http://www.economist.com/node/18118935?story_id=18118935&CFID=162497735&CFTOKEN=46312808

Mine, all mine

After three decades in power, José Eduardo dos Santos is presiding over a resource boom. But too few Angolans are seeing the benefits
Angola's wealth.
A BLUE metal fence runs through Zango, a commuter town along the main road out of Luanda, Angola’s capital. On one side stand new apartment buildings for civil servants, with luxury kitchens and a sprinkler system embedded in the lush lawn. On the other sit the farmers who used to till the land until they were evicted. A mother scratches the dry ground outside her hut, begging for a few mouthfuls of water. “We used to have corn and potatoes and cassava before the government took our fields,” she says.

Since ending a 27-year civil war in 2002, Angola has become one of sub-Saharan Africa’s richest countries. Angolan mines are the fifth-largest source of diamonds worldwide. Its oil wells already produce 1.9m barrels a day; on present trends, it could overtake Nigeria to become Africa’s largest producer. It has huge agricultural potential. Roads and railways that were destroyed during the fighting have been rebuilt. New schools and hospitals have sprung up.
But Angola is also one of the world’s most unequal countries. (Its Gini coefficient—a measure of income distribution in which zero indicates perfect equality—is 0.55). Most of the benefits of the resource boom have gone to a fairly small elite that lives in an African version of St Tropez, with ritzy beach clubs inside walled enclaves. A crop of skyscrapers encircles a harbour decorated with sleek motorboats and a Ferretti yacht costing $5.5m.

The musseques, as the self-built settlements of the poor are called in Angola, used to start right behind Luanda’s white sandy beaches. Now they have been pushed inland, away from the most desirable spots. Land seizures have become an explosive political issue, as the capital’s hinterland fills up with the displaced. These people are given tin sheets to build shanty towns—but no compensation. Only 9% of Luanda’s population of 5m has running water, a lower share than during the civil war. Across Angola, half the population of 18m has virtually no access to health care. The country has one of the world’s highest rates of infant mortality, and the only known cases of urban polio.

The government says all the right things about the need to improve public services. It promises “water for all” and pledges to build “one million houses” (dubbed by critics “one million dollar houses”, since most of those it does build are unaffordable to all but the rich).

The government’s budget is about $40 billion, bigger than that of some European countries. But aid agencies are still the best hope for ordinary Angolans. In Kilamba Kiaxi, a suburb of Luanda, 1m people got their first taste of running water last year when Unicef set up a few dozen taps. Local officials had told residents they lacked the funds to pump water along existing pipes. In one case Unicef paid a $200,000 fee to the state water company to turn on a tap.

Part of what ails Angola is a lack of skilled civil servants, as well as too much red tape. After officials recently bought 3,000 new buses they could find only 1,500 drivers. The bureaucracy is grossly inefficient. When the World Bank offered a loan to Angola, it took two years for the paperwork to come through. In particular, the private sector suffers. It takes 56 laborious steps to set up a business.

Critics complain that the government, a prickly but proud bunch of mainly former guerrillas, pays vast sums for white elephants intended to make it look good. It spent more than $1 billion on four stadiums for the Africa Cup of Nations, a football tournament. It also built an imposing stock exchange, though there is no bourse.

At the trough

Big projects offer the richest pickings too. In the ranking of perceptions of corruption published by Transparency International, a Berlin-based lobby, Angola has fallen from 22nd from the bottom to 10th in the past two years. Rafael Marques, a local campaigner, takes visitors on a “corruption tour” of Luanda, pointing out which presidential crony or cousin owns this building or that bank.

