Yearbook 2007
Angola. Large oil and diamond deposits and high world
market prices helped Angola maintain the strong economic
growth rate of recent years. The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) estimated Angola's growth to 23 percent in 2007, but
at the same time criticized the lack of transparency in the
operations of state oil and diamond companies. Very large
sums are believed to disappear in the pockets of the
governing body.
The government announced that the country no longer needs
foreign financial assistance and canceled negotiations with
the IMF. According to
CountryAAH, the value of this year's oil production was
estimated at over US $ 30 billion; more than the OECD's
total assistance to Africa in 2006. Most of Angola's debt of USD 2.3 billion to the so-called Paris Club was repaid.
One UN delegation criticized human rights violations,
including arbitrary arrests and torture. There were also
testimonies of how civilians were kept imprisoned without
contact with the outside world in the disputed enclave
Cabinda. A peace agreement was concluded in 2006 with a
branch of Cabinda's independence movement, and about 500
former guerrillas began to be included in the national army,
but there were questions about the peace agreement.
After a long delay, it was decided that parliamentary
elections should be held in 2008 and a new president elected
in 2009. A group of parliamentarians from the regional
cooperation organization SADC expressed concern about too
strong political control of the electoral preparations. Most
of the planning, as well as voter registration, is handled
by a government department.
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