Is Angola's oil boom being equitably shared and helping to alleviate poverty?

[kulani]

Lets discuss this really burning issue that i have seen pop up every now and then on most Angolan related threads here. I hope this thread does not get closed because i feel its important to discuss this issues without necessarily politicizing this forum.

[Mosi-oa-Tunya]

Lets discuss this really burning issue that i have seen pop up every now and then on most Angolan related threads here. I hope this thread does not get closed because i feel its important to discuss this issues without necessarily politicizing this forum.

The answer to that question is an emphatic no. If one takes a look at the history of Angola which has endured Portuguese colonialism, a civil war involving world powers, the plundering of the country's resources by both the MPLA and Unita and the rampant corruption and graft under the unelected MPLA regime, the chances for equitable distribution of resources in Angola or any country that has had such a tramatic experience are slim to nil. As a result Angola ranks as one of the most unequal societies in the world, a fact that unfortunately has not changed since colonial rule but has in many respects has gotten much worse. This explains why a country with such potential with oil, diamonds and fertile farmland does not have much of a middle class to speak of but merely is divided between the few wealthy haves and the many destitute have-nots. This reality will not change unless Angola has a democratic government that is accountable with it's people and develops civil society institutions as well as economic certainty with regards to open transparency and fighting corruption and graft. Unless these things are addressed it is unlikely that we will see Angola's wealth trickle down to the poor.

[kulani]

I am terribly aware of the fact that Angola has only emerged from a brutal civil war only 5 years ago. I am note expecting that income inequality will simply vanish or poverty will simply vanish in these 5 years just because of oil windfall. I just want to know whether the indigenous Angolan business sector is participating even in a small way in the current oil driven economic boom.

- Are government contracts being shared widely so that the local business sector is also benefiting and not just foreign companies?

- Are there requirements to include local owners when bidding for contracts and are these being enforced and working?

- How about employment not just as cleaners and security guards, but also at management level in these companies for Angolans coming along?

- Are those employed at this management positions being remunerated market related salaries that matches with their roles?

[DanteXavier]

Before we continue this discussion, let's at least be careful to point out a few things:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=14105944&postcount=284

Angola's poverty rate is currently around 57%-this is a 23% decline from 2003's measurement of 70%. In otherwords, Angolans are earning more overall, and many are ebing lifted out of poverty-let's keep this in mind.

That said, corruption is also endemic in the country as well, so i don't believe that things are as fair as they probably should be either.

[Carver02]

Is it being shared equitably? No. Profit is never shared equitably. But it is being used to benefit the population. All of the home construction, roads completed, bridges completed, water projects etc. demonstrates that much of the nation's wealth is being used wisely.

Kulani, you ask some good questions. I don't know the answers.

Mosi, the MPLA was elected in the early 90s, UNITA simply refused to accept the results and sent the country back into civil war.

[icosium]

lgeria, Angola Export More Oil To U.S.
Wednesday, 20 June 2007, 10:12 am
Column: Akanimo Sampson

Algeria, Angola Export More Oil To U.S. As Militants Cripple Production in Nigeria

by Akanimo Sampson
Bureau Chief,
Port Harcourt

ALGERIA and Angola are fast becoming Africa's leading oil exporters to the United States of America, following the economic-crippling activities of militants in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The Niger Delta, Nigeria's main oil and gas basin, has been a flashpoint since 2002 when the re-election politics of some former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors in the area, became a gun-boat politics.
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The current insurgency took roots in 2004, when the aggrieved armed youths of the oil and gas region took to the creeks, causing global oil prices to hit the roofs. As at today, well-informed Nigeria National Petroluem Corporation (NNPC) sources in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, are claiming that Nigeria's oil production has been reduced by some 40 per cent following the activities of armed militias in the region.

The U.S. as at 2006, is said to be importing more crude oil from Africa than it does from the Middle East. Available Energy Information Administration data tend to show that in 2006, Africa pumped 2.23 million barrels per day into the U.S. market. This, according to industry watchers, marked the first time the U.S. received more oil from Africa than from the Middle East.

Middle Eastern imports have been declining for three consecutive years, although the area is still a big supplier to the U.S., providing some 2.22 million barrels per day.

However, two African oil giants--Algeria and Angola-- according to those who know better, are witnessing an impressive up-tick in the volume of crude oil exported to the U.S. For instance, in December 2006, crude oil bound for the U.S. market from Angola rose by 41 percent when compared to the year-earlier period. Angola, OPEC’s newest member, supplied an average of 513,000 barrels of crude per day throughout 2006. Meanw
hile, Algerian crude exports to the U.S. jumped by 57 percent to 357,000 barrels daily, its highest level since 1980. Algeria is also a big products supplier to the U.S. market, to which it provided about 300,000 barrels of products per day in 2006.

While other African producers are trending up, Nigeria, supposedly the giant of Africa, is going the other direction. Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil exporter saw a 3.2 percent decline in the volume of crude oil shipments to the U.S. in 2006, a reduction primarily due to violence in the Niger Delta.

But despite the militants uprising, Nigeria still shipped slightly more than one million barrels of crude per day. But Nigeria’s oil output remains about 20 percent below historic levels.Sources say it mighteven be worse this year if the demands of the people of the oil region are not met.

Generally, the peoples of the Niger Delta are demanding for enhanced oil revenue of not less than 50 per cent, abrogation of all unjust laws that that impoverish and dispossess them of their resources as well as environmental justice.

ENDS

[^Anton^]

- How about employment not just as cleaners and security guards, but also at management level in these companies for Angolans coming along?


To answer that question I'd bring up the education issue... is the government investing in education as much as they should? are they helping kids from disadvantaged families to study? Cos... obviously, they will only be employed as cleaners, waiters, security guards and other unskilled positions if they don't go further in their studies.

[mista_a.b]

^^ I can only agree; furthermore, without adequate education the brainwashing and recruiting of the civil war will only start again.

[BlackLion]

Some things are fact, and some things are opinion. It is a fact that Italy won the 2006 World Cup; it is an opinion that Cristiano Ronaldo is the world's best soccer player. In regards to Kulani's question, it is a fact that Angola's oil boom is not equitably distributed. It is a fact that corruption in Angola is rampant. Simple as that. This position is shared by virtually every human rights and developmental organization out there, but perhaps the best person to ask this question to is to regular Angolans that live there. I do not live in Angola ( I only go there most vacations ) but the thing that my family complains of most, as do rappers, civil leaders, church leaders, politicians, etc, is corruption and an unequal distribution of wealth. Simple as that. This can be verified anywhere in the web: go to google and type in 'angola corruption', go to wikipedia, go to wherever.

As for your other questions Kulani, the short answer is no for all of them, but a longer albeit incomplete answer is that there are certain exceptions in some cases.