.

Nevertheless, crude prices remain above the average of the past five years.

In an effort to prop up prices, the OPEC+ alliance has implemented supply cuts of more than five million barrels per day (bpd) since the end of 2022.

After nearly striking $100 in September, the alliance's strategy has since fallen short of reversing the price slide.

While Saudi Arabia blamed speculators for the drop, rather than the weak demand outlook as the world economy struggles, analysts say the cartel's lack of unity has fuelled scepticism about their latest announced cuts.

The decision by Angola will likely further fuel scepticism.

- Frictions laid bare -

"If the supply cuts went broadly unheard it is because the latest discussions showed frictions at the heart of the group," Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya told AFP.

Not only Angola, but also Nigeria expressed dissatisfaction with their production quotas at the November ministerial meeting, which had to be postponed for several days because of disagreements.

Furthermore, the OPEC+ alliance was unable to agree on a group-wide production cut that all 23 members would have supported.

Instead, heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia only managed to garner support from six other members in a bid to voluntarily reduce output.

SEB bank energy analyst Bjarne Schieldrop downplayed the impact of the departure of Angola, a smaller producer at 1.1 million bpd.

"Everyone knows that West African countries are in a slightly different league than Middle East countries," he said.

This is due not only to the volume of their production, but their higher production costs, making them more sensible to output cuts.

Moreover, Angola is far from the first small country to quit the cartel. Indonesia left in 2009, Qatar in 2019 and Ecuador in 2020.

"It would be really different if it was one of the key countries in the Middle East, like Kuwait, Iraq…," said Schieldrop.

- 'Double-edged sword' -

Founded in 1960, the 13-member OPEC cartel in 2016 partnered up with 10 other producers to form OPEC+ to gain more clout.

But the group's enlargement has proven to be "a double-edged sword", noted Ozkardeskaya, with decision-making becoming more difficult.

The Vienna-based group drew international attention in 1973, when it imposed an oil embargo against Israel's allies in the midst of the Yom Kippur War, triggering the first oil crisis.

Within just a few months, prices quadrupled, highlighting the cartel's dominance.

Faced with rising competitors in the 1980s, it introduced its famous quota system that enabled it to exert more control over the market.

This strategy meant the group fared relatively well during the 2008 financial crisis and the price shock in the wake of the Covid pandemic, despite increased internal tensions.

As a result of the supply cuts and amid various political crises in Libya and Venezuela, the OPEC+ share of the oil market has fallen to 51 percent -- the lowest since its creation -- the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest report.

Meanwhile, crude production in the United States, the world's leading producer, has risen above 20 million bpd, while Brazilian and Guyanese output has also soared.

"The shift in global oil supply from key producers in the Middle East to the United States and other Atlantic Basin countries... (is) profoundly impacting global oil trade," the IEA said.

- Green transition -

In recent years, OPEC+ has been confronted with its own demise as an increasing number of states have called for a transition away from fossil fuels owing to climate change.

OPEC has an "interest (in) delaying the green transition as much as possible, said Ozkardeskaya.

At the COP28 summit in Dubai this month, OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais urged OPEC+ members in a heavily criticised letter to "proactively reject" any language that "targets" fossil fuels rather than emissions.

According to analysts, it is imperative for Riyadh to sustain the inflow of government revenues derived from oil.

They are "essential to finance Saudi Arabia's extensive and multi-year economic diversification programme, including ambitious giga projects", said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.

Riyadh has been working on developing other sources of revenue, but "the transition doesn't happen overnight", UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo added.

emb/anb-kym/rl/pvh

Angola Wants to Be the US Ally, Its "Excess" Soviet Weapons Can Help the Armed Forces of Ukraine


Defense Express
ukr.defense.news@gmail.com
December 29, 2022
BMP-2 IFV of the armed forces of Angola / Illustrative photo from open sources
This may turn into a tendency, considering that Morocco already helped Ukraine with T-72 spare parts and "extra" tanks


News24 reports that one of the "traditional" russa’s allies in Africa, which is Angola, has decided to turn away from the Kremlin, and now has set a course for rapprochement with the USA and NATO, and the re-equipment of its army with Western-made weapons.

