Boosting the Future While Leaving the Past Behind–Angola

On that night of July 16, 1967, in Luanda, Angola’s capital, the sky was clear and the air was moist, albeit being the dry season. The Crescent Moon shone across the ecstatic African sky; it was a cool, perfect night when I was born. I was born in what is known in the USA as the “Summer of Love”, the birth of the Hippy freaky, counter-culture movement, and all those unique events that turned the world upside down in recent History. Two years later, Neil Armstrong would land on the Moon, the same Moon shining across the blissful Luanda sky the night I was born and Woodstock would rattle the world of music.

Angola was at that time a prosperous Portuguese province belonging to the vast Portuguese Empire, one of the widest Western empires since the Roman ages, with colonies and provinces scattered across the globe in all continents, except Antarctica. In those days, Angola’s economy was developing fast and wealthy. People were happy and the welfare status was visible even in the poorest layers of the population. It was said that the Portuguese Government would make Angola independent of the Empire sooner or later.

Angola is a large country in Africa, located on the southwest coast with approximately 1.2 million square kilometers, the fourth largest country in sub-Saharan Africa; in 2024, the population of Angola reached more than 36 million inhabitants,¹ an increase of 3%; most of them (69%) living in urban areas; the life expectancy at birth is estimated at 62 years. Most of its area is located in a reach area with an available water supply, thus favoring agricultural and farming activities.

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Angola is home to many huge and diverse ethnic groups, encompassing over 100 of them. The main ethnic groups are the Ovimbundu (the most important group, over 1/3 of the entire population), the Mbundu (also known as Ambundu, standing for approximately 1/4 of the population), and the Bakongo (10% of the population). Mixed races, Europeans, and Asians also comprise the Angolan people spectrum, besides other small tribes, like the Herero, related to the Bantu-speaking group. I find the Herero a unique tribe, given their habits. They live in the southern region of Angola, close to the Namibia border; most are still nomads, breeding goats and other livestock, deemed their most important wealth. Their society is matrilineal, and women, both married and single, are free to choose any man to live with.

Angola exhibits a paramount cultural pattern that goes far beyond its borders. Portuguese is the official language, but approximately 50 idioms are spoken in the country, mostly from the Bantu branch. In the Cabinda enclave, for instance, French is also spoken, as this area borders two French-speaking countries. All these local idioms are deemed as national languages by the Government.

Umbundu is the most widely spoken Bantu language, spoken natively by about 22.96% of the population, about 5.4 million. It is mainly spoken in the center and south of the country. Kimbundu is spoken in Luanda Province and adjacent provinces. Kikongo is spoken in the northwest, including the enclave of Cabinda. About 8.24% of Angolans use Kikongo. Fiote is a local language spoken by nearly 2.39%, mainly in Cabinda.²

Facts and Figures

In 1974, Angola’s GDP was approximately USD 827 Million, an 8.5% growth rate compared to previous years. The economy was undergoing a continuous development path, growing approximately 8%
annually, from the 1960s to 1974; in 1973, oil became Angola’s main export, surpassing coffee (the 4th largest producer of coffee). Angola is a country rich in natural resources, like petroleum, diamonds, minerals, and agriculture in general, where I must mention the coffee. They’re an important producer of bananas, sugar cane (brought by the Portuguese from India), corn, and so many other crops… The list is interminable.

It should be noted that Angola stands out as one of the largest oil producers in Africa, one of the leading producers of diamonds in the world (along with South Africa), along with so many other important minerals, like iron ore, natural gas, copper, manganese, gold, uranium, platinum, and so on. In 1974, with the Independent War and subsequent Civil War, the former prosperous economy growth halted.

Source: OEC

Source: Best Diplomats

Source: Statista

The Independent War was unquestionably a point of no return in Angola which led to a civil war that tore through the country and the Angolan people, from its independence in 1975 until 2002. The country then rose from the ashes of its past and revealed to the world the magnitude of its resources, both human and natural. In 1974, the former prosperous economy fell into despair. Currently, its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world. In 2023, it reached 84.8 Billion USD and, in 2024, the GDP grew 5.5% in the third semester, mainly due to oil, fisheries, and trade. The International Monetary Fund (IMF projects a real GDP growth of 2.8%, and a GDP per capita of 9.91 with an inflation rate of 21.3% for 2025.³

Source: Businesstech

Now, I am a foreigner in the country where I was born. After all those years since I left Angola in 1974,
it is still hard for me and the folks of my generation to speak about Angola, even describing its features and resources so objectively and accurately, without remembering those happy days of the past and the African sensitivity, so widely expressed in the “Ubuntu” concept [Ubuntu is a foremost African concept of life, meaning ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’]. The Independent War in 1975 produced
a long-lasting blemish that will last as long as I live. I was then a happy 7-year-old child living in a shiny milieu when I had to leave Angola to never return since then, given the war setting in Angola and other Portuguese colonies at the same time, thus creating the biggest air bridge since World War II between those Portuguese colonies and Portugal.

