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Angola's Map
Geography People Government Economy GEOGRAPHY PEOPLE HISTORY Portugal's primary interest in Angola quickly turned to slavery. The slaving system began early in the 16th century with the purchase from African chiefs of people to work on sugar plantations in Sדo Tomי, Principי, and Brazil. Many scholars agree that by the 19th century, Angola was the largest source of slaves not only for Brazil, but also for the Americas, including the United States. By the end of the 19th century, a massive forced labor system had replaced formal slavery and would continue until outlawed in 1961. It was this forced labor that provided the basis for development of a plantation economy and, by the mid-20th century, a major mining sector. Forced labor combined with British financing to construct three railroads from the coast to the interior, the most important of which was the transcontinental Benguela railroad that linked the port of Lobito with the copper zones of the Belgian Congo and what is now Zambia, through which it connects to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Colonial economic development did not translate into social development for native Angolans. The Portuguese regime encouraged white immigration, especially after 1950, which intensified racial antagonisms. As decolonization progressed elsewhere in Africa, Portugal, under the Salazar and Caetano dictatorships, rejected independence and treated its African colonies as overseas provinces. Consequently, three independence movements emerged: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) led by Agostinho Neto, with a base among Kimbundu and the mixed-race intelligentsia of Luanda, and links to communist parties in Portugal and the East Bloc; the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), led by Holden Roberto with an ethnic base in the Bakongo region of the north and links to the United States and the Mobutu regime in Kinshasa; and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Malheiro Savimbi with an ethnic and regional base in the Ovimbundu heartland in the center of the country and links to the People's Republic of China and apartheid South Africa. From the early 1960s, elements of these movements fought against the Portuguese. A 1974 coup d'etat in Portugal established a military government that promptly ceased the war and agreed, in the Alvor Accords, to hand over power to a coalition of the three movements. The ideological differences between the three movements eventually led to armed conflict, with FNLA and UNITA forces, encouraged by their respective international supporters, attempting to wrest control of Luanda from the MPLA. The intervention of troops from South Africa on behalf of UNITA and Zaire on behalf of the FNLA in September and October 1975 and the MPLA's importation of Cuban troops in November effectively internationalized the conflict. Retaining control of Luanda, the coastal strip, and increasingly lucrative oil fields in Cabinda, the MPLA declared independence on November 11, 1975, the day the Portuguese abandoned the capital. UNITA and the FNLA formed a rival coalition government based in the interior city of Huambo. Agostinho Neto became the first president of the MPLA government that was recognized by the United Nations in 1976. Upon Neto's death from cancer in 1979, then-Planning Minister Josי Eduardo dos Santos ascended to the presidency. The FNLA's military failures led to its increasing marginalization, internal divisions, and abandonment by international supporters. An internationalized conventional civil war between UNITA and the MPLA continued until 1989. For much of this time, UNITA controlled vast swaths of the interior and was backed by U.S. resources and South African troops. Similarly, tens of thousands of Cuban troops remained in support of the MPLA, often fighting South Africans on the front lines. A U.S.-brokered agreement resulted in withdrawal of foreign troops in 1989 and led to the Bicesse Accord in 1991, which spelled out an electoral process for a democratic Angola under the supervision of the United Nations. When UNITA's Jonas Savimbi failed to win the first round of the presidential election in 1992 (he won 40% to dos Santos's 49%, which meant a runoff), he called the election fraudulent and returned to war. Another peace accord, known as the Lusaka Protocol, was brokered in Lusaka, Zambia, and signed in 1994. This agreement, too, collapsed into renewed conflict. The UN Security Council voted on August 28, 1997 to impose sanctions on UNITA. The Angolan military launched a massive offensive in 1999, which destroyed UNITA's conventional capacity and recaptured all major cities previously held by Savimbi's forces. Savimbi then declared a return to guerrilla tactics, which continued until his death in combat in February 2002. On April 4, 2002, the Angolan Government and UNITA signed the Luena Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which formalized the de facto cease-fire that prevailed following Savimbi's death. In accordance with the MOU, UNITA recommitted to the peace framework in the 1994 Lusaka Protocol, returned all remaining territory to Angolan Government control, quartered all military personnel in predetermined locations, and relinquished all arms. In August 2002, UNITA demobilized all military personnel and in September 2002, together with the government, reconstituted the UN-sponsored Joint Commission to resolve all outstanding political issues under the Lusaka Protocol. On November 21, 2002, UNITA and the government declared all outstanding issues resolved and the Lusaka Protocol fully implemented. UN Security Council sanctions on UNITA were lifted on December 9, 2002. In advance of national elections projected for 2006, UNITA and the MPLA held their first post-war party congresses in June and December 2003, respectively. The UNITA Congress saw the democratic transfer of power from interim leader General Paulo Lukumba "Gato" to former UNITA representative in Paris Isaias Henriquי Samakuva, while the MPLA Congress