Finally it even seems to arrive slowly in the West (and I am talking here in particular about the anglophone world) that Angola will grow in importance:cheers: ...if Angola is clever enough, it will soon have many nations lying to its feet and it should take hold of this opportunity to sqeeze out recklessly and cunningly maxium profit for its own country and people....In 10-15 years time Angola won´t be looked down upon any longer...the country will then be rebuilt and among Africa´s most properous countries:)


Investors sign up to Angola’s miracle


http://media.ft.com/cms/6f68385c-882a-11da-a25e-0000779e2340.gif

By Alec Russell in Luanda

Published: August 22 2007 17:56 | Last updated: August 22 2007 17:56

Eduardo “Dino” Chingunji, Angola’s flamboyant minister of tourism, is a man of big dreams. Striding to his office window overlooking the capital Luanda’s achingly beautiful lagoon, he rattles his elegant cufflinks and expansively predicts that in a few years the old Portuguese colonial buildings lining the seafront will have been joined by an array of five-star hotels.

“There will be a small park, places you can go jogging in the evening, restaurants, cafes ... We aim to build 40 more hotels in Angola by 2010.”

It is the sort of extravagant pledge that until recently would have had potential foreign investors nodding politely before consigning his plans to the nearest wastepaper basket as a flight of fancy. No longer.

For almost 30 years from independence in 1975 Angola was embroiled in civil war and known as one of the most benighted places in the world. Since the war finally ended in 2002 it has been known abroad for little beyond its phenomenal oil wealth, its stark divide between the super-rich elite and the poor, and its lack of transparency in accounting for its revenues.

Now, however, it is gaining an extra tag. The combination of its oil bonanza and a huge investment in infrastructure has led it to become the hot destination for businesses seeking to invest in Africa. “There’s a general feeling that if we are not a player in Angola in the next five years we will have missed the best opportunity in Africa,” says a senior western diplomat in the region.

Angolan oil exports last year were worth $29.9bn (€22.1bn, £15bn), up by 32 per cent from 2005 and 400 per cent from 2002, according to official figures published last week. While the government last month downgraded predictions of this year’s GDP growth from 31 per cent to 19 per cent, many businessmen believe the original figure may prove to be more accurate. And all this is before the country’s vast agriculture potential and the bulk of its plentiful diamond deposits have been tapped.

When Jendayi Frazer, the US assistant secretary of state for Africa, visited earlier this year she predicted that in 10 to 15 years Angola would be one of the three hubs in sub-Saharan Africa, along with the traditional powerhouses of South Africa and Nigeria.

It is a view widely shared by bankers. Outside South Africa “you’ve got to be in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Angola”, says Craig Bond, CEO of Standard Bank Africa, the African arm of Standard Bank, the continent’s largest bank. Angola has registered five new banks in the past year and is expected to register five more by the end of 2007, according to Paul de Sousa, the representative for KPMG. The “big three” banks in South Africa, Standard Bank, First National Bank and ABSA, and several international banks have been scouting in recent months for potential acquisitions.

In the past two years China’s credit lines to Angola – variously estimated at between $6bn and $10bn – have captured the headlines. Now interest from the US is intensifying and not just in the oil industry in which the big US oil companies have long had a huge stake. A delegation from Carlyle, the US private equity group, visited recently looking not just for business with the government and the state oil company, Sonangol, but also for private clients, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

For western governments Angola’s allure poses an ethical dilemma. On the one hand it is a terrific investment opportunity. British officials are facilitating two UK-Angola trade missions this year, up from one last year, and they anticipate three in 2008.

And yet the government has an abject record on transparency, corruption and human rights. A Human Rights Watch report three years ago said $4bn of oil revenue vanished between 1987 and 2002. For a country in which the United Nations Development Programme estimates most people live on less than $2 a day, these are eye-watering figures.

Just a few streets back from Luanda’s beach esplanade, entire families can be seen scavenging off refuse tips, without access to clean water or shelter.

Three-quarters of the city’s estimated 4.5m people live in poverty as desperate as anywhere in Africa. The businessmen who pour in on the thrice-weekly jumbo jet from Johannesburg drive out of the airport car park straight into a slum. “The ruling elite is a parasite on the state,” says Fernando Macedo, head of the Association for Justice, Peace and Democracy, a human rights group.

Angolan officials bridle at such charges. They point to their vast rebuilding programme of roads, railways, power stations and schools and also to recent moves towards a greater openness. “Sonangol publishes its accounts,” says Ari Carvalho, co-ordinator of ANIP, the agency that advises would-be investors in sectors outside the oil industry. “Four years ago that was inconceivable. Numbers do begin to make sense in the last three or four years. We are getting there.”

Unquestionably the government is becoming more open but western officials concede there is still a long way to go. “There is no concept of a conflict of interest,” says one diplomat.

“The building work is very impressive,” says an economist. “But are they doing enough in health and poverty alleviation? Could they not show a little more humanity?”

Opposite the office of Mr Chingunji, is a vast sandbank recently reclaimed from the sea. He says he has pledges of hundreds of millions of dollars to build a giant hotel there. A renewed emphasis is under way, he insists, to ensure that the poor benefit from the boom.

“Everyone wants to do something here,” he says. “It’s a miracle.” For the business community at least that is certainly true.


Opec’s secretary-general to visit new member Angola

Angola’s position as an up-and-coming oil producer will come under the spotlight early next week when Abdullah S. al-Badri, Opec’s secretary-general, makes his first visit to the country, writes Dino Mahtani.