This is a significant loss for Moscow, as Angola was formally one of the largest buyers of russian-made weapons. The Kremlin even promised Angolan joint projects on the construction of defense enterprises, in exchange russians hoped to gain access to fish resources and deposits of precious stones.

Read more: ​russians Terrorize Peaceful Citizens of Ukraine with Another Massive Missile Attack, Air Defense of the Country Shot Down 78,2 % of the Missiles

T-55 tanks of the armed forces of Angola / Illustrative photo from open sources

Such a situation can play a significant role in strengthening Ukraine. The stockpiles of "Warsaw Pact" weapons in Eastern Europe have essentially run out, so the White House is looking for weapons from "alternative sources" to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For example, negotiations with the countries of the Middle East about a possible "exchange" to speed up the supply of NASAMS complexes for Ukraine.

Or that Morocco, as an important ally for the United States in North Africa in terms of the Ramstein format, allocated spare parts for the T-72 tanks for Ukraine, and donated some of its tanks for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which were transferred for repair at the power of the Czech Excalibur Army. Therefore, it is quite likely that as well as Angola wants a more substantial rapprochement with the USA, the White House will also ask this country to "share" weapons or other resources with Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

T-72B and M60 tanks of the ground forces of Morocco / Illustrative photo from open sources

Angola traditionally has large remnants of Soviet weapons received in the 1970s and 1980s from Moscow and Cuba during the war against South Africa. The Military Balance 2022 provides the following data on the Soviet or russian military equipment in Angola.

Armored vehicles:

- Tanks: 200 units of the T-552AM2 (Czechoslovak production), 50 units of the T-62 and 50 units of the T-72M1, 10 units of the PT-76;

- Other armored vehicles: 600 units of the BRDM-2, 250 units of the BMP-1 and BMP-2, overall 170 units of the BTR-152, BTR-60 and BTR-80, 31 units of the MT-LB.

T-72 tank of the armed forces of Angola / Illustrative photo from open sources

Artillery:Self-propelled guns: four units of the 2S3 Akatsyia SPG, 12 units of the 2S7 Pion SPG and a few 2S1 Gvozdika SPG;
Towed artillery: 523 units of the D-30, 48 units of the M-46 and four D-20 howitzers; 750 units of the 82mm and 120mm mortars;
MLRS: 58 units of the BM-21 Grad and 40 units of the RM-70 Vampire.
98 combat aircraft, including 6 units of the Su-27 and Su-27UB and 10 units of the Su-25 and Su-25UB;
57 transport aircraft, including four Il-76, six An-12, 12 An-26 and two An-32 aircraft, eight An-72;
almost 130 helicopters, including 34 units of the Mi-24 and 22 units of the Mi-35 helicopters, 27 Mi-8 helicopters and eight Mi-171Sh.

2C7 Pion self-propelled 203mm cannon of the armed forces of Angola Illustrative photo from open sources

Aviation:98 combat aircraft, including 6 units of the Su-27 and Su-27UB and 10 units of the Su-25 and Su-25UB;
57 transport aircraft, including four Il-76, six An-12, 12 An-26 and two An-32 aircraft, eight An-72;
almost 130 helicopters, including 34 units of the Mi-24 and 22 units of the Mi-35 helicopters, 27 Mi-8 helicopters and eight Mi-171Sh.

Air defense means:A certain number of the Strela-2, Strela-3 and Igla-1 MANPADS, an unspecified number of ZSU-23-4 Shilka, 450 units of the ZPU-4, ZU-23-2 and S-60 anti-aircraft guns;
15 units of the 9K33 Osa complexes, 10 complexes of the Strela-10, 12 complexes of the S-125M1.

ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft gun of the armed forces of Angola Illustrative photo from open sources

But then it is worth making such an amendment. The defense budget of Angola in 2021 went down to 1.4 billion dollars overall, with the total number of 100 thousand servicemen. Accordingly, a significant part of the weapons described above may in fact be not in proper condition, due to lack of enough money for maintenance.