The government’s defenders say that at least not all the money is being stolen outright. But as well as contract padding, Angolans have lost out as officials seize state assets through rigged privatisations or rip off the public treasury in bail-outs of private companies. At almost every turn, someone connected to the state is seeking a pay-off. A farmer gets $10 for a box of 100 avocados. By the time they reach Luanda the price has risen to $5 each, thanks to cuts paid to officials, soldiers and policemen along the way. A doctor close to the top of the ruling party has a concession for rubbish-collection in Luanda: he has kept out competitors but fails to provide any service in poor districts. Streets are filled with rotting fruit, faeces and other disease-spreading detritus.

The logic behind the kleptocratic system is complex. Having won the long civil war, members of the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) feel they deserve a share of the spoils. José Eduardo dos Santos, the president for the past 31 years, has seemed happy to oblige them to ensure their loyalty. His own family has stakes in several companies. Though publicly in favour of private enterprise and foreign competition, Mr dos Santos is a former Marxist, trained in the Soviet Union, and remains something of a protectionist. He appears to see the many barriers to trade thrown up by his rent-seeking minions as a means of preventing multinationals from taking over. He has a finely honed instinct for preserving his power and a relatively low appetite for outright brutality—Vladimir Putin rather than Joseph Stalin.

Already sub-Saharan Africa’s second-longest-serving leader, Mr dos Santos has changed the constitution so that he can stay in office until 2022 without having to face a direct election again. The changes eliminate elections for the presidency; instead, the leader of the largest group in parliament automatically gets the job. But power is still concentrated in the president’s office. It controls all budgets and appoints judges, prosecutors, generals, state governors and election commissioners.

Full steam ahead

Yet centralised politics and a grasping state seem unlikely to dim Angola’s economic future. On February 24th the government is due to announce new offshore oil concessions in “pre-salt” deposits that are geologically similar to those across the Atlantic in Brazil. They could turn Angola into one of the world’s leading oil-producing nations.

But without political change, the poor majority will benefit little. Not surprisingly, public anger has been building. Protests flared last month in Cazenga, a district of Luanda that has traditionally been an MPLA stronghold. Separatists in the province of Cabinda, who made headlines by shooting at the Togolese team during the African cup, are increasingly active. Soldiers complain that generals steal so much of the army’s budget that they don’t get boots any more. Oddly, even one of the president’s daughters has lashed out—at oligarchs who she said have created “the biggest number of tentacles possible to sabotage or destroy competing businesses”. Nervous Western oil companies give millions to local schools and hospitals to avoid being tarred with the same brush.

An uprising is unlikely, since memories of the civil war that killed 1.5m people are still fresh. But parliamentary polls in 2012, though probably rigged, will see more competition than last time, when the MPLA won over 80% of the vote. The president is already campaigning, having made his first state-of-the-nation address last October. Barring a vast drop in the oil price, which would threaten the patronage system, he will almost certainly win. Change may have to await the emergence of a post-war generation of leaders, free of old fears and prepared to challenge the man they call o pai grande, the great father.

Dutch Disease?

its the 'black' way my bother. floss first and think later

special emphasis on 'floss'

no wonder so many white portugal indigenes are relocating to angola

Had it bn dat they were arabs

They're getting there. And violently too.
We Africans need to shed our medieval thinking and attitude. It's what got us into slavery and colonization in the first place, and what's still keeping us down, years after.

nigerias story is bad enough but angolas story makes me want to cry , i was there sometime last year , the number of forigners you see there is alarming while the angolans are living in absolute poverty, nigeria can use its 140million population as excuse but for Gods sake angols population is less than 19million. something is really wrong with the black man, if no for kidnappers and kilitants in niger delta the whole niger delta would have belonged to foreigners, our leaders are indeed slaves to white man up till today

rather than angolan govt look for skilled workers from african countries they could pay less tehy instead import from portugal ,brazil, and pay them thousands of dollars monthly at least 5000-10000usd . very pathetic situation,

EzeUche_:

We must get rid of our corrupt politicians from [size=14pt]every Nigerian ethnicity[/size]. The whole system needs to be overturned and a lot of blood must be shed. Not only the politicians are corrupt, but many of the people are as well. We need a Jerry Rawlings type of revolution. And purges need to be made, before Nigeria can rise. I am talking about a Chinese style purged, like the "Great Leap Forward" or Stalin's purges in Soviet Russia.