Since Angola became a member of Opec in December last year, there has been speculation about when the oil industry cartel would announce a formal production quota level for the country.

The southern African country, the second biggest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, has seen a boom in in recent years.

Output has risen from just over 500,000 barrels per day in 1993 to 1.4m bpd last year and is expected to pass 2m bpd next year. New offshore facilities operated by Sonangol, Chevron, Total, BP and Exxon will boost production. Angola expects to see about $50bn of investment in oil development in the next six years.

But there has been speculation that Opec may choose to set a quota of 2m bpd for Angola, significantly below the country’s long-term production high.

This could throw off some of the production expansion plans tabled by the companies. One analysis by Wood Mackenzie, energy consultants, says Angola could see its production capacity rise to at least 2.6m bpd by 2014.

Mr Badri said earlier this year that Opec members could discuss Angola’s quota when the group meets in Vienna next month, or at another meeting next March.

But analysts say that Opec is unlikely to want to antagonise its new member too much, as it wants to project itself as a group that is not just representative of Middle Eastern countries.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1e90d442-50ca-11dc-86e2-0000779fd2ac.html

Mind the sentence:

It is a view widely shared by bankers. Outside South Africa “you’ve got to be in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Angola”, says Craig Bond, CEO of Standard Bank Africa(...),

Mind the sentence:

Yes that's correct, you can't not be in those 5 markets in Sub-Saharan Africa!

Angola attains high economic growth

afrol News, 24 August - Angolan economy has performed extremely well in 2006, recording 18.6% which is far more than most African countries.

At least, 308,000 new jobs were created in diverse sectors of the Angolan economy last year. This figure is expected to shoot up in 2007 when several new projects have been in full swing.

Though agriculture proves to be the country’s biggest employer, yet it received less than 1% [0.82%] investment. The social and construction sectors became Angola’s second biggest employers.

The non-oil economy grew by 25.70% compared to 14.7% in 2005.

Transformation industry performed extremely well after grew by 44.7% while that of construction industry 30%.

As a direct result of the country’s healthy economic growth rate, per capita GDP rose from US $1,985 in 2005 to US $ 2,565 in 2006.

Angola’s excellent economic growth and performance help the country to lay the groundwork to sustain the stabilisation of its macro-economic development.

Angolan authorities linked the majority of the healthy economic performance to a better management of the budget policy in 2006. This resulted to a surplus in the country’s gross domestic product from 8.5% in 2005 to 16.7% last year. The country also recorded a positive cash balance of 11.5%.

With the creation of several new projects, including the US $80 million kitchen gas line, parking lot and fuel reservoirs by Sonangol invested this year, had provided security for Angolan economy.

The project will install a gas facility in the fishing city of Porto Amboim and supply the municipalities of Sumbe, Gabela and other neighboring areas. It will have the capacity to store 100 metric tons and supply 3,000 bottles a day.

A new power and water supply network is being built by the government of the southern Huila Province in Jau Commune. The project, which began in early August, forms part of the public investments programme for the 2007/2008 period.

The project will include the installation of a set of generators, with the capacity of 75 kva, which will benefit 17,500 people.

Very good article. Mentions the good and the bad, just as we have been doing in this forum (albeit under attack from a couple of forumers). Article is quite objective and positive. Well done financial times. And finally!

While the government last month downgraded predictions of this year’s GDP growth from 31 per cent to 19 per cent, many businessmen believe the original figure may prove to be more accurate. And all this is before the country’s vast agriculture potential and the bulk of its plentiful diamond deposits have been tapped.

This sentence is quite startling, why is the government going the "Chinese way" by saying that its economy is not growing as fast as predicted and playing "petit"?

And as far as the projects are concerned, I am sure that we just see and hear a fraction of that was is truly being planned, approved or u/c. There is still too much secrecy surrounding Angola´s projects. I would really love to see this change...otherwise people will cultivate the hooror-images that is still associated with the country...
Someone serious told me that Singapore had vast slums up till the early 70´s but the government scrapped those media reports because this would seriously hurt the country´s positive image that it tried to project to the outside world...today the slums are ALL gone...and Singapore has become associated with cleaniness, style, efficiency and prosperity!

Angola desperately needs some of the world best PR minds! "Nation-branding" can really help a lot...and there is massive work to do for Angola in this field..

man 19% is a huge gdp jump and well 30% is on another level completely angola shud use all this new found wealth to develop its education sector and electrical infrastructure

Angola is doing really a amazing job. They have one of the fastest growing economy and their is a mega construction boom.

I hope that Angola will be a example for other African countries.

Angola is doing really a amazing job. They have one of the fastest growing economy and their is a mega construction boom.

I hope that Angola will be a example for other African countries.

Yes Angola is literally rising from the ashes, 5 years after the end of a brutal war. Their economy is growing so fast, it is going to be right behind South Africa and Nigeria in 5 years in terms of GDP size.

An international report has been released a couple of weeks ago in which it was said that Angola will continue to grow in double digit numbers on average at least till 2010/11...I read it in Angolan press, I was looking for it but I can´t find it again.
But just imagine double digit growth for the next five years with a population of "just" 12-14 million people. Angola will produce more than 2.6 million barrels of oil a day (and this figure might go up ´cos new discoveries have been made recently see "Angola Reconstruction thread")...Diamonds and agro-indsutry are still there, the latter is slowly getting started. Tourism: the country has it all: tropical rainforest in the north, savanah, undulating hills and sky.high mountains, tropical beaches and desert in the South, great music and once the city rebuild......:cheers:
Don´t foget that Angola was the third largest producer of coffee in the world in the 70´s.