Accordingly, the maximum that Ukraine should count on here is the transfer of either factually defective equipment with subsequent restoration at the factories of the countries of the former Warsaw Pact, or the transfer of spare parts.

BM-21 Grad MLRS of the armed forces of Angola / Illustrative photo from open sources

The example of Morocco can also show a quantitative "maximum": this country, according to the media, donated a certain amount of spare parts for the T-72 and up to 30 tanks, while there are about 40 units of the T-72B in service and another 60 vehicles of this type in storage.

On the other hand, Ukraine now needs any kind of military assistance, even components for old Soviet equipment. Taking into account the fact that during the liberation of Kherson Oblast, Ukraine’s military gathered russia’s T-62 for at least one tank battalion, and some of these vehicles are already used against russians themselves.

RM-70 Vampire MLRS (probably a simplified version) of the Armed Forces of Angola / Illustrative photo from open sources

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

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Potential impacts of gas flaring in Soyo, Angola

Journalist Neusa e Silva travelled to Soyo to discover the potential human and environmental costs of gas flaring on the ground

View of the flaring towers from Praia dos Pobres, situated 2.28km from the Angola LNG complex, the largest natural gas exploration investment on the African continent.

 Photo: Neusa e Silva

Gas flaring associated with oil exploration in Angola has raised significant concerns regarding its detrimental effects on climate change and food security. Environmental experts warn that the practice may be contaminating local soils and water resources while simultaneously contributing to increased regional temperatures. In Soyo, a province in northern Angola, growing questions surround the security of community proximity to gas flaring projects and whether adequate measures have been taken to protect public health and the environment.

Ana Maria (a pseudonym) and her elderly mother, both residents of a neighbourhood near Soyo Municipal Hospital, shared their experiences with our reporter, Neusa e Silva. Although initially hesitant and wary of strangers, Ana Maria eventually agreed to speak about the challenges faced by her community. Soyo, a city in Angola’s Zaire Province, is home to approximately 260,000 people, many of whom rely on subsistence farming and fishing to sustain their livelihoods.

Ana Maria, like many women in the region, supports herself by farming and selling cassava. However, she highlighted the increasing difficulty of farming in recent years, attributing these challenges to two primary factors: rising temperatures and the rapid deterioration of crops.

“In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to farm,” Ana Maria explained. “The city has been getting noticeably hotter, and the vegetables and tubers in our fields are spoiling even before we can harvest them. This phenomenon has been intensifying for about five years, coinciding with the increased operation of the gas flaring towers nearby. During what used to be the cold season, the temperature hardly drops anymore. Our crops are rotting in the fields long before they should. It wasn’t like this in the past.”

Restaurants at Praia dos Pobres. Photo: Neusa e Silva

Oil production

Located in southwest Africa, Angola is one of the largest oil producers on the African continent. Oil production is the country’s main source of revenue, accounting for around 98% of export earnings and approximately 75% of the Angolan state budget. A significant part of these oil exports come from the provinces of Cabinda and Soyo, where the country’s largest oil exploration projects are located, both offshore and onshore.

When Ana Maria and other interviewees referred to the illuminated towers, they were referring to the two gas flaring towers located in the Angola LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) project complex, the largest natural gas exploration investment on the entire African continent.

This project is made up of the following national and international oil companies: Sonangol (Angola’s national fuel company with 22.8%), the American company Chevron with 36.4%, the French company TotalEnergies with 13.6%, Azule Energy Exploration (Angola) and Azule Energy Angola Production B.V.

Azule Energy is an autonomous energy company that resulted from the combination of the assets and workforce of BP Exploration Operating Company Limited (“BP”) and Eni International B.V. (“Eni”), each with an equal 50% stake, according to information available on its official website.

The Angola LNG consortium is dedicated to processing and receiving natural gas from different oil exploration platforms, and has the capacity to supply the global market with up to 5.2 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year, according to the consortium’s website.

Our reporting team contacted the management of the Angola LNG project to ask about the measures adopted to mitigate possible environmental damage and the impact on the population living near the complex. We were informed that, at the moment, it is not possible to visit the complex or grant interviews.