reaffirmed President dos Santos' leadership of party structures. The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), formed in 1974, rejects the Alvor Accords that included Cabinda as part of Angolan territory at independence. Since 1975, FLEC has engaged in low-level guerilla attacks against government targets and has periodically kidnapped foreigners in an effort to press for an independent Cabindan state. Leadership struggles within FLEC have led to its breakup into various splinter factions, two of which continue the movement's armed insurgency. The international community has rejected the notion of Cabindan independence. The Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) launched a major offensive against FLEC in November 2002. While the offensive was moderately successful, at least one of the FLEC factions retains a guerilla capability. Periodic, separate negotiations between the leadership of the two armed FLEC factions and the Angolan Government have failed to produce a settlement to the conflict. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS Few opportunities exist for opposition parties to challenge MPLA dominance. President dos Santos has proposed that general elections be held in 2006. A multi-party constitutional reform process will resume following elections. Angola is governed by a president who is assisted by a prime minister and 30 cabinet ministers, all appointed by the president. Political power is concentrated in the presidency. The executive branch of the government is composed of the president (head of state and government), the prime minister, and the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers, composed of all government ministers and vice ministers, meets regularly to discuss policy issues. The President, the Council of Ministers, and individual ministers in their areas of competence have the ability to legislate by decree. The National Assembly has 220 members elected in 1992 (three seats for Angolans living abroad have never been filled). They represent parties whose weight is determined by a formula that takes into account national tickets and provincial voting. The ruling MPLA controls 59% of the seats. The central government administers the country through 18 provinces. Governors of the provinces are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the president. The legal system is based on Portuguese and customary law but is weak and fragmented. Courts operate in only a fraction of the 164 municipalities. A Supreme Court serves as the appellate tribunal; a Constitutional Court with powers of judicial review has never been constituted despite statutory authorization. Recently, the Supreme Court has acted as a Constitutional Court. The 27-year-long civil war ravaged the country's political and social institutions. The government estimates that 4.7 million people were internally displaced by the civil war. Since 2002, more than 300,000 of Angola’s original 450,000 refugees have returned home. In 2005, the anticipated final year for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) organized return program, an anticipated 53,000 refugees will be assisted in returning to Angola. Daily conditions of life throughout the country mirror the inadequate administrative infrastructure as well as weak social institutions. Government support for social institutions is often inadequate. Many hospitals are without medicines or basic equipment, schools are without books, and public employees often lack the basic supplies for their day-to-day work. Principal Government Officials Angola maintains an embassy in the United States at 2100-2108 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009 (tel. 202-785-1156; fax 202-822-9049; web: www.angola.org ). Angola also maintains consulates in New York City (attached to its Permanent Mission to the United Nations) at 866 UN Plaza, 48th St., Suite 552, New York, NY 10017 (tel. 212-233-3588, ext. 15; fax 212-980-9606; web: www.un.int/angola ) and in Houston at 3040 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 708, Houston, TX 77056 (tel. 713-212-3840; fax 713-212-3841). ECONOMY By contrast, the rapidly expanding petroleum industry--now producing approximately 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), behind only Nigeria in Africa--accounts for 51.7% of GNP, 92% of exports, and 90% of government revenues. Production is expected to reach 2 million barrels per day by 2008. Oil production remains largely offshore and has few linkages with other sectors of the economy, though a local content initiative promulgated by the Angolan Government is pressuring oil companies to source from local businesses. Block Zero, located in the enclave of Cabinda, currently provides one-third of Angola's crude oil production. Chevron, through its subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, is the operator with a 39.2% share. Sonangol (the Angolan state oil company), TotalFinaElf, and ENI-Agip are partners in the concession. Chevron also operates Angola's first producing deepwater section, Block 14, which started pumping in January 2000 at the rate of 80,000 bpd and is scheduled to add 180,000 bpd in production by 2006. Production from these Cabinda fields will be eclipsed by deepwater production further south in the Kwanza Basin scheduled to come on-line between 2002 and 2010. TotalFinaElf brought the first Kwanza Basin deepwater blocks on-line with production from its Block 17 concession that began in February 2002 and now produces up to 300,000 bpd. Additional sub-fields will begin production in 2006 at the rate of 200,000 bpd. ExxonMobil brought the first of its Block 15 sub-fields on-line in 2003 at the rate of 70,000 bpd. Two additional discoveries of 3 billion barrels in reserves are producing at a rate of 250,000 bpd each. Both ExxonMobil and TotalFinaElf made new discoveries in these blocks in 2003. Exploration is ongoing in recently awarded ultra-deep water concessions and in deep water and shallow concessions in the Namibe Basin. BP made the first significant ultra-deep water find in its Block 31 concession