Let´s all bear in mind that Angola is just going the way it was denied after 1975 due to the fuck-i-n-g war...it will be hard but possible!

Someone said Angola isn´t investing in education, it is, there are many new schools and colleges and universities under construction. (I don´t post every article about schools that get reconstructed aor newly built but there is construction) Don´t forget the 500 Million US Dollar University Complex in Luanda.

Yes Angola is literally rising from the ashes, 5 years after the end of a brutal war. Their economy is growing so fast, it is going to be right behind South Africa and Nigeria in 5 years in terms of GDP size.

and if nigeria doesnt put its growth ti double digits angola could pass nigeria in less than a generation

and if nigeria doesnt put its growth ti double digits angola could pass nigeria in less than a generation

The key lies in how well both countries diversify their economies away from oil. I think Nigeria appears to be diversifying quickly with financial services, telecommunications already well underway and growing fast. While Nigeria's industrial base is definitely bigger than that of Angola and is more likely to grow faster. So i don't see Angola surpassing Nigeria unless something stumps Nigeria's growth prospects.

The non-oil economy grew by 25.70% compared to 14.7% in 2005.

Transformation industry performed extremely well after grew by 44.7% while that of construction industry 30%.

To judge Angola now for diversification would be too early after 2-3 years of reconstruction, we can do than in 15-20 years time.

The UAE wasn´t as diversified as it is nowadays already in the early 70´s (oil discovery/export began in the mid to late 60´s in the UAE)

But we should keep in mind, all that we see in Angola is just the beginning

One thing is for sure, without the war Angola would most likely be Africa´s wealthiest nation today, richer than SA. (in terms of GDP per head and mass consumption by its citizens, it might have equalled the industrial base of SA or come very close to it). One could have built a lot in 30 years...and Angola didn´t start from scratch.

Same for Nigeria without the military horror years and stagnation or even economic depression ...SA would have had two strong partners on the continent.


these three countries could have been followed by potent "middle-powers" like Kenya, Côte d´ivoire, Zimbabwe, Mozambique (without the war), Ghana (without the dreadful 70´s and 80´s) Uganda and Senegal.

Then the "small powers" like Namibia, Gabon, Botswana, Mauritius etc.

...and just imagine if Congo and Sudan would have grown well after independence...Oh, my God!!!!!!!

...All this would have had a massive pull-effect for surrounding countries.....

Will the Africa of my dreams become reality some day?

The key lies in how well both countries diversify their economies away from oil. I think Nigeria appears to be diversifying quickly with financial services, telecommunications already well underway and growing fast. While Nigeria's industrial base is definitely bigger than that of Angola and is more likely to grow faster. So i don't see Angola surpassing Nigeria unless something stumps Nigeria's growth prospects.

without electricity nigeria wont go far. however it is making waves in the areas you mentioned. but thats top down development, what is needed is iindustry and agric to carry the people along.

but if angola holds onto this sort of growth for some 15 years, frankly i can see it surpassing nigeria. the keep finding more oil, and it has a ton of minerals

without electricity nigeria wont go far. however it is making waves in the areas you mentioned. but thats top down development, what is needed is iindustry and agric to carry the people along.

but if angola holds onto this sort of growth for some 15 years, frankly i can see it surpassing nigeria. the keep finding more oil, and it has a ton of minerals

i really think that Nigeria should be doing more to jump start the mining sector which is an easy pick. Just sell mining rights to potential players, lay the rules of the game and ensure that Nigeria has its fair share and get it going. I heard that there is huge deposits of things like coal, zinc etc. This would then lead to a growing industrial sector which would support mining by supplying basic machinery, explosives, chemicals for that sector. that is how SA's industrial sectors grew, through supplying the mining sector which used to constitute 30% of all economic output in the 80s. but then again, all this needs electricity.

yep, no light no industralisation. mining also has the potential to diffuse the political situation because the goods are located all other, not jsut in one portion of the country. iron, coltan, coal (low in sulfur) in enugu, gold in the west thru the north and other gem stones in small but commercial quantities. there is little reasons the country should be growing at just 5-6%. it should be much faster

i really think that Nigeria should be doing more to jump start the mining sector which is an easy pick. Just sell mining rights to potential players, lay the rules of the game and ensure that Nigeria has its fair share and get it going. I heard that there is huge deposits of things like coal, zinc etc. This would then lead to a growing industrial sector which would support mining by supplying basic machinery, explosives, chemicals for that sector. that is how SA's industrial sectors grew, through supplying the mining sector which used to constitute 30% of all economic output in the 80s. but then again, all this needs electricity.

Unfortunately Nigerians don't have that kind of imagination. Anything outside the status quo is unquestionable.

angola seems to have a vision of a greater destiny. they seem to be organized and committed. for example they have started a fund for the police that includes pension and loans for houses. they are negotiating with their neighbors on border disputes and co-operation before tension get out of hand. and they are spending a fortune on education. don't forget they are building a great university in launda. i think the article reflects a growing excitement internationaly about the prospects for this country. i look forward to more fotos and articles about angola

:banana:

Kulani hit the nail on the head. Diversification is essential if any Sub-Saharan nation wants to move away from a commodity depedent economy. Now is the time to do it! With record oil and high commodity prices if African goverments do not invest in education, infrastructure and the service sector they will loose the opportunity of a generation.

