Angola
GANG INFORMATION
PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
Republic of Angola
Geography
Area: 1,246,700 sq. km. (481,400 sq. mi), about twice the
size of Texas.
Cities: Capital--Luanda (pop. 4.0 million); Huambo (750,000);
Benguela (600,000).
Terrain: A narrow, dry coastal strip extending from the far
north (Luanda) to Namibia in the south; well-watered agricultural
highlands; savanna in the far east and south; and rain forest
in the north and the enclave of Cabinda.
Climate: Tropical and tropical highland.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Angolan(s).
Population (December 2004 est.): 13,000,000.
Annual population growth rate (2004): 2.9%.
Ethnic groups: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, mixed
racial 2%, European 1%.
Religions (2001 official est.): Roman Catholic 68%, various
Protestant 20%; indigenous beliefs 12%.
Languages: Portuguese (official), Ovimbundu, Kimbundu, Bakongo,
and others.
Education: Years compulsory--8. Enrollment (2003 est.)--primary
school 55%, secondary 30%, and post-secondary 3%. Literacy
(total population over 15 that can read and write, 2002 est.)--42%
(male 56%, female 28%).
Health: Life expectancy (2002 est.)--total population 46.7
years. Infant mortality rate (2003 est.)--154/1,000.
Work force (2003 est. 5.6 million): Agriculture--85%; industry
and commerce--15%; services--6%.
Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: November 11, 1975.
Branches: Executive--elected president (chief of state), appointed
prime minister, and 40 appointed civilian ministers and vice
ministers. Legislative--elected National Assembly (223 seats).
Judicial--Supreme Court (also functions as Constitutional
Court).
Administrative subdivisions: Province, municipality, commune.
Political parties: 123 with legal status; in 1992, 12 won
seats in the National Assembly. Pro-government--Popular Movement
for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). Opposition--National
Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Social
Renewal Party (PRS), National Front for the Liberation of
Angola (FNLA), Party for Democratic Progress - Angola National
Alliance (PDP-ANA), Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), Party
of the Alliance of Youth, Workers, and Peasants (PAJOCA),
Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), Democratic Alliance (AD),
Angolan Democratic Forum (FDA), Social Democratic Party (PSD),
and the Angolan National Democratic Party (PNDA).
Suffrage: Universal age 18 and over.
Economy
GDP (2005 est. using purchasing power parity): $45.9 billion.
GDP (2005 est. using Atlas method): $22.8 billion.
Annual real GDP growth rate (2005 est.): 19.1%.
Per capita GDP (2005 est. using purchasing power parity):
$3,210.
Per capita GDP (2005 est. using Atlas method): $1,590.
Avg. inflation rate (2005): 23.5%.
Natural resources: Petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates,
bauxite, uranium, gold, granite, copper, feldspar.
Agriculture: Products--bananas, sugarcane, coffee, sisal,
corn, cotton, manioc, tobacco, vegetables, plantains; livestock;
forest products; fisheries products.
Industry: Types--petroleum drilling and refining, mining,
cement, basic metal products, fish processing, food processing,
brewing, tobacco products, sugar refining, textiles.
Trade: Exports (2005)--$20 billion. 2004 exports consisted
of petroleum and derivatives (91.92%), diamonds (7.45%), fish
(0.11%), scrap metal (0.05%), coffee, sisal, timber, cotton.
Major markets (2004)--U.S. (37.70%), China (35.6%), France
(6.4%), South Korea (2.95%). Imports (2005 est.)--$9 billion:
machinery, electrical equipment, vehicles and spare parts,
medicines, food, textiles. Major sources (2004)--Portugal
(13.04%), U.S. (9.3%), South Africa (7.4%), Japan (4.8%),
South Korea (28.3%), Brazil (5.6%).
GEOGRAPHY
Angola is located on the South Atlantic Coast of West Africa
between Namibia and the Republic of the Congo. It also is
bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia
to the east. The country is divided into an arid coastal strip
stretching from Namibia to Luanda; a wet, interior highland;
a dry savanna in the interior south and southeast; and rain
forest in the north and in Cabinda. The Zambezi River and
several tributaries of the Congo River have their sources
in Angola. The coastal strip is tempered by the cool Benguela
current, resulting in a climate similar to coastal Baja California.
