African Studies and African Country Resources @ Pitt: Angola

Angola is the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa and the world's fourth largest producer of rough diamonds. Despite the country's natural wealth, a prolonged civil war, the rapid development of the oil sector, and the policies pursued after Independence, have left the Angolan economy with very uneven indicators of development. Angola is now experiencing oil windfall gains that are expected to last throughout the next decade. Since oil rents are concentrated in the public sector, the question of how the oil revenue should be spent and distributed becomes key. This study identifies core areas where a strategic approach for the development of a broad-based growth strategy is required.

This study is the first comprehensive assessment of warfare in Angola to cover all three phases of the nation's modern history. It is also the first to cover the final phase of warfare in Angola, 1998-2002, culminating in Jonas Savimbi's death and the signing of the Luena Accord. Author Stephen L.Weigert offers an account of the strategy of guerrilla warfare employed by the Unitainsurgency and an assessment of the role and significance of leadership in insurgency. This account also urges the reader to consider Savimbi's "charisma" as a character trait which distracted many from a more sober assessment of his political inclinations (reformer or revolutionary) and his abilities as a military commander.

Some scholars and economists argue that the Angolan people could be on the cusp of a giant leap forward, based on the state's booming oil sector, which would lay the groundwork for long-term economic prosperity. But is this a realistic scenario? Patrick Chabal and Nuno Vidal's Angolais a thorough introduction to the history and present-day reality of one of Africa's most complex countries. Contributors offer incisive and original analyses of Angola’s colonial history, its economic, political, and social evolution since independence, its current structural issues, and its prospects for the future.