September 05, 2016

LUANDA —
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos fired Finance Minister Armando Manuel on Monday two months after the government of Africa's biggest oil producer broke off talks with the IMF over emergency funding.

In a cabinet reshuffle, dos Santos also replaced his agriculture minister and dropped the powerful Chief of Staff in the presidency, Edeltrudes da Costa, who was implicated in a recent land eviction.

A statement said Manuel, who was appointed in 2013 and whose term had been due to run to 2017, would be replaced by capital markets commission head Augusto Archer de Sousa Hose, more commonly known as Archer Mangueira.

Over the last two years, Manuel had presided over an economic slump caused by a sharp drop in oil prices that sapped dollar inflows, hammered the kwanza and prompted heavy government borrowing.

The kwanza slid more than 30 percent against the dollar in 2015, and in January the central bank allowed for another 15 percent weakening to 155 against the dollar.

The currency was bid at 165/dollar on Monday, according to Thomson Reuters data. On the black market, it has been trading as low as 600.

The weaker currency has seen inflation soar to 35 percent from 10 percent a year ago, forcing the central bank to hike interest rates by 675 basis points since June 2015.

However, it said on Monday it had kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 16 percent at its latest policy meeting.

Before his appointment, 53-year-old Mangueira was President of Angola's Capital Markets Commission, making him a familiar face to foreign investors, and had recently been brought onto the central committee of the ruling MPLA party.

Diplomats said his promotion was not a major surprise, especially in the wake of the government's decision in late June to end emergency financing talks, supported by Manuel, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Angola's economic slump has fueled opposition to dos Santos' 36-year rule, although the MPLA re-elected him as its leader last month ahead parliamentary elections in 2017.

http://www.voanews.com/a/angolan-president-fires-finance-minister-manuel/3494289.html

Hope it won't be Kemi Adeosun's turn next. The economic hardship is biting hard.

Read my lips, ours will not be fired. She and her colleagues have done a great job keep Nigeria afloat despite the systematic destruction that was inflicted to the nation.

I support that more hands should come in and help. If the President sack his economic team in this fragile state, he will be playing into the hands of those unpatrotic elements that want Nigeria to sink beyond redemption.

Nigeria will over her present challenges.

Fire Emefiele. Replace him with Adeosun. Bring back NOI. This is Nigeria for Nigerians.

orisa37:
Fire Emefiele. Replace him with Adeosun. Bring back NOI. This is Nigeria for Nigerians.

I disagree. It will rattle the system and cause anachy. Rather bring in more experts on advisery capacity to brainstorm will the current team and offer more ideas on how to make the current plans work. Else you do damages than good.

I also disagree. I know that my suggestion is a "short cut" better than go another 40 years trip to the Promise Land.

Is this not angola people are saying is worse off? Their currency slided 30% while inflation became 10% but nigeria currency slided 150% and inflation 170%. A lie peddeled by nigerias media has been busted