There is a short rainy season lasting from February to April.
Summers are hot and dry, while winters are mild. The interior
highlands have a mild climate with a rainy season from November
through April followed by a cool dry season from May to October
when overnight temperatures can fall to freezing. Elevations
generally range from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. The far north and
Cabinda enjoy rain throughout much of the year.
PEOPLE
Estimates of Angola’s population vary widely, as there
has been no census for many years, but it is estimated at
no less than 13 million. Angola has three main ethnic groups,
each speaking a Bantu language: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%,
and Bakongo 13%. Other groups include Chokwe, Lunda, Ganguela,
Nhaneca-Humbe, Ambo, Herero, and Xindunga. In addition, mixed
racial (European and African) people amount to about 2%, with
a small (1%) population of whites, mainly ethnically Portuguese.
Portuguese make up the largest non-Angolan population, with
at least 30,000 (though many native-born Angolans can claim
Portuguese nationality under Portuguese law). Portuguese is
both the official and predominant language.
HISTORY
In 1482, when the Portuguese first landed in what is now northern
Angola, they encountered the Kingdom of the Congo, which stretched
from modern Gabon in the north to the Kwanza River in the
south. Mbanza Congo, the capital, had a population of 50,000
people. South of this kingdom were various important states,
of which the Kingdom of Ndongo, ruled by the ngola (king),
was most significant. Modern Angola derives its name from
the king of Ndongo. The Portuguese gradually took control
of the coastal strip throughout the 16th century by a series
of treaties and wars. The Dutch occupied Luanda from 1641-48,
providing a boost for anti-Portuguese states. In 1648, Brazilian-based
Portuguese forces re-took Luanda and initiated a process of
military conquest of the Congo and Ndongo states that ended
with Portuguese victory in 1671. Full Portuguese administrative
control of the interior did not occur until the beginning
of the 20th century.
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 São Tomé, Principé,
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 José 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 Henriqué 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.
In 1975, FLEC began low-level guerilla attacks against government
targets and kidnapped foreigners in an effort to press for
an independent Cabindan state. Leadership struggles within
FLEC then led to its breakup into various splinter factions,
two of which continued the movement's armed insurgency. The
Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) launched a major offensive against
FLEC in November 2002 that decimated FLEC’s capabilities
in Cabinda and lead to an almost complete cessation of fighting
in the province. Periodic, separate negotiations between the
leadership of the two armed FLEC factions and the Angolan
Government have failed to produce a settlement; however, the
recently formed Cabindan Forum for Dialogue, a coalition of
the various FLEC factions, is working to broker an agreement
with the government. The international community has rejected
the notion of Cabindan independence; however, the U.S. and
other like-minded governments are committed to protecting
the human rights of all living in Cabinda province.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Angola changed from a one-party Marxist-Leninist system ruled
by the MPLA to a nominal multiparty democracy following the
1992 elections, in which President dos Santos won the first-round
election with more than 49% of the vote to Jonas Savimbi's
40%; a runoff never took place. The Constitutional Law of
1992 establishes the broad outlines of government structure
and delineates the rights and duties of citizens. The government
is based on ordinances, decrees, and decisions issued by a
president and his ministers or through legislation produced
by the National Assembly and approved by the president. The
parliament is generally subordinate to the executive.
Few opportunities exist for opposition parties
to challenge MPLA dominance. President dos Santos had proposed
that general elections be held in 2006; however, this is becoming
increasingly unlikely. 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.