We also requested an interview with the official entities and the regulatory body, in this case the Angolan National Oil and Gas Agency, to find out whether the country has implemented measures to regulate and control the levels of gas flaring by operators, if any. However, as of the closing date of this report, we had still not received the promised answers.

In addition to Angola LNG’s facilities, Soyo province is home to other oil exploration projects, both offshore and onshore, operated by national and global companies.

Local farmers highlighted the increasing difficulty of farming in recent years, attributing these challenges to two primary factors: rising temperatures and the rapid deterioration of crops. Photo: Neusa e Silva

Land expropriation

Farmers Ana Maria and Helena Vanda Estevão told our reporter that the degradation of their crops began to increase about five years ago. But what is even worse for Ana Maria is that the land where some of the women grow their own food is being expropriated, without any justification.

“Yesterday, they told us to pull up the cassava in 15 days because the land has already been sold,” said Ana Maria. “No one has been able to explain to whom the land we planted was sold. All they say is that the second city of Soyo will rise in the place of these plantations. No one knows who the companies or people are who are selling or buying the land. We do not know if it is the administration that is selling it without informing the people, they have not said anything, nor have they announced anything on the radio or television,” she said.

Another place visited by the reporter was Bubu Island, a small fishing village, where we met Donã, a fisherman who has lived on the island since 2000. Donã shared that in the past, they used to fish in the waters around the island, but now there are almost no fish left.

“We don’t fish here anymore, now we go fishing in the open sea to catch fish. Some use nets, others use lines, in the open sea. But back then, we used to fish here with nets. We used to catch snapper and several other types of fish until 2007. Now, not anymore,” he said.

In a conversation with Angolan family physician Dr. Sandra Gabriela (pseudonym) about the risks faced by Soyo residents due to continuous direct and indirect exposure to gas flaring, she explained that in the short and medium term, exposure to gas flaring significantly increases the likelihood of developing cancer, inflammatory diseases, skin cancer and many other health problems. The burning of gas can also cause headaches, migraines, insomnia and nausea, the doctor said.

“Prolonged exposure can lead to liver damage, birth defects, cancer and even mental health problems,” said Dr Gabriela.

Donã, a fisherman from Bubu Island Donã, told the reporter that now there are hardly any fish left. Photo: Neusa e Silva

Climate risk and regional food scarcity

Experts indicate that gas flaring, associated with oil extraction, has severe impacts on soil contamination, a phenomenon frequently observed in oil exploration areas. In flaring zones, there is an increase in local temperatures, the release of toxic pollutants, and soil contamination. According to the latest Climate Risk Report for the Southern Africa region, the Met Office, ODI and FCDO have warned that the region is on the brink of a devastating famine crisis.

On April 22 2024, CARE, the Council for the Humanities, FANRPAN and the Rural Women’s Assembly reiterated the warning, calling for support from international donors.

To understand the relationship between these phenomena and natural gas exploration activities in Soyo, we spoke to environmental engineer Vanessa Mateus. In addition to our reporter’s on-site research, the journalist also asked an expert whether the gas flaring operations were considered harmful to the environment and human health.

Asked about the effects of gas flaring, Mateus said she was concerned about the safety of the distance between the gas flaring projects in Soyo and Cabinda and the surrounding communities. She noted that “although many projects in the concession phase are destined for areas without communities, agricultural activities or natural conservation areas, the lack of master plans at municipal or land-use planning level contributes to local disorder, bringing communities closer to the companies”.

She added that new neighbourhoods or houses are springing up every day near the companies, partly due to rural migration, as people looking for better living conditions are attracted to the areas where the exploration companies are operating.

Biodiversity is also at risk, she said. “In general, we can consider that there is significant loss and removal of biodiversity, as animals and plants tend to be more sensitive to certain impacts. The effects on air quality and natural watercourses are very difficult to control.”

Pollutants are carried by winds and are no longer just localised; they become regional and even provincial, she explained. “The same goes for leaks into rivers and seas, which are spread by currents and can have local, regional, or even provincial impacts.”