in 2002 and followed up with two more in 2003. Marathon also drilled a successful well in its Block 32 ultra-deep water concession. In August 2005, BP made its 8th discovery in Block 31. BP, which currently does not produce oil in Angola as an operator, expects to have production of 600,000 bpd by 2007. TotalFinaElf operates Angola's one refinery (in Luanda) as a joint venture with Sonangol; plans for a second refinery in Lobito with projected production of 200,000 bpd are moving forward. There are plans to increase capacity of the Luanda refinery from 40,000 bpd to 100,000 bpd. Chevron, Sonangol, and other partners are developing a liquefied natural gas plant at Soyo. Exports to Asian countries have grown rapidly in recent years, particularly China. In late 2004, China’s state oil company Sinopec bought into Block 18, securing the deal by offering a $2 billion credit line to the Angolan Government. Sinopec has also formed a partnership with Sonangol to operate Block 3/05 (formerly Block 3/80), whose operatorship was transferred from Total to Sonangol recently. Sonangol will seek to expand its operatorship of onshore and shallow water blocks. This may include the northern block of Cabinda’s onshore concessions, which since the halt in hostilities with separatist forces is now open to exploration. Sonangol and Sinopec will also be eyeing future concession rounds, particularly for 23 blocks in the Kwanza Basin onshore area and the relinquished parts of Blocks 15, 17, and 18, currently operated by Exxon, Total, and BP. Diamonds make up most of Angola's remaining exports. Diamond sales may reach $900 million in 2005. Despite increased corporate ownership of diamond fields, much production is currently in the hands of small-scale prospectors, often operating illegally. Only eight formal sector mines are operating out of a total of 145 concessions. In June 2005, De Beers signed a $10 million prospecting contract with the government’s diamond parastatal, ending a 4-year investment dispute between De Beers and the government. The government is making an increased effort to register and license prospectors. Legal sales of rough diamonds may occur only through the government's diamond-buying parastatal, although many producers continue to bypass the system to obtain higher prices. The government has established an export certification scheme consistent with the "Kimberley Process" to identify legitimate production and sales. Other mineral resources, including gold, remain largely undeveloped, though granite and marble mining has begun. In the last decade of the colonial period, Angola was a major African agricultural exporter. Because of severe wartime conditions, including extensive laying of landmines throughout the countryside, agricultural activities were brought to a near standstill, and the country now imports about half of its food. Small-scale agricultural production has increased dramatically over the last three years as internally displaced persons (IDPs) are returning to the land. Some efforts at commercial agricultural recovery have gone forward, notably in fisheries and tropical fruits, but most of the country's vast potential remains untapped. Coffee production, though a fraction of its pre-1975 level, is sufficient for domestic needs and some exports. Recently passed land reform laws will attempt to reconcile overlapping traditional land use rights, colonial-era land claims, and recent land grants to facilitate significant commercial agricultural development. An economic reform effort launched in 1998 was only marginally successful in addressing persistent fiscal mismanagement and corruption. In April 2000, Angola started an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-monitored program (SMP). The program lapsed in June 2001 over IMF concerns about lack of adequate Angolan progress. Under the program, the Government of Angola did succeed in unifying exchange rates and moving fuel, electricity, and water prices closer to market rates. In December 2002 President dos Santos named a new economic team to oversee homegrown reform efforts. The new team has succeeded in decreasing overall government spending, rationalizing the Kwanza exchange rate, closing regulatory loopholes allowing off-budget expenditures, and capturing all revenues in the state budget. New procedures have been implemented to track the flow of funds between the Treasury, Banco Nacional de Angola (the central bank), and the state-owned Banco de Poupanca e Credito, which operates the budget. The Angolan Government has adopted a new investment code. Concerns remain about quasi-fiscal operations by the state oil company Sonangol, continued oil-backed commercial borrowing by the Angolan Government, and inadequate transparency and oversight in the management of public accounts. The Angolan commercial code, financial sector law, and telecommunications law all require substantial revision. The Angolan Government remains in dialogue with the IMF. In its published July 2003 Article IV report, the IMF endorsed four prerequisites to proceeding with formal negotiations: (1) disclosure of foreign debt data; (2) timely provision of macroeconomic statistics; (3) full implementation of the single government account at the Central Bank, and (4) additional dialogue on oil revenue management. A December 2003 IMF staff mission to Angola found some progress in these areas. In February 2004, the Angolan Government and the IMF reached agreement on the steps necessary to conclude SMP negotiations. As of September 2005, Angola and the IMF remained in discussion on an IMF program. Angola is the second-largest trading partner of the United States in sub-Saharan Africa, largely because of its petroleum exports. U.S. exports to Angola primarily consist of industrial goods and services--such as oilfield equipment, mining equipment, chemicals, aircraft, and food. On December 30, 2003, President Bush approved the designation of Angola as eligible for tariff preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for 2004. DEFENSE |
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