Of the 220 deputies in the National Assembly,
130 are elected at large, and 5 are elected to represent each
of the 18 provinces. The Electoral Law also calls for the
election of three additional deputies to represent citizens
living abroad; however, those positions were not filled in
the 1992 elections. 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 were
to 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
President--Jose Eduardo dos Santos
Prime Minister--Fernando da Piedad Dias dos Santos "Nando"
Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs--Aguinaldo Jaime
Minister of External Affairs--João Bernardo de Miranda
Minister of the Interior--Roberto Leal Monteiro Ngongo
Minister of Finance--José Pedro de Morais
Minister of Defense--Kundi Paihama
Minister of Petroleum--Desidério da Graça Veríssimo
da Costa
Minister of Planning--Ana Dias Lourenço
Ambassador to the United States--Josefina Perpetua Pitra Diakite
Permanent Representative to the United Nations--Ismael Gaspar
Martins
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
Angola has a fast-growing economy largely due to a major oil
boom, but it also ranks in the bottom 10 of most socioeconomic
indicators. Aside from the oil sector and diamonds, it is
recovering from 27 years of nearly continuous warfare, corruption,
and economic mismanagement. Despite abundant natural resources,
and rising per capita GDP, Angola was ranked 160 out of 177
countries on the UNDP’s Human Development Index. Subsistence
agriculture sustains one-third of the population.
By contrast, the rapidly expanding petroleum
industry--now producing approximately 1.4 million barrels
per day (bpd), behind only Nigeria in Africa--accounts for
51.7% of GNP, 95% of exports, and 80% 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 15, located offshore of the enclave of
Cabinda, currently provides 40% of Angola's crude oil production.
ExxonMobil, through its subsidiary Esso, is the operator with
a 40% share. In 2005, Block 15’s second major sub-field,
Kizomba B, came online producing at about 250,000 bpd. BP,
ENI-Agip, and Statoil are partners in the concession. Chevron
operates Block 0, also in offshore Cabinda, which provides
one-quarter of Angola’s crude oil production. Its partners
in Block 0 are Sonangol (the Angolan state oil company), TotalFinaElf,
and ENI-Agip. Chevron also operates Angola's first producing
deepwater section, Block 14, which started pumping in January
2000 at the rate of 80,000 bpd.
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. Both ExxonMobil and TotalFinaElf
made new discoveries in these blocks in 2005. Exploration
is ongoing in ultra-deep water concessions and in deepwater
and shallow concessions in the Namibe Basin. BP made the first
significant ultra-deep water find in its Block 31 concession
in 2002 and had reached nine significant discoveries by the
end of 2005. Marathon also drilled a successful well in its
Block 32 ultra-deep water concession. 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 $4-5 billion 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, with yearly production at 6 million carats. Diamond
sales reached approximately $1 billion 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 quarrying have 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 February 2006, 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).
DEFENSE
The Angolan Armed Forces, known by its Portuguese acronym
FAA, are headed by a chief of staff who reports to the civilian
minister of defense. There are three services--the army, navy,
and air force. Total manpower is about 140,000. The army is
by far the largest of the services with about 130,000 personnel.
The navy numbers about 3,000 and operates several small patrol
craft and barges. Air force personnel total about 7,000; its
equipment includes Russian-manufactured fighters and transport
planes, Bell helicopters, and Italian trainers. The "Casa
Militar," or presidential guard, answers directly to
the Office of the President and is separate from FAA command
and control structures.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
From 1975 to 1989, Angola was aligned with the Soviet Union
and Cuba. Since then, it has focused on improving relationships
with Western countries, cultivating links with other Portuguese-speaking
countries, and asserting its own national interests in Central
Africa through military and diplomatic intervention. In 1993,
it established formal diplomatic relations with the United
States. It has entered the Southern African Development Community
as a vehicle for improving ties with its largely anglophone
neighbors to the south. In 1997, Zimbabwe and Namibia joined
Angola in its military intervention in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, where Angolan troops fought in support of the
Laurent and Joseph Kabila governments. It also has intervened
in the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) in support of President
Sassou-Nguesso. Angola has also engaged in a more robust economic
relationship with the People’s Republic of China. The
P.R.C. has extended a U.S. $2 billion credit line to Angola.
Multilaterally, Angola has promoted the revival
of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) as
a forum for cultural exchange and a means of expanding ties
with Portugal and Brazil. During the peace process, the government
fully cooperated with the UN Mission in Angola (UNMA), which
concluded its mandate in mid-February 2003. Angola concluded
a 2-year term on the UN Security Council in December 2004.