Individual flaring sites – Gas flaring volumes (mn m3/year). Source: World Bank. Graphic supplied

Increased production plans

At the end of last year, Azule Energy and its partners announced the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the facilities of the New Gas Consortium that will operate in the city of Soyo. The press release, dated October 4 2023, states that “it will be the first non-associated gas project in Angola, with production scheduled to start in 2026, an investment valued at around 2.2 billion dollars”.

On the other hand, Angola LNG recently announced plans to increase its natural gas production. In a recent interview with Jornal de Angola, Angola LNG CEO Amilton Cunha said that the increase was the result of new investments underway, which will allow the company to receive more associated and non-associated gas from offshore platforms. Amilton Cunha highlighted that Angola LNG currently sends more than 50 ships loaded with products to the global market every month, reinforcing its importance in the energy scenario.

The CEO of Angola LNG highlighted the company’s social impact in the province of Zaire, where its social responsibility policy has contributed significantly to the provision of basic services, improving the living conditions of the local population.

Neusa e Silva is an Angolan journalist and international freelance correspondent based in Portugal. This investigation is part of the series “Burning Skies: Behind Big Oil’s toxic flames”, developed by Environmental Investigative Forum, a global consortium of environmental investigative journalists, in partnership with the European Investigative Collaborations network, and their partners Daraj, Source Material and Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism. This series was supported by Journalismfund Europe

CIA & CHINA=UNITA VS CUBA & MPLA

20 years after Angola peace treaty, Unita not happy with state of country

NEVER WERE 

Lenin Ndebele

Joao Lourenco (File: AFP)

Former rebel force turned political party, Unita, accused the MPLA government of being corrupt.

Unita is challenging government to ratify peace agreements, especially the social inclusion of ex-rebels.

Angola is set for general elections in August 2022, and is expected to test João Lourenço's presidency.

On 4 April, the Day of Peace and National Reconciliation, Angola celebrated two decades of peace.


However, some former National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) rebels, who fought under the late Jonas Savimbi, complained that the socio-political and economic status of the country had declined.

In a statement, Unita's Standing Committee of the Political Commission said it was concerned about "the vertiginous rise in the prices of basic food products, endemic corruption and the systemic and degradation of moral and civic value and the abuse and violation of human rights".

Unita also added that "after 20 years, the balance is mitigated as Angolans are experiencing a serious economic, financial and social crisis".

Angola, like most African countries, is resource rich. Its economy hinges on diamonds, natural gas and oil.

READ | Angola opposition protests 'unfair' poll law reforms

However, opposition parties as well as political analysts said corruption in these sectors had risen under President João Lourenço.

Rajen Harshe, from the Observer Research Foundation, said the poverty gap had widened in Angola.

He said:
Unsurprisingly, the gap between the rich and the poor, amongst [the] 33 million Angolan population, has been growing and an overwhelming majority of the people in Angola live with an average income of less than $2 per day.

On 1 March, Unita leader Adalberto Costa Júnior met with Lourenço to encourage him to "persist in this path that is absolutely salutary and exemplary for the citizens and institutions of the country".

With Angola set for the polls in August, the rebel veterans said the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) government had been in power since independence from Portugal in 1975, and was failing to uphold all peace treaties agreed upon at the ceasefire after 20 years of civil war.

Costa took with him the grievances of Unita's civil war veterans who said peace was their leader Jonas Savimbi's wish.

Unita said in a statement:
To this end, Dr Savimbi took several diplomatic initiatives and spared no physical and other sacrifices, to the point of donating his own life.

As Angola marked 20 years of peace, Unita said it would press ahead with seeing all peace treaties ratified mainly for the social inclusion of ex-combatants and the return of their material heritage.

Savimbi, Unita's founder and revolutionary politician cum rebel military leader, died in battle on 22 February 2002 against government forces. He was 67.

His storied life became an enigma, having been reported dead at least 15 times and having survived numerous assassinations. His eventual death signalled a new chapter in the history of Angola as a peace agreement between Unita and MPLA was signed eight weeks after.

