LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Angola
built 646 days ago
The Republic of Angola has been at war for over 35 years, first against the Portuguese and, after 1975 with outside help, between themselves. Angola has the potential to be a wealthy developed African nation since it possesses large petroleum and diamond reserves, but due to nearly 4 decades of war, remains to be seriously underdeveloped. The 20 year war between the Popular movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) headed by Eduardo Dos Santos and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) headed by Dr. Jonas Savimbi, has left the country covered with 10 to 20 million land mines. The 1994 Lusaka Peace Protocol signed by both the MPLA and UNITA leadership called for a cease-fire in the war for control of Angola. Today, an uneasy peace remains between the two opposing factions. Many strategic analysts believe that a large-scale civil war could recur due to UNITA's unwillingness to turn over its many diamond mines to the Angolan MPLA government under President Eduardo Dos Santos.
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Angola is the second-largest producer of oil in sub-Saharan Africa, and the recent rise of oil prices may push GDP growth as high as 26% in 2006. With peace restored in 2002 after decades of civil war, foreign investment has multiplied. However, Angola Telecom’s fixed-line network still serves less than 1% of the population. The licensing of four new fixed-wireless operators in 2002 has introduced competition to this sector, using Third Generation (3G) wireless technologies and WiMAX to provide advanced services. Mobile market penetration is ... still relatively low at around 14%, despite rapid growth since the introduction of competition in 2001. A third mobile licence is expected in 2006.
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The government is ... faced with the reality that its output of 768,000 barrels per day of oil produces little in the way of current revenue.240 Angola has borrowed heavily in the past, using future oil production as collateral. Past oil-backed loans have been arranged in many shapes and forms including four previous Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) facilities and others arranged by Paribas, Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP), and the Bankers' Trust for advances of around U.S.$300 million with repayment terms of three years or less and at high interest rates.241 Warburg Dillon Read (WDR), UBS's investment banking arm, was trying in late 1998 and 1999 to put together a syndicated loan of US$500 million but reportedly ran into problems doing so.242 The last big loan was in early in 1998, when the Angolan government reached a deal with the Swiss oil trader Glencore to mortgage virtually the last barrel of the government's own oil production in exchange for up-front payments of some U.S.$900 million. The deal, which was routed through Sonangol, the state oil company and the Presidency rather than the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank did not meet the basic standards of accountability that the IMF was seeking. Its terms guaranteed Glencore some 75,000 barrels per day of the government's allocation. The remainder was tied up in pre-financing deals with Britains Lloyds Bank, BP-Amoco, Chevron, and Elf-Aquitaine.243 On May 18, the state oil company Sonangol announced the signing of a $575 million loan agreement in London underwritten through the Union Bank of Switzerland. The funds will be available in July and a substantial portion of it will be used to re-finance previous loans.244 Only some $35 million was new cash.245 The latest loan effectively stretched out the repayment terms for Angola over a longer period, lightening its short-term repayment obligations.
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Angola has substantial mineral resources and hydroelectric power. Most large-scale industries are nationalized. Oil, chiefly from reserves offshore, is the most lucrative product, providing about 50% of the country's GDP and 90% of its exports. Oil revenues have not done much to improve the economy at large or the everyday lives of Angolans, especially in the interior, because huge sums have been spent on the armed forces and lost due to government corruption. Diamond mining is ... a principal industry; for many years in the late 20th cent. revenue from the mines supported UNITA rebels (see under Postcolonial History). Natural gas is produced, and Angola has deposits of iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, and uranium.
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The Angola LNG Project will utilize associated natural gas initially from the Cabinda Association and from Blocks 14, 15, 17 and 18, as well as from the dedicated non-associated gas fields (Quiluma, Enguia North, Atum and Polvo fields). The offshore gas will be collected and transported to an onshore liquefaction plant located near the town of Soyo in the Zaire Province. The Project will reduce natural gas flaring and greenhouse gas emissions from offshore oil producing areas, facilitate continued offshore oil field development, and contribute to the development of a future natural gas-based industry within Angola.
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Angola has tightened its port state control regime and introduced fixed tariffs and compulsory inspections on vessels calling at all its ports. The measure came into effect on September 1st and followed the creation of a new directorate with responsibilities focusing on meeting international ship safety and security. The size of the fees will depend on the type of vessel, with LNG carriers facing the highest at US$760.
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Angola