Angola’s Future Paved by the USA and China

To become a leading country in Africa and the world, Angola must leave its past behind and create a new and successful history, out of the specter caused by five hundred centuries of slavery and exploitation, but also immune from its recent communist landmark. Since 1975, Angola has been ruled by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the center-left party that claimed victory in the most recent elections. With 97% of the votes counted, the MPLA secured 51% of the total vote, as announced by the country’s electoral commission. Angola’s electoral system automatically appoints the president and vice president of the winning party as the nation’s president and vice president. This means outgoing President João Lourenço, leader of the MPLA, was re-elected for a second five-year term.⁴

Angola

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Angola has been experiencing a positive trend with the USA and China focusing on the country, competing for resources, and bidding on large infrastructure projects that could boost the country’s
trade balance. One of these large projects is the Lobito Corridor, also known as the Benguela Railway, which recently returned to the spotlight following announcements of new financing and news of the first supply contracts. Managed by a consortium of three multinational companies specializing in large-scale infrastructure or raw material transportation (Trafigura, originally Swiss but now based in Singapore; Mota- Engil, Portuguese; and Vecturis, Belgian), it is a 1,300-kilometer railway linking Angola’s Atlantic coast to the mineral-rich regions of inland Africa, specifically the southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia. Its goal is to smooth the export of raw materials essential for the energy transition, including those used in manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles and phones.
Other infrastructure projects include the building of residential areas, the renovation of urban spaces, and the development of productive infrastructures and facilities.

The current economic situation of Angola has been closely tied to the world’s pursuit of oil. The country still faces huge levels of poverty and economic inequality among its people and this race for oil somehow left the country in a vulnerable situation with volatile growth. Angola’s GDP per capita in 2023 was 2,308.00 USD and the country’s GDP was 84.82 Billion.⁵ As of early 2024, youth unemployment exceeded 63%; in rural areas, 53% of its population lived on less than 2.15 USD per day. With a Gini index of over 51, Angola ranks among the world’s most unequal economies.

Source: OEC

For this reason, investing in human capital is crucial for the country’s future and long-term success, as the infrastructure is still inadequate, the education exhibits low levels of quality (at least 27% of the children are not enrolled in school), 32% of the population has no access to drinking water, and 52% of the population has no access to electricity; the healthcare is still precarious, which places the country in a low position (0.4) in the Human Capital Index.⁶

On the other hand, the country faces many problems related to violent crime, such as armed robbery, assault, carjacking, and homicide. The presence of mines and unexploded ordnance is also a threat in rural areas, preventing the development of family farming.

Over the years, the growing international prices increased the country’s growth rate, while the Financial Action Task Force no longer blacklists the country as in the past. The risk rating in Angola ranges from
B- through B3, according to the foremost Ratings Agencies, like S&P and Moody’s. Recently, and probably due to the change of government and the shift of the political perspective, Angola has been luring a high level of interest as an investment destination from investors across the world. The World Bank selected Angola as a country to have its business and investment areas assessed under its new flagship, the Business Ready Project.

All in all, the trade environment in Angola seems to be open and stable, despite the huge investment,
and infrastructure challenges. Some promising areas for investment include agriculture, fisheries, forestry, livestock, manufacturing, real estate and construction, textiles, and tourism.

Source: OEC

Angolan Heritage in Brazil

Angola shaped much of the Brazilian culture, given the fact that between 1517 and 1867, 12.5 million enslaved Africans were forced onto ships to begin the Middle Passage to America. About 10.7 million men, women, and children survived the journey. Of these, about 40% mostly from Angola, landed in Brazil, where the trade continued until 1850. In Pernambuco, the state where I live, located in the Brazilian Northeast, the Angolan heritage is largely shared in the history and local folklore, exhibited in dances, performances, and folk stories. Oddly enough, I live in the same latitude where Luanda is geographically situated. Somehow, the past came into and revisited the present in my life, again…

All in all, the Angolan culture and dance exhibit the happiness and joy of a country butchered by centuries of pain and grief, even before the Portuguese Navigator Paulo Dias de Novaes first went ashore in Luanda, on January 25, 1576, and claimed possession of the territory for the Portuguese Crown.

The Angolan people express their love for life through their emotions and arts, as Kuduro and Kizomba so much reveal. Kuduro is one of the dance styles that spread worldwide; it appeared in Angola during the 1990s, featuring a mix of traditional Angolan rhythms with electronic music and influenced by other styles. On the other hand, Kizomba is another outstanding social dance that conquered the world and originated Angola in the 1970s, born from another folk dance, the semba, meaning “party” in Kimbundu. Angola was also the home of Brazil’s most famous dance, the samba, which originated from the very same folk dance, the semba, which was brought to Brazil by the slaves. Other important aspects of Angolan cultural heritage can be found in different parts of Brazil, particularly in the state of Pernambuco, where I live, such as the Maracatu dance, among others.

Paulo Mariano Lopes

Translator

Paulo Mariano Lopes is Portuguese and was born in Luanda/Angola. He lives and works in Brazil as an English Sworn Translator. As an author, he writes articles and has published two books, besides a blog.

1. Datareportal
2. Wikipedia
3. IMF
4. Ilpost.it
5. Data.worldbank
6. World Bank