Angola vows to bring back billionaire Isabel dos Santos over graft claims

January 20, 2020 By Agence France-Presse


Angolan prosecutors vowed on Monday to use “all possible” means to bring back Isabel dos Santos, the former president’s billionaire daughter, after thousands of leaked documents revealed new allegations she siphoned off hundreds of millions in public money.

Dubbed Africa’s richest woman, dos Santos is accused of using her father’s backing to plunder state funds from the oil-rich but impoverished southern African country and — with the help of Western consulting firms — move the money offshore.

She stopped living in Angola after her authoritarian father Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country for nearly 40 years, stepped down in 2017 for his anointed successor Joao Lourenco.

She now spends her time between London and Dubai.

“We will use all possible means and activate international mechanisms to bring Isabel dos Santos back to the country,” prosecutor general Helder Pitra Gros told public radio.

“We have asked for international support from Portugal, Dubai and other countries,” he added.

The 46-year-old dos Santos is already being investigated as part of an anti-graft campaign launched by Lourenco, who has vowed to root out corruption.

Prosecutors last month froze bank accounts and holdings owned by the businesswoman and her Congolese-Danish husband Sindika Dokolo, a move dos Santos described as motivated by a groundless political vendetta.

Gros’ remarks came after a trove of 715,000 files dubbed the “Luanda Leaks” on Sunday revealed how the eldest daughter of the former president allegedly moved the vast sums into overseas assets.

The award-winning New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) behind the release alleged the international system has allowed powerful individuals like her to move assets around the world, without questions.

 

PUBLICO/AFP/File / FERNANDO VELUDO Prosecutors

 have already frozen the bank accounts and holdings 

owned by dos Santos and her Congolese husband Sindika Dokolo

“Based on a trove of more than 715,000 files, our investigation highlights a broken international regulatory system that allows professional services firms to serve the powerful with almost no questions asked,” the ICIJ wrote.

The group said its team of 120 reporters in 20 countries was able to trace “how an army of Western financial firms, lawyers, accountants, government officials and management companies helped (dos Santos and Dokolo) hide assets from tax authorities”.

– ‘Highly coordinated attack’ –

Dos Santos took to Twitter to refute the claims, launching a salvo of around 30 tweets in Portuguese and English, accusing journalists involved in the investigation of telling “lies”.

“My fortune is built on my character, my intelligence, education, capacity for work, perseverance,” she wrote.

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and educated in Britain, dos Santos — scornfully nicknamed “the princess” — was named Africa’s first female billionaire in 2013 by Forbes, which estimates her current wealth at $2.1 billion.

Her lawyer dismissed the ICIJ findings as a “highly coordinated attack” orchestrated by Angola’s current rulers, in a statement quoted by The Guardian newspaper.

Dos Santos herself told BBC Africa the file dump was part of a “witch hunt” meant to discredit her and her father.
 

AFP/File / Adalberto ROQUE Former Angolan president 

Jose Eduardo Dos Santos ruled for nearly 40 years before stepping down in 2017

She headed Angola’s national oil company Sonangol until her father’s successor forced her out after becoming president in 2017.

“Red flags really went up when she was appointed head of the state oil company at a time when her father still had significant influence,” said Daniel Bruce, who heads the UK branch of anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International.

“You could see there were major conflicts of interest starting to emerge,” he added.

Dos Santos said on Wednesday that she would consider running for president in the next election in 2022.

– Western consultants –

The ICIJ investigation said Western consulting firms such as PwC and Boston Consulting Group were “apparently ignoring red flags” while helping her stash away public assets.

“Regulators around the globe have virtually ignored the key role Western professionals play in maintaining an offshore industry that drives money laundering and drains trillions from public coffers,” the report said.

Its document trove included redacted letters allegedly showing how consultants sought out ways to open non-transparent bank accounts.

London-based firm PwC*** was among those advising her businesses.

The consultancy said it had “immediately initiated an investigation” in the wake of the “very serious and concerning allegations.”

“We have also taken action to terminate any ongoing work for entities controlled by members of the dos Santos family,” it added in a statement.

The Boston Consulting Group did not immediately respond to an attempt to get comment by AFP.

