Vol 52 No 24 | ANGOLA Banks strike oil 2nd December 2011 On 29 November, Angola enacted a law forcing foreign oil companies to use the local banking system for their financial transactions, rather than hold their accounts offshore.
Vol 52 No 22 | ANGOLA Dos Santos calls elections 4th November 2011 Now the longest-serving President in Africa, Dos Santos tries to face down a wave of young protestors Both politicians and electors are distinctly sceptical about President José Eduardo dos Santos’s announcement that the next elections will take place in the third quarter of 2012. There...
Vol 52 No 22 | ANGOLA The succession players 4th November 2011 The barons of the governing Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola are divided over the succession. President José Eduardo dos Santos stands aloof from the jockeying for position...
Vol 52 No 22 | ANGOLACÔTE D'IVOIRE The past is another country 4th November 2011 More is emerging about the history of bad blood between the two countries and Luanda’s former fondness for Gbagbo Luanda appears willing to forget its past strong support for Côte d’Ivoire’s then President, Laurent Gbagbo, and reconcile with his successor, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, but there is much...
Vol 52 No 20 | ANGOLACÔTE D'IVOIRE New leaf 7th October 2011 When Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf visited Luanda in September, Angola asked her to help mend fences with Ivorian President Alassane Dramane Ouattara (ADO), say Abidjan sources. Angolan...
Vol 52 No 18 | ANGOLA Vicente to succeed Dos Santos? 9th September 2011 Luanda’s rumour mill has gone into overdrive after the ruling Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola and the privately-owned Novo Jornal suggested that President José Eduardo dos Santos...
Vol 52 No 15 | ANGOLACONGO-KINSHASA Bad fences, bad neighbours 22nd July 2011 Disputes over politics, oil and diamonds are dividing the two neighbouring governments Relations between Luanda and Kinshasa could deteriorate sharply after a series of disputes. Angolan border police expelled about 15,000 Congolese in April and May after rounding them up...
Vol 52 No 15 | ANGOLA Media makeover 22nd July 2011 Luanda’s secretive government has set up a task force to overhaul its communications strategy before next year’s parliamentary elections. The grandly titled Grupo de Revitalização e Execução da...
Vol 52 No 14 | ANGOLACONGO-KINSHASA Cabinda man arrested 8th July 2011 The latest twist in the long dispute between Angola and Congo-Kinshasa came with the arrest in Kinshasa of Cabindan human rights activist Agostinho Chicaia in late June. Tension...
Vol 52 No 10 | ANGOLA Why the Arab Spring worries Luanda 13th May 2011 After 32 years in power, President Dos Santos presides over a fast growing economy which leaves most of his compatriots in dire poverty The buzz word is ‘opacity’. Elections are due by the end of 2012 but no one is certain who is standing. Angola has one of the strongest economies...