U.S.-ANGOLAN RELATIONS
The United States established formal diplomatic relations
with the Government of Angola in 1993. Before 1989, U.S.-Angolan
relations were defined by the Cold War. The United States
initially supported Holden Roberto's FNLA and later Jonas
Savimbi's UNITA against the pro-Soviet and pro-Cuban MPLA
government in Luanda. Since 1992, the bilateral relationship
has steadily improved. In May 2004, President dos Santos met
with President Bush during an official visit to Washington.
The U.S. Mission in Angola consists of four
agencies--the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID), the Department of Defense, and the Department
of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (HHS/CDC). In addition, a variety of federal
agencies maintain relationships with the Angolan Government
through ongoing projects, including the Federal Aviation Administration,
the Department of Transportation, the Department of Commerce,
and the Department of Energy. In FY 2003, U.S. Government
assistance amounted to roughly $188 million.
USAID’s Food for Peace office provided
emergency food inputs valued at $30.7 million in FY 2005 to
feed vulnerable populations and help stimulate agricultural
recovery, continuing a phasing out period in the past two
years of the emergency program as Angola has stabilized and
the emergency has ended.
USAID's development program in Angola in FY
2006 is consistent with the country’s status as a "fragile
state", vulnerable and recovering from an extended civil
conflict. The program budget is $15.7 million, focused on
improving food security, civil society strengthening and democratization,
market-oriented economic analysis and economic reform policy,
maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS prevention, education
and voluntary counseling and treatment. Angola has also been
named one of the three pilot countries under the President’s
Malaria Initiative. The food security objective, focused on
smallholder agriculture, promotes access to inputs, extension
services and training; market linkages; and revitalized agricultural
productivity in Angola. The democracy objective strengthens
constituencies and institutions required for democratic governance
by promoting civil society coalitions, an independent media,
government transparency and accountability, and the groundwork
for free and fair elections. The health objective aims to
improve maternal and child health and prevent the spread of
HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases by helping communities
and institutions to provide necessary health services and
to conduct HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The economic reform
objective fosters economic policy and financial sector reform,
business development services, and credit access for micro-,
small, and medium enterprises. USAID works with a number of
international and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
and corporate partners in alliances and public-private partnerships.
Emergency support from HHS/CDC was provided
to address the 2005 Marburg virus outbreak in northern Angola,
with assistance from the USAID Mission. CDC personnel joined
with the World Health Organization (WHO) as part of the international
response to assist with epidemiologic investigation, infection
control, and laboratory diagnosis. CDC personnel in Atlanta
provided laboratory and scientific support to Angola’s
Ministry of Health and to countries bordering Angola, establishing
a field laboratory in Luanda, Angola to provide prompt laboratory
confirmation of suspect Marburg cases in Angola and neighboring
countries. Additional HIV/AIDS funding for the country of
just over $2 million from HHS/CDC is also available, and helped
expand surveillance, information systems, laboratory and blood
bank quality control.
On February 19, 2006, the Provincial Government
of Luanda declared a cholera outbreak, in coordination with
the WHO. What began as a localized outbreak of cholera in
Luanda rapidly spread around Angola, with cases detected in
seven provinces to date and mortality rates as high as 15%
in certain areas. Causes of this rapid expansion include poor
sanitation and a lack of potable water (70% of the country
is without access), which have been compounded by a series
of heavy rains in March and April. Limited stocks of available
medical supplies were rapidly depleted, and the UN stressed
the need for immediate, widespread assistance. The Chief of
Mission determined April 19 that an adequate response was
beyond the capacity of the Angolan Government, and through
this disaster declaration requested U.S. Government assistance
to support the international response and contain the spread
of the outbreak. USAID's response was to provide $50,000 for
immediate relief needs. The funds were granted May 2, 2006
to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support
information, education, and communication within its Cholera
Intervention Plan. The Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF, the
European Union, USAID, and other partners continue to support
field activities to control the outbreak.
To assist with economic reform, the State Department
provided $2.2 million to work on land tenure, economic policy,
and the financial sector. An additional $143,000 in grants
was provided to community development projects and NGO-sponsored
democracy and human rights projects. $152,000 in International
Military Education and Training (IMET) funds was provided
for English language training to the Angolan Armed Forces.
