Angola Emerges From Civil War to Assert Regional Power

By Colin McClelland and Manuel Soque

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Light trails from passing traffic illuminate the promenade at night beneath a... Read More

A decade ago Angola was emerging from a brutal civil war that laid waste to much of the country.
Now, fueled by Africa second-biggest oil industry, it’s becoming a regional power, with a seat on the United Nations Security Council and President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s government helping to broker disarmament talks in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Former colonial ruler Portugal, Spain and China are among countries that added $2.2 billion in investment by Sept. 30 this year to boost agricultural output and help rebuild after the 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. The UN says the nation of 24 million people that’s almost twize the size of Texas will reach middle-income status by 2020 due to oil revenue from companies such as
BP Plc (BP/), ConocoPhillips and Repsol SA (REP), which are betting on vast new oil deposits beneath the Atlantic Ocean.
“We plan to use our war experience to promote peace on the African continent and other parts of the globe,” Foreign Minister Georges Chikoti said in an Oct. 23 interview in Luanda, the capital. “For the first time we’re sending troops to the Central African Republic to join UN peacekeeping forces.”
With sub-Saharan Africa’s fifth-largest army, Angola has become a lead negotiator from Guinea-Bissau to the eastern Congo. Angola increased defense spending by 36 percent last year to $6.5 billion, the largest amount on the continent, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Pushing Peace

Angola is now the head of the security committee of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, which includes Uganda, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo.
“There is a lot of trust in Angola right now in a way that it will play a more intensive role in the region, especially in the DRC and CAR,” Leif Biureborgh, an adviser to companies such as Ericsson AB, said in an interview in Luanda. “This will enhance its position as a rising regional power.”
Yet Angola has been slow to “put boots on the ground” to back up its talk, Elisabete Azevedo-Harman, an analyst at Chatham House, said by phone from Johannesburg.
The reticence is the result of its own civil war experience and not wanting to be quick to interfere in other countries, she said.

International Spotlight

The international spotlight carries risks for the government, Azevedo-Harman said.
“Being exposed in such an important international role brings attention to their internal politics,” she said. “It gives an arena for the opposition and civil society, and this could be positive for the progress of Angolan human rights and liberties.”
Angola previously held one of 10 two-year seats on the UN Security Council, during 2003-4. This time it campaigned for about two years before the election to replace Rwanda, holder of one of three seats granted to the continent. Angola gained the endorsement of the Southern Africa Development Community, the African Union and other countries. It won 190 out of 193 votes, Chikoti said.
“Politically, yes, Angola will gain a lot of prestige in the international arena and internally this election to the Security Council will feed the ego of some people for sure,” Carlos Rosado de Carvalho, an economist and director at weekly newspaper Expansao, said in an interview in Luanda. “It is a big political-diplomatic victory for the ruling party.”

Middle Income

Angola’s middle-income status should help it gain access to credit guarantees that lower the cost of public investments containing private funding, according to the UN. The UN measured per capita income at $3,750 last year, more than three times the threshold to be considered a middle-income country.
Angola still faces many challenges. More than half its people live on less than $2 a day, government red tape makes it one of the most difficult places to do business, and it ranks 156 out of 183 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. The ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola has faced sporadic protests by mostly unemployed youths after 35 years in power.
“Angola’s strategy is to enhance its regional engagement and be perceived as the one of the main actors, if not the main actor, in the continent’s peace operations,” Azevedo-Harman, said. “This image it wants to show is not only in terms of rebuilding internally, but also being recognized internationally as a success case.”