SUPPORTED!!!

It is sad, really.
In a report I read recently, there are:

About 100,000 Portuguese people left Portugal for Luanda in the last 2 years.

Also, about 50,000 Chinese

About 50,000 Cubans (remember Angola used to be a communist country supported by Castro) also moved in.

Right now, it is the most sought-after country for Westerners. They are desperate for Angola.

In another report, there are

More Range Rover per sq mile in Angola than any other country.

More BMW X6 per sq mile than any other country.

An average accommodation costs 100,000 US dollars or more.

Water melon costs 100 dollars

A single avocado costs around 10 US dollars.

Yet, a labourer (mostly Angolans) earns about 50 US dollars.

It is the most expensive country in the world right now.

Read this: http://www.economist.com/node/18119197?story_id=18119197&CFID=156381020&CFTOKEN=67328486
Read this:

EzeUche_:

^^^

No Portguese should be allowed in Angola. They are the ones who fought to keep Angola in bondage. Those people should not even be wanted, because of their brutal system of colonialism that they implemented, which treated indigenous Angolans like slaves.

But, they are in charge.
Angola is one of the richest country in Africa in terms of resources.
They have diamonds as well.

SMH, It will be as bad as Nigeria, I just hope for their sakes it won't be worse

At least Nigerians are not as white-struck as most Africans I know. . .

My question is: are we that bad to the extent that we can not even run a country in a progressive way no matter how blessed the country in question is?

It is the same story all over Africa.

Kilode?!:

SMH, It will be as bad as Nigeria, I just hope for their sakes it won't be worse

At least Nigerians are not as white-struck as most Africans I know. . .

It surely looks like Angolans are in for a rough ride.
Right now, they have more 'expatriates' than Nigeria. And the boom started less than 10 years ago.

This is a very short but interesting article: http://www.economist.com/node/15401927

D age of reasoning has long extinguish in africa

ola olabiy:

My question is: are we that bad to the extent that we can not even run a country in a progressive way no matter how blessed the country in question is?

It is the same story all over Africa.

I don't think we are inherently worse than any other group of people. I can't speak for all Africans but I have my theory of what I think is wrong with us.

IMO, It is a combination of historical and cultural factors, Africans were just blindsided by the events of their history and until we address the fundamental issues we have, we cannot bring our people to the level we want. (I can say more, but I will probably just post thoughts I wrote on other threads about this same issue)

The last 1000 years was not Africa's Millenium at all, we got owned and the consequences are still with us.

Looking at Angola's issues, the parallels with Nigeria is just too striking.

^^ I won't care if he stays Marxist, as long as he can empower his own people. Any ideology that keeps your own people weak is a fail in my eyes, there are enough people on earth to exploit, but keep your own people empowered.

Africans need their own manifest destiny philosophy.

Kilode?!:

I don't think we are inherently worse than any other group of people. I can't speak for all Africans but I have my theory of what I think is wrong with us.

IMO, It is a combination of historical and cultural factors, Africans were just blindsided by the events of their history and until we address the fundamental issues we have, we cannot bring our people to the level we want. (I can say more, but I will probably just post thoughts I wrote on other threads about this same issue)

The last 1000 years was not Africa's Millenium at all, we got owned and the consequences are still with us.

Looking at Angola's issues, the parallels with Nigeria is just too striking.

You are right but time is running out. There is capital flight in Africa and the situation is getting worse.
It is sad!

EzeUche_:

That is a very expensive city. I feel sorry for the Africans who probably live around so much opulence, yet remain poor.

Dos Santos used to be a Marxist. Seems like capitalism has won him over.

Right now, Luanda is the most expensive city in the world.

ola olabiy:

You are right but time is running out. There is capital flight in Africa and the situation is getting worse.
It is sad!

