A high-level South African delegation is in Angola this week to explore economic opportunities there, in the aftermath of that country’s civil war.
The delegation, led by Deputy President Jacob Zuma, also includes the minister of defence, Mosiuoa Lekota; the minister of transport, Jeff Radebe; the minister of trade and industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa — and the deputy minister of minerals and energy, Lulu Xingwana.
Within the 13-member Southern African Development Community, Angola is South Africa’s fourth-largest trading partner — after Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia. According to the South African Department of Trade and Industry, exports to Angola amounted to $460-million last year.
At an official dinner held in the Angolan capital, Luanda, Monday, Zuma said “We regard the deepening and expansion of economic co-operation between our two countries as being critical.”
“We are pleased that a lot of progress is being made to conclude, in the near future, agreements in areas such as minerals and energy, transport, tourism, sports and recreation, science and technology, town planning and defence,” he added.
Angola is sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest oil producer (after Nigeria): oil accounts for 40% of the country’s gross domestic product, and 80% of state revenues, according to official statistics.
“Angola is one of the largest oil producers in the world … South Africa has a lot of experience in oil exploration and mining. It can assist Angola in developing those vital areas,” said Norman Mlambo of the Pretoria-based Africa Institute of South Africa.
However, allegations of corruption have dogged the Angolan oil sector.
In a report issued in January this year, the New York-based Human Rights Watch noted that over $4-billion in oil revenues had disappeared from government accounts from 1997 to 2002. This analysis was based on figures from the International Monetary Fund.
According to Human Rights Watch, the total amount of social spending in the country over the same period amounted to $4,27-billion.
“In recent years, as oil revenues surged, the Angolan government has refused to provide information about the use of public funds to its population, undermining their right to information,” said the report.
“Had the government properly accounted for and managed the disappeared funds it is likely that more funds would have been allocated to the fulfillment of economic, social, and cultural rights, such as increased spending on education, health, and other social services,” it added.
Angola is recovering from a 30-year civil war that ended in 2002 after taking a heavy toll on the country’s 13,1-million citizens.
“Average life expectancy (in Angola) is 45 years; 60% of the population lives below the poverty line; nearly half (45%) of Angolan children suffer from chronic malnutrition; and at 250 per 1Â 000 live births, the under five mortality rate is one of the highest in the world,” says a report on Angola, recently issued by the United States Agency for International Development.
“Of the almost eight million Angolans who are poor, more than four million depend on some form of humanitarian assistance to cover their most basic requirements,” it adds.
South African diamond-giant De Beers was last month reported to be close to resuming operations in Angola. A disagreement with the country’s state diamond firm, Endiama, had resulted in its departure from Angola in 2001.
As with oil, diamonds have proved a mixed blessing for Angola. The gems were used to finance the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola during its decades-long war against the government.
A report issued earlier this year by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), based in the South African capital, Pretoria, noted that management of the Angolan diamond sector had not improved markedly since the end of the civil war.
“As with Sonangol (the state oil company), Endiama’s internal dealings and its business with its partners are conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy; there is no clear data available to facilitate comparison between Endiama’s revenues and its contributions to the treasury,” said the ISS study.
The war has left Angola strewn with more than five million landmines, making it one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world. Firms from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia are expected to benefit from the risky but lucrative business of clearing Angola of these devices, so that refugees can return to their lands and villages.
South African firms are also said to be interested in projects for rebuilding Angola’s infrastructure, shattered during the civil war.
While Angola is in need of foreign investment, analysts believe the country also has the capacity to make a contribution to the region — and the continent as a whole. In Mlambo’s view, Angola’s military experience could prove useful in peacekeeping operations around Africa.
“Angola can be useful in Burundi and Darfur in Sudan, where peacekeepers are needed,” he said. “We have witnessed Angola’s role in the DRC (the Democratic Republic of Congo) where its soldiers were deployed between 1998 and 2002.”
Angola, along with Zimbabwe and Namibia, rushed in troops to prop up the beleaguered regime of former Congolese leader Laurent Kabila in the late 1990s, following a rebellion there that was backed by Rwanda and Uganda. — IPS