Kulani hit the nail on the head. Diversification is essential if any Sub-Saharan nation wants to move away from a commodity depedent economy. Now is the time to do it! With record oil and high commodity prices if African goverments do not invest in education, infrastructure and the service sector they will loose the opportunity of a generation.

Some people neither read the news or simply have not the brains to understand it. Angola´s focus is now on national reconstruction of its terrirority (roads, schools, electricity, clean water, hospitals) at least for the next ten years to come, IT IS A HERCULEAN TASK, how can you invest into diversification when you don´t have these essential, please? :ohno: Do you first built the roof of your house and buy decoration items before the groundwork? Why is so difficult to understand? :bash:

Some people neither read the news or simply have not the brains to understand it. Angola´s focus is now on national reconstruction of its terrirority (roads, schools, electricity, clean water, hospitals) at least for the next ten years to come, IT IS A HERCULEAN TASK, how can you invest into diversification when you don´t have these essential, please? :ohno: Do you first built the roof of your house and buy decoration items before the groundwork? Why is so difficult to understand? :bash:
^^
I think alex was refering to Nigeria. Obviously Angola has to focus on reconstruction but for ten years? I thought it would be more like five given the fact that reconstruction has been going on for the last couple of years at a very high speed.

Obviously Angola has to focus on reconstruction but for ten years? I thought it would be more like five given the fact that reconstruction has been going on for the last couple of years at a very high speed.

Kenguy, real reconstruction started about 2-3 years back and there is still a lot to do in the provinces and even in Luanda itself, five years is far too short, you cannot reconstruct a full country within just five years, impossible! 10 years is really not exaggerated.

Obviously Angola has to focus on reconstruction but for ten years? I thought it would be more like five given the fact that reconstruction has been going on for the last couple of years at a very high speed.

Kenguy, real reconstruction started about 2-3 years back and there is still a lot to do in the provinces and even in Luanda itself, five years is far too short, you cannot reconstruct a full country within just five years, impossible! 10 years is really not exaggerated.

Bear in mind, that reconstruction of Angola can easily swallow more than $100 Billion US dollars until you see palpable improvement!

Some people neither read the news or simply have not the brains to understand it. Angola´s focus is now on national reconstruction of its terrirority (roads, schools, electricity, clean water, hospitals) at least for the next ten years to come, IT IS A HERCULEAN TASK, how can you invest into diversification when you don´t have these essential, please? :ohno: Do you first built the roof of your house and buy decoration items before the groundwork? Why is so difficult to understand? :bash:

Easy, no need to get aggresive. You can do both at the same time, its not a question of one or the other. You also have to understand that improving basic necessities go hand in hand with economic diversification. If it isn't done now when Oil prices are at a record high, when will things get done? I just have one question; since Angola is one of the most corrupt nations on the planet, do you think Angolans have a right to know where all their oil money goes? Corruption and oil money aren't good combos and while I'm optimistic that Angola will be a better country 15 years from now I also fear that a large segment of the population will remain in abject poverty. Creating a clear cut division.

I consider Angolans my brothers, so what happens in that nation matters to me deeply, more so than in most places. I don't trust Dos Santos pure and simple.

Easy, no need to get aggresive. You can do both at the same time, its not a question of one or the other. You also have to understand that improving basic necessities go hand in hand with economic diversification. If it isn't done now when Oil prices are at a record high, when will things get done? I just have one question; since Angola is one of the most corrupt nations on the planet, do you think Angolans have a right to know where all their oil money goes? Corruption and oil money aren't good combos and while I'm optimistic that Angola will be a better country 15 years from now I also fear that a large segment of the population will remain in abject poverty. Creating a clear cut division.

I consider Angolans my brothers, so what happens in that nation matters to me deeply, more so than in most places. I don't trust Dos Santos pure and simple.


No, it cannot go hand in hand, how can things go hand in hand when basic necessities still lack like constant electricity in all parts of Angola or interegional roads are not all well-tarred and people when the are sick are unable to consult a doctor or travel miles on bumpy roads to see one? once the road and electricity is in place, more and more investors foreign and local will come, but surprsingly, this is already the case for Angola despite its lack of and/or damaged basic infrastructure.

In short, No, first national physical reconstruction, then the rest...as far as high oil price is concerned: Angola is building up foreign exchange resserves, it should also think of creating an international oil fund.

As for Dos Santos: I am not a friend of him neither but let´see if things will change in the next election...but the problem with Africa (as with the majoriyt of young and even some old democracies is ) that a lot is promised as long as the people haven´t attained power...

Poverty in Angola: it is there, loads of it, but what can you expect after 30 years of war? A second Singapore after 2-3 years of reconstruction?
Fact is that the boom has hit Luanda and it is slowly trickling down to its second and third tier cities...but this takes TIME (how many times have I said it 1000 times???). The opening of new malls and condos (many approved and planned and u/c) is a sign for a rising urban middle class...and not of an ultra-tiny elite of 200 puppets led by Dos Santos.

Have you noticed that you don´t see any donkeys, elephants, motrobikesor bikes on Luanda´s roads? Comapre it to cities in India and vietnam (two other emerging markets they West showers with countless words of praise while Angola is still spit upon by ONLY showing the negative sides of the country:ohno: )

As for the oil price the oil won´t fall any time soon, Asia´s booming, volatiliyt in the Middle East is still a grave topic, you never know what will become of Venezuela (the world´s forth biggest producer)...so it will stay high (above 50$ a barrel on average) for the next two decades (that´s what international economic analysts) are saying....and aren´t those folks our points of reference in virtually EVERYTHING (be it Transparency International, HDI, Standard and Poor´s, Freedom House Index etc.)