Professional training for law enforcement personnel at the
International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Gaborone,
Botswana continued. The Safe Skies for Africa program provided
around $800,000 in equipment and training to the Angolan civil
aviation authority. As part of its public diplomacy program,
the Embassy provided nearly $434,000 in English language training,
educational exchanges and fellowships, and information resource
services. The State Department provided $6 million for ongoing
demining projects throughout the country. These projects have
played a major role in opening critical road networks and
increasing access in those areas of the country most impacted
by landmines.
At the same time, the energy-based U.S. trading
relationship continues to expand and spark other ties. One
offshoot has been the development of a Sister City relationship
between Lafayette, Louisiana and Cabinda and between Houston,
Texas and Luanda. The Catholic University of Luanda has close
links with a number of American institutions and has received
support from the Angola Educational Assistance Fund, a U.S.
non-profit organization organized by Citizens Energy of Boston.
Sonangol has a longstanding program of educating its professionals
in U.S. universities, complementing Chevron's policy of U.S.
training for its own growing pool of Angolan professionals.
Long before oil was discovered, American missionary efforts
from the early 19th century established several Protestant
churches in the interior, which also provided much of the
schooling that was available in rural colonial Angola; those
historical links now are being revived with exchanges in both
directions.
Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--Cynthia G. Efird
Deputy Chief of Mission--James Knight
USAID Director--Diana Swain
Defense Attaché--LTC. Bernard Sparrow
The U.S. Embassy is located at Rua Houari Boumedienne
No. 32, Miramar, Luanda, Angola. International mail: Caixa
Postal 6484, Luanda, Angola; Pouch: Department of State, 2550
Luanda Place, Washington, DC 20521-2550; telephone: (244)
(222) 64-1000; fax: (244) (222) 64-1232.
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program
provides Consular Information Sheets, Travel Warnings, and
Public Announcements. Consular Information Sheets exist for
all countries and include information on entry requirements,
currency regulations, health conditions, areas of instability,
crime and security, political disturbances, and the addresses
of the U.S. posts in the country. Travel Warnings are issued
when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid
travel to a certain country. Public Announcements are issued
as a means to disseminate information quickly about terrorist
threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas
that pose significant risks to the security of American travelers.
Free copies of this information are available by calling the
Bureau of Consular Affairs at 202-647-5225 or via the fax-on-demand
system: 202-647-3000. Consular Information Sheets and Travel
Warnings also are available on the Consular Affairs Internet
home page: http://travel.state.gov. Consular Affairs Tips
for Travelers publication series, which contain information
on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are
on the Internet and hard copies can be purchased from the
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
telephone: 202-512-1800; fax 202-512-2250.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling
abroad may be obtained from the Office of Overseas Citizens
Services at (202) 647-5225. For after-hours emergencies, Sundays
and holidays, call 202-647-4000.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC)
is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public
contact center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT
(1-877-487-2778). Customer service representatives and operators
for TDD/TTY are available Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00
p.m., Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information
with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747)
and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give
the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations
or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety
for regions and countries. A booklet entitled Health Information
for International Travel (HHS publication number CDC-95-8280)
is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington,
DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800.
Information on travel conditions, visa requirements,
currency and customs regulations, legal holidays, and other
items of interest to travelers also may be obtained before
your departure from a country's embassy and/or consulates
in the U.S. (for this country, see "Principal Government
Officials" listing in this publication).
U.S. citizens who are long-term visitors or
traveling in dangerous areas are encouraged to register their
travel via the State Department’s travel registration
web site at https://travelregistration.state.gov or at the
Consular section of the U.S. embassy upon arrival in a country
by filling out a short form and sending in a copy of their
passports. This may help family members contact you in case
of an emergency.
Further Electronic Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at
http://www.state.gov, the Department of State web site provides
timely, global access to official U.S. foreign policy information,
including Background Notes and daily press briefings along
with the directory of key officers of Foreign Service posts
and more.
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related
assistance and market information offered by the federal government
and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help with
the export process, and more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department
of Commerce, provides authoritative economic, business, and
international trade information from the Federal government.
The site includes current and historical trade-related releases,
international market research, trade opportunities, and country
analysis and provides access to the National Trade Data Bank.