Yeah, time ran out long ago though.

We should be in damage control restoration mode right now. But we are still confused.

On capital flight, people don't put their money in what they don't believe in, they don't believe what they can't understand. Oyinbo can't keep their capital with us. I can't blame them. They understand power games, they need to empower their own so out goes the capital they milk from us.

^^^^I meant African leaders who engage in lucre day in day out. They steal and bank it off-shore.

Thus, the economy is forever starved of the needed bite. Imagine, Angola is still burrowing billions of dollars from China, Brazil, Portugal and many other countries.

They have burrowed (despite their oil wealth) :

About 8 billion dollars from China.
About 2 billion dollars from Brazil.

About 1.5 billion dollars from Portugal.
They built a Stock Exchange without any bourse.
Spent a billion on 4 stadiums.

What is really wrong?

^^ sir, there is very little difference between most African leaders and those foreign exploiters.

They were born, raised, schooled, cultured, to disrespect most things authentically African, name it: our religion, culture, language, philosophy, color. They don't see any of those as valuable. That is the core issue.

They don't value their own people, they look down on us as much as the white man does. I repeat;  You can't invest in or empower what you don't believe in. Except you are a drooling fo.ol.

ola olabiy

My question is: are we that bad to the extent that we can not even run a country in a progressive way no matter how blessed the country in question is?
It is the same story all over Africa.

@ola olabiy
We cannot begin to address the so called African problem until we acknowledge and appreciate the damage/ psychic dislocation afflicting us as Africans brought about by foreign intervention-  invasion, conquest, slavery, colonialism and apartheid. Practically no African is 'free' from such psychological/cultural damage. Pls, we cannot afford to blame 'enemies' or 'foreigners' etc. The solution lies in our own hands. Foreigners or enemies are justified because that's how they are supposed to behave.
Presently, most Africans are consciously being 'miseducated' in every sense of the word, perhaps with the little exception of Ethiopia. The rest of Africa is beholden to everything foreign hence we are totally confused and lost. We may try occasionally to get it right but it never happens because we have never[b] consciously[/b], thought about our problems from a Cultural and Historical(Afri-centric stance. It does not imply exclusion of positive ideas etc from outside either. In short, If you define yourself or whatever you stand for clearly, you'll be able to exclude whatever is against your values/desired goals. We'll suddenly begin to see clearly and not be dazzled by all manner of isms and ideas, that are actually inimical to our survival/well being.  Angola is just a reflection of us all. Some Nigerians actually assume that we are any better etc but are we? The African condition is dire and deserves Serious study, understanding and total transformation. I think it is  beyond mere populist economic  revolution in order to reclaim/affirm our true African personality. Anything less will only be like South Africa after official apartheid or Ghana after Rawlings. My bros it's a serious matter indeed.

Kilode, we have to stop blaming these Westerners.
Cubans are not from the West (they are in Angola right now)

Chinese people are not from the West.

Indians are not.
And, Brazillians are not.

We have been attending the hallowed institutions in the West for decades now.

We have studied them; we understand them. But once we find ourselves in power, we easily collude with them to rob our own people.
Isn't that funny?

@cheik: You are my e-kin! may you continue to increase in knowledge.

I have one or two essay-like posts on NL that mirrors yours almost word for word.

Olabiy, bro I Dont Blame westerners, not at all! I don't do that blame westerners thing. My post is about us and how we value and see ourselves and what we can do to change.

I don't do blame the west games, I've had people say the same "we have to stop blaming westerners" after reading some of my posts, I Like westerners, they are doing it right!

I think you need to read  my comment on a similar issue(link below) I agree Nigeria is not Angola but the similarities calls for the same kind of reflection as explained by cheik, that is my point really. I'm not blaming whitie, they are pursuing their right to survive.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=590472.msg7583517#msg7583517

Edit with link.