...as for the corruption: this is what people only seem to be able to associate with Africa.
Do you know that Nigeria received more than $9 Billion dollars in foreign investment last year ? (the chunck of it went to the non-oil sector due to the volatily in the Niger delta), can you imagine what the flow of investmenst would be if corruption is more reduced and peace settles in Niger Delat? Most probaly tens of billion A YEAR!

I raised the question Ghana and Botswana, two remarkable and safe democratic countries in Africa , the "posterchilds" of democratic development, role models for the rest of the continent but why are those two nations- that the West is holding up as shiny examples for development in Africa - not obtaining more froreign investmenet?? Botswana is much much better in terms of corruption than your highly adored country India, Alex. Botswnana people are well educated and Englsih -speaking but why is there so little investment outside the mining sector? Normally, they should get all the outsourcing jobs.....

if Angolans are your brothers, then please help to spread the message of the new Angola, help to bring investors, talk to people, convince them ..Angola needs everyone´s support...and not just Angola ENTIRE Africa. Thank you!:)

No, it cannot go hand in hand, how can things go hand in hand when basic necessities still lack like constant electricity in all parts of Angola or interegional roads are not all well-tarred and people when the are sick are unable to consult a doctor or travel miles on bumpy roads to see one? once the road and electricity is in place, more and more investors foreign and local will come, but surprsingly, this is already the case for Angola despite its lack of and/or damaged basic infrastructure.

In short, No, first national physical reconstruction, then the rest...as far as high oil price is concerned: Angola is building up foreign exchange resserves, it should also think of creating an international oil fund.

As for Dos Santos: I am not a friend of him neither but let´see if things will change in the next election...but the problem with Africa (as with the majoriyt of young and even some old democracies is ) that a lot is promised as long as the people haven´t attained power...

Poverty in Angola: it is there, loads of it, but what can you expect after 30 years of war? A second Singapore after 2-3 years of reconstruction?
Fact is that the boom has hit Luanda and it is slowly trickling down to its second and third tier cities...but this takes TIME (how many times have I said it 1000 times???). The opening of new malls and condos (many approved and planned and u/c) is a sign for a rising urban middle class...and not of an ultra-tiny elite of 200 puppets led by Dos Santos.

Have you noticed that you don´t see any donkeys, elephants, motrobikesor bikes on Luanda´s roads? Comapre it to cities in India and vietnam (two other emerging markets they West showers with countless words of praise while Angola is still spit upon by ONLY showing the negative sides of the country:ohno: )

As for the oil price the oil won´t fall any time soon, Asia´s booming, volatiliyt in the Middle East is still a grave topic, you never know what will become of Venezuela (the world´s forth biggest producer)...so it will stay high (above 50$ a barrel on average) for the next two decades (that´s what international economic analysts) are saying....and aren´t those folks our points of reference in virtually EVERYTHING (be it Transparency International, HDI, Standard and Poor´s, Freedom House Index etc.)

...as for the corruption: this is what people only seem to be able to associate with Africa.
Do you know that Nigeria received more than $9 Billion dollars in foreign investment last year ? (the chunck of it went to the non-oil sector due to the volatily in the Niger delta), can you imagine what the flow of investmenst would be if corruption is more reduced and peace settles in Niger Delat? Most probaly tens of billion A YEAR!

I raised the question Ghana and Botswana, two remarkable and safe democratic countries in Africa , the "posterchilds" of democratic development, role models for the rest of the continent but why are those two nations- that the West is holding up as shiny examples for development in Africa - not obtaining more froreign investmenet?? Botswana is much much better in terms of corruption than your highly adored country India, Alex. Botswnana people are well educated and Englsih -speaking but why is there so little investment outside the mining sector? Normally, they should get all the outsourcing jobs.....

if Angolans are your brothers, then please help to spread the message of the new Angola, help to bring investors, talk to people, convince them ..Angola needs everyone´s support...and not just Angola ENTIRE Africa. Thank you!:)

With Angola growing at more than 20% a year, not all of the goverments budget is allocated to a single area "Reconstruction". With a reserve of money, the goverment should invest in various institutions, sectors and projects. It's like to say that the goverment shouldn't introduce a pension system (which I doubt Angola has) because their still recovering from a civil war.

The problem in Africa isn't its Democracies but the lack of such a goverment system. Many African countries claim to be democratic, but the institutions are so corrupt, inefficient and in some cases non existent that their not true democratic nations. Their are very few thriving democracies in Africa and Dos Santos seems like just another dictator wraped under a democratic banner.

My issue isn't with the fact that theirs alot of poverty in Angola today, but what the situation will be 10-20 years from now. Theirs no doubt that the country is better off now than before and that it will even improve further with each year that passes. My problem I feel is that too many people will not taste the fruits of Angola's 20% growth.

Oil prices go up and down, thats the way the market works, people can't imagine oil becoming less than 40 dollars a barrel but anything is possible. Just like during the arab oil embargo in the 70's, to the first gulf war, their will always be "market panic". Fact is Venezuela, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Angola ect. are hostage to the price of oil. Commodity prices will drop, just not to the point they were during the 90's. This is due as you said with the Asian boom. But commodity prices won't be this high, which affects Latin America, Africa and South East Asia.

