It felt like a case of ‘after the Lord Mayor's show' when Angola's President João Lourenço hosted the European Union-African Union summit in Luanda as AU chair...

Bendler was hired to lobby President João Lourenço who came to power in September 2017 on behalf of Bastos de Morais whose firm Quantum Global had been hired to run the FSDEA from its launch in 2012 (AC Vol 53 No 22 Sovereign wonga fund)...

The push is backed by diplomacy and in December Angola's President João Lourenço met Oman ruler Sultan Haitham bin Tariq in Muscat where Oman's state-backed Maaden International Investment Fund took a 24% stake in the Catoca and Luele diamond mining project...

The BRDC knows that chances of meaningful agreement are almost nil which is why they constantly refer to the Angolan president João Lourenço who took over from President Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville as the regional mediator in 2017...

Now in her sixth year as minister she previously served as a senior official in the Treasury before being appointed to the role by President João Lourenço in October 2019 (AC Vol 63 No 17 Economic woes challenge election winner)...

The M23's boycott of the Luanda talks on 18 March raises more questions about the plan by Angolan President João Lourenço and the African Union to secure a ceasefire ahead of talks on devolution and land rights...