Angola still ranks as the second largest oil producer in Africa, behind Nigeria. The country however, is populated by a people, many of whom, these days, stage frequent protests against economic hardships.
Turning things around lies largely in the hands of a thirty-six-year-old Finance Minister who is preoccupied with renegotiating the country’s way through its massive debt with key lenders. No one it seems, is betting on when a country once thought to be heading in the direction of being one of the more prosperous ones on the continent, will come to the end of its rocky road.
One of Angola’s current preoccupations, which has both serious economic and political implications, is with that of implementing the mandatory tough economic reforms dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under an imposing US$4.5 billion programme. Last week it was announced that Angola is in the process of commencing the partial selloff of what had once been the economy’s two biggest cash cows – SONANGOL and ENDIAMA – the state-run entities controlling its oil and gas and diamond resources, respectively.