People associate corruption with Africa, because of the top 25 corrupt nations (Forbes article) more than half are in Africa. It can be a unfair generalization, but theirs no denying its the most corrupt continent. I'm also glad that Nigeria is investing its money in its non oil sector. I don't see a reason why Nigeria can't be an African agricultural superpower. Just keep buying our tractors and I'll be a satisfied man. Nigeria is a good customer for Brazil. :)

In the case of Botswana, its a very small country. With a population of 1.6 million people. Now I don't have the figures in FDI, but I do know that their economy is based on two components. First and foremost services represent a greater proportion to the Botswanan economy than mining. Nearly 50% of the economy is services with some 40% in mining. I'm sure their is some outsourcing.

No problem dude, next summer i'm planning on going back to Africa and I want to go to Angola. It's the closest thing to Brazil. However this goverment is far to restrictive and their is far to much regulation to protect Angolan companies. No more is this apparent than in the airline industry. The ban the goverment has imposed on British Airways and Air France is not a good image. But companies installed in Angola are prospering quite well. Hopefully Oceanair will start services to Luanda and Lagos (since TAAG serves Rio).

With Angola growing at more than 20% a year, not all of the goverments budget is allocated to a single area "Reconstruction". With a reserve of money, the goverment should invest in various institutions, sectors and projects. It's like to say that the goverment shouldn't introduce a pension system (which I doubt Angola has) because their still recovering from a civil war.

The problem in Africa isn't its Democracies but the lack of such a goverment system. Many African countries claim to be democratic, but the institutions are so corrupt, inefficient and in some cases non existent that their not true democratic nations. Their are very few thriving democracies in Africa and Dos Santos seems like just another dictator wraped under a democratic banner.

My issue isn't with the fact that theirs alot of poverty in Angola today, but what the situation will be 10-20 years from now. Theirs no doubt that the country is better off now than before and that it will even improve further with each year that passes. My problem I feel is that too many people will not taste the fruits of Angola's 20% growth.

Oil prices go up and down, thats the way the market works, people can't imagine oil becoming less than 40 dollars a barrel but anything is possible. Just like during the arab oil embargo in the 70's, to the first gulf war, their will always be "market panic". Fact is Venezuela, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Angola ect. are hostage to the price of oil. Commodity prices will drop, just not to the point they were during the 90's. This is due as you said with the Asian boom. But commodity prices won't be this high, which affects Latin America, Africa and South East Asia.

People associate corruption with Africa, because of the top 25 corrupt nations (Forbes article) more than half are in Africa. It can be a unfair generalization, but theirs no denying its the most corrupt continent. I'm also glad that Nigeria is investing its money in its non oil sector. I don't see a reason why Nigeria can't be an African agricultural superpower. Just keep buying our tractors and I'll be a satisfied man. Nigeria is a good customer for Brazil.

In the case of Botswana, its a very small country. With a population of 1.6 million people. Now I don't have the figures in FDI, but I do know that their economy is based on two components. First and foremost services represent a greater proportion to the Botswanan economy than mining. Nearly 50% of the economy is services with some 40% in mining. I'm sure their is some outsourcing.

No problem dude, next summer i'm planning on going back to Africa and I want to go to Angola. It's the closest thing to Brazil. However this goverment is far to restrictive and their is far to much regulation to protect Angolan companies. No more is this apparent than in the airline industry. The ban the goverment has imposed on British Airways and Air France is not a good image. But companies installed in Angola are prospering quite well. Hopefully Oceanair will start services to Luanda and Lagos (since TAAG serves Rio).

Look I don´t have time now to reply to what you said in detail...

But let me say this briefly ...Sorry, Alex YOU ARE NOT A FRIEND OF AFRICA your words have betrayed your hypocrisy and certainly you are not a friend of Angola, a country that shares 500 years history with Brazil...:bash: so many brazilians have Angolan heritage! You even seem to long for Angola to fail, you clad it into nice words but your true feelings are there for every one to see with an alert mind.

You know, just read what Hammelkar has said, he is Angolan and the most neutral guy of all of us her when it comes to Angola.

I have just dispatched a website to Tbite about Angola, it shows so many new projects and urban beautification...I couldn´t post it directly people all over the world want to get their slice of the Angolan boom which is not dying any time soon even if the price of oil falls to $40 dollars a barrel....the country won´t become Congo!

So stay wrapped up in your "Angola won´t make it and will fall back" philosophy ... while you and I are brooding, new projects arise in the minds of people that will shape the new Angola, people that truly matter!

Bye, for now

hold on mAtthias i dont think thats true, although i'm excited about angola i think there has to be caution. angola has to move in all directions. i believe their trying to do that. but ironically they where only able to spend half of last years budget on social programs and business development. the truth is that the economy does not have the capacity to deal with theses funds. in other words, there is not the infrastructure and most importantly people skills to actually manage and complete programs. for example the fishing industry has been allocated almost 500 million dollars, they are buying boats and building cold storage facilities, but the money still has not been fully spent due to low skills and inexperience. so they have to build and train at the same time. the key for angola is to train while developing. this is what their doing. it will come together in about ten years. this is what i think people are trying to say. have faith brother

Look I don´t have time now to reply to what you said in detail...

But let me say this briefly ...Sorry, Alex YOU ARE NOT A FRIEND OF AFRICA your words have betrayed your hypocrisy and certainly you are not a friend of Angola, a country that shares 500 years history with Brazil...:bash: so many brazilians have Angolan heritage! You even seem to long for Angola to fail, you clad it into nice words but your true feelings are there for every one to see with an alert mind.