One confidential document allegedly drafted by Boston Consulting in September 2015 outlined a complex scheme for the oil company to move its money offshore.

The investigation also published a similar 99-page presentation from KPMG.

“UK firms… have played a role both in helping her to amass this fortune but also to invest the proceeds of these suspicious deals,” said Bruce.

“There are questions to answer,” he added. “Particularly for those who helped her acquire property.”

Dos Santos and Dokolo have invested in several luxurious London houses and amassed an impressive collection of valuable artwork.

Her husband, a well-known collector of African arts, developed that passion from his billionaire banker father Augustin Dokolo Sanu.

*** PwC IS PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPER  ACCOUNTING 

Documents reveal how 'Africa's richest woman' stole fortune from her country 

Issued on: 20/01/2020

Isabel Dos Santos, daughter of Angola’s former President and Africa's richest woman, sits for a portrait during a Reuters interview in London, Britain, January 9, 2020. Picture taken on January 9. © REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

Text by:NEWS WIRES|

Video by:Camille NEDELEC

An award-winning investigative team published a trove of files Sunday allegedly showing how Africa's richest woman syphoned hundreds of millions of dollars of public money into offshore accounts.

The New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) worked with newspapers such as Munich's Suddeutsche Zeitung to reveal the "Panama Papers" tax haven scandal in 2016.

Its latest series called "Luanda Leaks" zeros in on Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of former Angola president Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

Angola's prosecutors last month froze the bank accounts and assets owned by the 46-year-old businesswoman and her Congolese husband Sindika Dokolo, which she described as a groundless political vendetta.

"Based on a trove of more than 715,000 files, our investigation highlights a broken international regulatory system that allows professional services firms to serve the powerful with almost no questions asked," the ICIJ wrote.

The group said its team of 120 reporters in 20 countries was able to trace "how an army of Western financial firms, lawyers, accountants, government officials and management companies helped (dos Santos and Dokolo) hide assets from tax authorities".

Dos Santos took to Twitter to refute the claims, launching a salvo of around 30 tweets in Portuguese and English, and accusing journalists involved in the investigation of telling "lies".

"My fortune is built on my character, my intelligence, education, capacity for work, perseverance," she wrote. 

She also blasted "the racism and prejudice" of SIC-Expresso, a Portuguese TV station and newspaper, and member of the ICIJ, "that recall the colonial era when an African could never be considered equal to a European".

Dos Santos's lawyer dismissed the ICIJ findings as a "highly coordinated attack" orchestrated by Angola's current rulers, in a statement quoted by The Guardian newspaper.

Dos Santos herself told BBC Africa the file dump was part of a "witch hunt" meant to discredit her and her father.

The former president's daughter headed Angola's national oil company Sonangol. Forbes magazine last year estimated her net worth at $2.2 billion.

Her father's successor Joao Lourenco forced her out of the oil company after becoming president in 2017.

Dos Santos said on Wednesday that she would consider running for president in the next election in 2022.

Western consultants 

The ICIJ investigation said Western consulting firms such as PwC and Boston Consulting Group were "apparently ignoring red flags" while helping her stash away public assets.

"Regulators around the globe have virtually ignored the key role Western professionals play in maintaining an offshore industry that drives money laundering and drains trillions from public coffers," the report said.

Its document trove included redacted letters allegedly showing how consultants sought out ways to open non-transparent bank accounts.

One confidential document allegedly drafted by Boston Consulting in September 2015 outlined a complex scheme for the oil company to move its money offshore.

The investigation also published a similar 99-page presentation from KPMG.

None of the companies named issued immediate statements in response to the investigation.

(AFP)

Luanda Leaks point to international complicity as Isabel dos Santos faces scrunity

Angolans are calling for an international investigation into the world-wide dealings that allowed Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the former president, to become the richest woman in Africa. 

No Angolan ever believed that the fortune amassed by Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, was acquired by legal means. But even the most skeptical might have been surprised by the extent of international connivance in the plundering of the country's resources as exposed by the recent leak of documents concerning "Africa's richest woman."

