After the last decades of civil war, an oil boom, corruption scandals, the state of Angola’s economy will be one of the biggest and most decisive issues when the country’s citizens go to the polls on Wednesday (24 August).
Millions of Angolan youths are voting for the first time in the country’s 5th election since independence. Despite nearly 50 years in power and billions of dollars worth of oil pumped, the government led by the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has failed to lift Angola’s overwhelmingly young populace out of poverty. With more than half of the population under twenty-five unemployed, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), a rebel group-turned-opposition party, is hoping to capitalize on these frustrations, as millions of youth vote for the first time on Wednesday. Although the country emerged from a 27-year civil conflict between UNITA and MPLA in 2002, its youth are less likely to remember this history and are more concerned about economic problems.
Africa’s second-largest oil producer and one of its largest economies, as well as the world’s seventh-biggest producer of rough diamonds. Angola was long dominated by state-owned companies as a legacy from its socialist past. However, Angola has begun ambitious privatization programs, but progress has been slow. Authorities expect Sonangol and Endiama to be restructured before partial IPOs. This is expected to take 12 to 18 more months. After five years of recession, Angola’s GDP is expected to grow by 2.7% this year, but inflation remains above 20%. As usual, Angolans living in poverty, half of whom live in poverty, have not benefited from a return to growth that is linked to higher oil prices.
Both UNITA and MPLA have made similar proposals to diversify the economy and tax base, away from oil, and encourage investment in sectors like renewable energy and fisheries. But whoever wins will still face volatility in the price of oil, which accounts for more than half of Angola’s government revenues and 94% of exports, according to the IMF, which said any fall in crude prices could quickly trigger debt problems in the country.
Source: north africa post