You know, just read what Hammelkar has said, he is Angolan and the most neutral guy of all of us her when it comes to Angola.

I have just dispatched a website to Tbite about Angola, it shows so many new projects and urban beautification...I couldn´t post it directly people all over the world want to get their slice of the Angolan boom which is not dying any time soon even if the price of oil falls to $40 dollars a barrel....the country won´t become Congo!

So stay wrapped up in your "Angola won´t make it and will fall back" philosophy ... while you and I are brooding, new projects arise in the minds of people that will shape the new Angola, people that truly matter!

Bye, for now

From my last post how the hell do you make the assertion that I'm not a friend of Africa? I'm not only surprised but offended that you come out and say that I want Angola to be held back. I don't want Anyone to suffer through the injustices and hardships of poverty!

Point to a single post I've made that I directly go against in Angolan member. You won't see me doing that, from what I've seen their all level headed with a clear balanced approach. It is you who have been in conflict with them, not me.

Finally I WANT ANGOLA TO BE SUCCESFUL! Only because I'm not naive to the goverment's corruption and am critical to it, doesn't translate in rooting for failure. I want Dos Santos to reform his ways because it will help Angola. A great part of Brazilian culture originates in Angola so I owe alot to it.

Alex, just ignore Matthias. I dont know how he jumped to that conclusion either.

You are right about asking why Nigeria cant be Africa's agricultural superpower. Africans have STILL not realised that every developed nation in the world was able to at least feed its own population before embarking on the road to industralisation. We need help from Brazil as well as India and Israel. In Brazil, they turned large areas of the sertao into good agricultural land, I think that would be very useful in the Sahelian countries for example.

From my last post how the hell do you make the assertion that I'm not a friend of Africa? I'm not only surprised but offended that you come out and say that I want Angola to be held back. I don't want Anyone to suffer through the injustices and hardships of poverty!

Point to a single post I've made that I directly go against in Angolan member. You won't see me doing that, from what I've seen their all level headed with a clear balanced approach. It is you who have been in conflict with them, not me.

Finally I WANT ANGOLA TO BE SUCCESFUL! Only because I'm not naive to the goverment's corruption and am critical to it, doesn't translate in rooting for failure. I want Dos Santos to reform his ways because it will help Angola. A great part of Brazilian culture originates in Angola so I owe alot to it.

Then simply stop spreading your negativity, it pisses me off and makes mesick, dizzy and ferocious! Neither Nigeria nor Anmgola nor any other African countriyneeds bad mouthing

I fully understand the Singaporean government that they simply scrapped ALL bad news emerging out of their territories...and I can´t await the day when powerful African -owned media empires are built to spread another picture of Africa to the misinformed world out their, into the last corner of this world! So bye bye!

AleyRoney, that´s for you...there are many many schools rebuilt and newly built throughout the country, a $500 Million University project is built in Luanda, Cabidna gets a university, Benguela and Lubango both get their existing universities massively expanded; each at cost of more than 50 million us dollar, Namibe gets a state of the art univeristy complex/academy, many agro-institutes are built, they country is not sleeping , just give a a bit more time, did Dubai have all the media and internet cities in the early 70´s, five years after oil exploration? No they all mushroomed fourty years after, I don´t hope that Angola needs so much time but builds and staffs them much quicker....and instead of evil tongues spreading "doom and gloom" visions, it needs foreign support, especially from countries like Brazil with which it has so many historic and family and language similarities. Consider Angola Brazil´s neigbour and brother.

Talent Building Programme Sets New Era in Education Model


Luanda, 08/27 – Angolan Education minister, Burity da Silva, said Monday in Luanda the launch of the Talent Building Programme sets a new era in the country’s education model.

The minister said so during the launch of the said programme, adding that the choice for non-vocational or inappropriate professions mostly results from lack of planning and is liable of producing bad or frustrated professionals.

He stated as well that with this project, the youths will learn about the options they have for their future, from the professional training network made available by the State to the most detailed characteristics of a profession.

The youths, the minister further stated, will thus choose their professions in a conscious and planned way, “often in response to their talent and support of their trainers”.

The programme is intended to create a new Angolan professional profile that ceases to depend on the State and starts being enterprising. “And it is through this entrepreneurship that the country will get from its people the guarantee for its development”, said the minister.

The event that was attended by the deputy minister of Education for reforms, national directors of the ministry and project coordinators, included a theatre play by Etu Lene group reflecting the youths professional situation.

Alex, just ignore Matthias. I dont know how he jumped to that conclusion either.

You are right about asking why Nigeria cant be Africa's agricultural superpower. Africans have STILL not realised that every developed nation in the world was able to at least feed its own population before embarking on the road to industralisation. We need help from Brazil as well as India and Israel. In Brazil, they turned large areas of the sertao into good agricultural land, I think that would be very useful in the Sahelian countries for example.

Popa its always been my strong belief that developing nations should unite under the slogan of progress and development. Every nation can learn something from someone else. Be it Nigeria learning from Brazil or Brazil learning from China. Instead we are divided and to dependent on the West. The best way to help ourselves is to help each other. This is my philosophy.