The New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on Sunday published a trove of files allegedly showing how dos Santos syphoned hundreds of millions of dollars of public money into offshore accounts. The more than 715,000 files — dubebd "Luanda Leaks" — were investigated by 120 reporters in 20 countries, including Germany.

Germany's involvement

German public broadcasters NDR and WDR, together with the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, found that the beverage company Sodiba, owned by dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo, received a loan of €50 million ($55 million) from a subsidiary of the German development bank KfW without a prior comprehensive examination of the business. The loan was used by dos Santos to purchase a beer brewing plant and two bottling lines from German company Krones AG in 2015. Dos Santos' father allegedly used his influence to get the investment project approved.

Human rights activist and researcher Rafael Marques de Morais believes the current drive against corruption in Angola is legitimate

Human rights activist and researcher Rafael Marques de Morais says that it is "only fair" that countries like Germany now help investigate how international actors enabled the former president's 46-year-old daughter to acquire a vast fortune estimated at over $3 billion. "[German chancellor] Angela Merkel is visiting Angola [in February] and that issue must be raised: How come funds provided by the German government were also used to add to her [dos Santos'] wealth?"

"This is a major case of international corruption," de Morais told DW, adding: "It was the world that projected Isabel dos Santos as the richest and most successful businesswoman when she was a thief." According to the ICIJ, the leaked documents show how "Western financial firms, lawyers, accountants, government officials and management companies helped hide assets from tax authorities."

The stolen billion

According to the leaked files, in recent years dos Santos and her husband founded more than 400 companies in 41 jurisdictions, among them tax havens like Malta, Mauritius and Hong Kong. These companies continuously benefited from public contracts, consulting services and loans in Angola.

President Joao Lourenco was received in Berlin by his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2018

In late December, Angolan authorities froze dos Santos' assets in the African country following allegations by prosecutors that she and her husband had embezzled more than $1 billion from state companies Sonangol and Sodiam. Isabel dos Santos was put in charge of Sonangol by her father in 2016. She was later fired from this position by her father's successor, Joao Lourenco.

Isabel dos Santos contonues to deny any wrongdoing. "My fortune is built on my character, my intelligence, education, capacity for work, perseverance," dos Santos wrote on social media platforms. She insists that both the current investigation in Angola and "Luanda Leaks" are politically motivated and coordinated attacks against her.

'Corruption is killing the country'

Some analysts have voiced suspicions that current president is not so much motivated by the fight against corruption than by a need to consolidate his power after succeeding long-time ruler Jose Eduardo dos Santos.  Robert Besseling, the executive director of EXX Africa — a company that assesses business risks — told DW that he believed economic interests were at stake too: "[The government] seem to be pressuring associates, family and business to give up the assets of key companies in Angola and elsewhere at the very moment when there is a privatization agenda, where the government is seeking to sell a large share of the economy," he said.

Rafael Marques de Morais disagrees. Severely persecuted for his anti-corruption activism during the dos Santos era, he believes that Lourenco is truly bent on cleaning up the country. However, this is also in his own best interest: Angolans are increasingly upset about the deep economic crisis in the oil-rich country, which was also precipitated by the plundering of its resources by a corrupt elite. The discontent does not bode well for President Lourenco's party, the MPLA, which has ruled the country since independence 45 years ago. "Dos Santos was in power for 38 years and he privatized the state mostly in favor of his children. That's why there is an investigation into corruption. And corruption must end in Angola, because it is killing the country," de Morais said.

Angola's huge wealth in natural resources has failed to trickle down to the population

The need to reform the judicial system

There are many investigations now taking place against current and former government officials. A number of generals and members of parliament have been indicted and some jailed. "There is an effort by the government to really bring on as many cases as the judicial system can handle." A major problem, however, is the lack of reform of Angola's judicial system. "All the judges and prosecutors currently in office have been appointed by dos Santos himself," de Morais explains.

The immunity granted to former President dos Santos, who now resides in Spain for what are said to be medical reasons, expires in 2022. "After that, it is expected that he will have to respond in court for his misdeeds," according to de Morais. Despite the controversy, last week, Isabel dos Santos said she would consider running for president of Angola in the 2022 election.

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