AleyRoney, that´s for you...there are many many schools rebuilt and newly built throughout the country, a $500 Million University project is built in Luanda, Cabidna gets a university, Benguela and Lubango both get their existing universities massively expanded; each at cost of more than 50 million us dollar, Namibe gets a state of the art univeristy complex/academy, many agro-institutes are built, they country is not sleeping , just give a a bit more time, did Dubai have all the media and internet cities in the early 70´s, five years after oil exploration? No they all mushroomed fourty years after, I don´t hope that Angola needs so much time but builds and staffs them much quicker....and instead of evil tongues spreading "doom and gloom" visions, it needs foreign support, especially from countries like Brazil with which it has so many historic and family and language similarities. Consider Angola Brazil´s neigbour and brother.

I welcome such projects, you can't put a price on education and training. This is what Angola truly needs. With an educated workforce, leads to economic diversification. Proving my point that it goes hand in hand with Reconstruction.

With regards to Brazil, many of the projects being built up in Angola are done by either Brazilian firms or archeitects. Bilateral trade is near 1 billion. Has it reached full potential? Hell no, but its growing which is quite important as both nations develop.

I welcome such projects, you can't put a price on education and training.

who denied this please?

Alex roney, have you ever cast a glance at Angola´s projects and national reconstruction news, just out of interest. Some of your comments in the course of time made me wonder, that´s why I am asking...

As for Angola-Brazil, your presence is really not new in Angola, it only decreased due to the war. Brazlians also built many things in Angola thirty and forurty years ago. The International Autodrome of Luanda was built by a Brazilian architect and it was inaugurated in 1972.

But now it is time for true joint-venture between Angola and Brazil...the sky is hopefully the limits for both sides.

Alex Roney.... Most Angolans do not trust Dos Santos and I also fear that most of the wealth of nation will not be giving to people, but one way to give some of the wealth to the nation is to open up the Education system for up to 30 years to all Angolans for the time lost in over 30 years of battle. I fear if this does not happen, Angola could turn out to be a bad place to live.

Alex Roney.... Most Angolans do not trust Dos Santos and I also fear that most of the wealth of nation will not be giving to people, but one way to give some of the wealth to the nation is to open up the Education system for up to 30 years to all Angolans for the time lost in over 30 years of battle. I fear if this does not happen, Angola could turn out to be a bad place to live.

wealth will be given to people if you build roads so that people can transport goods safely from one part to the other, build universities, build schools, medical centres in the rural areas and hospitals, rebuild the sewage systems, create a clean and freindly envirnonment by installing proper waste disposal systems, rebuild ports and airports, install programmes for micro-credit, build up an agro-industry for which you need qualified staff etc.....this is taking place in Angola, it is a long way...so I don´t know why some people are condeming developments that are still in progress...people inwardly and silently wait for Angola to relapse into civil war....this pessimist view will not be conducive to devlopment....


Bluesun, if you happen to be Angolan, your help and support would be highly appreciated on this forum. Leaving comments is easy, finding projects , helping to portray the new Angola is an uphill struggle.


...a big problem in Africa (not only here) is that nobody trusts anybody, a big deficiency in the social fabric that will hold back development.

who denied this please?

No one did, its my own personal opinion lol.

Alex roney, have you ever cast a glance at Angola´s projects and national reconstruction news, just out of interest. Some of your comments in the course of time made me wonder, that´s why I am asking...

As for Angola-Brazil, your presence is really not new in Angola, it only decreased due to the war. Brazlians also built many things in Angola thirty and forurty years ago. The International Autodrome of Luanda was built by a Brazilian architect and it was inaugurated in 1972.

But now it is time for true joint-venture between Angola and Brazil...the sky is hopefully the limits for both sides.

Yes I certainly have, and I'm happy to see that Angola is developing and on the road to recovery. That still doesn't change my concerns that seems to be felt by most Angolans be it in this forum or in this streets of Luanda.

It's not new, but hasn't every really formented into a strong economic and political alliance. Petrobras and Odebrecht are two companies that have really made an impact on the nation. Just recently Odebrecht was awarded a contract to rebuild a hydroelectric dam in Angola.

Yes I certainly have, and I'm happy to see that Angola is developing and on the road to recovery. That still doesn't change my concerns that seems to be felt by most Angolans be it in this forum or in this streets of Luanda.

It's not new, but hasn't every really formented into a strong economic and political alliance. Petrobras and Odebrecht are two companies that have really made an impact on the nation. Just recently Odebrecht was awarded a contract to rebuild a hydroelectric dam in Angola.

That with the hydroelectric dam is nothing new to me, everybody who follows the news attentively and the "Angola national thread" regularly is aware of it...have you talked to the people in the streets of Luanda???
Hammelkar was telling us some time back that there is great optimism in Angola and when there is someone whom I fully believe about Angola, then it is him, he is the most objective and balanced person when it comes to Angola and he doesn´t drown himself in an endless sea of pessimism. On the contrary, although he is not in the country for the moment he takes his time and gives us good background information. :cheers:

Well, the skyblogs that I have read are bulging with optimism (people are pointing to the problems the country faces, of course) but those problems are slwoly reduced (due to what I read and where I sourced the pics from)...you cannot wipe away 30 years of war in 3 years of reconstruction, we can judge Angola for its achievemenst in 15 years time NOT now, please.

Some people are comparing Luanda to Dubai and say look what Dubai achieved.....Dubai has an enormous headstart....how can you compare Luanda with Dubai - wwhose achievements I highly respect - but Dubai wasn´t the glamourous place it is nowadays. All good things need time...and how many bad tongues were sticking around and spreaded their doom and gloom vision of the UAE. Dubai has already reached the enviable stage where it can just shrug those comments off...I do hope that Angola (in this case here) will one day come to this stage.:)